Baekyang Makguksu Yanggok Branch

After wrapping up our Chuseok holiday schedule, we decided to take the entire day to laze around and rest.
Still, we had to eat lunch, so we looked for a nice restaurant to dine out.
While searching around, we found a makguksu place we liked that had great reviews and an appealing menu, so we headed there without hesitation.
There was a dedicated parking lot for the restaurant, making it hassle-free to drive there.

They even had a CatchTable system, which meant waiting was usually inevitable due to the large crowd, but perhaps because it was a holiday break, we were lucky enough to walk straight in without waiting.
Even so, the inside of the restaurant was packed with customers.

After pondering the menu, we ordered our favorite, perilla seed makguksu, and a barley rice set.
Rather than an actual set, it felt more like how barley rice is served as a complimentary side whenever you order kalguksu.
The barley rice was served right after ordering, accompanied by domestic vegetables, seasoned greens, and what seemed like homemade gang-doenjang (thick soybean paste stew), allowing you to mix in whatever you liked to your taste.

What was great was that you could bring more greens and gang-doenjang from the self-service bar to enjoy an even more generous meal.
Since we love bracken (gosari), we brought plenty of extra bracken and lettuce to eat.
The gang-doenjang seasoned it well enough on its own, allowing for a mild and delicious taste, and it was nice that gochujang was also available separately to add according to preference.
In particular, we added some sesame oil that tasted like it was freshly pressed from a local oil mill; the sesame oil was so flavorful that it made me think the barley rice alone would have been completely satisfying.

While we were eating the barley rice, our makguksu arrived shortly after.
The perilla seed makguksu was less sweet than typical makguksu, boasting a wonderfully savory and nutty flavor.
It was delicious enough as it was, but since we usually prefer a generous amount of perilla oil, we added plenty of extra perilla oil.
We also added bracken in our own style, and the refreshing, savory flavor was truly fantastic.

We enjoyed a hearty and delicious meal with both makguksu and barley rice.
Normally, we would always order a large portion of makguksu, but with the barley rice included, the regular portion was plenty.

Looking at the restaurant wall, there was a notice saying they would be expanding and relocating, and I look forward to even more people being able to enjoy this great taste.
I was left with a bit of regret that it wasn't closer to home, as we would have visited very often.