Back Alley Eateries Day 1: DashiOlChicken (다시올치킨)

Seng Min Youn

Had someone warned me about the seemingly bottomless pool of work I would flounder in, perhaps I wouldn’t have decided that uni was a good idea. A month into the semester, I have already made five, twenty-slide power point presentations. All these cherry blossoms and annoyingly cute couples mock me. I hope your mid-term month is going better than mine…

I do digress.

Although all of you probably walk past it everyday, only those of you living in the dorms dare to venture down that precipitous hill behind the business building. I too despise exercise. If you, however, are willing to strain your collapsing lungs for some good food like me, you ought to try this place out. This is my goto spot for an evening chicken and soju.

DashiOlChicken is a homely restaurant that boasts a variety of simple, but truly Korean flavours. Their menu is a rather unique hodgepodge of dishes. Their main dishes are dak kalguksoo (Korean chicken-soup noodles) and fried chicken. To those familiary with Korean cuisine, this is definitely an unusual combination.

Though the noodles are nothing of note, the soup is divine. Though it could taste a little bland at first, once you get accostomed to the subtle and natural flavours of the soup, you will fall in love. You could also add a little kick using the three condiments on the table: diced chilli, minced garlic and chili powder. The fried chicken is as rustic as it can get. Unlike your usual franchise fried chicken, the chicken here are coated with a thick layer of batter. It’s a simple flour batter with a little curry powder. The Yangnyum (the fried chicken drenched in the red sauce) chicken has an overt taste of gochujang(Korean chili paste). Though not amazing, it tastes as natural as it can get; It’s the type of chicken that Korean grandmothers cook for their grandchildren at home. There’s nothing speical about the fried chicken here. Perhaps that is what makes it so special. It offers us comfort and a nice break from all the MSG drenched food that we are forced to eat on a daily basis.

Perhaps the next time you happen to walk past that slope, venture down! You might just find the perfect cure to your hangover.