Chicken "Poop-House" Alley

Chicken Poop-House Alley
(닭똥집 골목)

Dongdaegu Area, Daegu

Overview
The Good	+ Hmmm.. deep fried and saucy + Selection of chicken dishes + Selection of restaurants
The Bad	- All serving the exact same thing - Gizzards can be tough and chewy
Best for: Chicken lovers, groups, drinking

Food

Chicken Poop-House "Alley" is a whole block of restaurants all specializing in the exact same thing: "Chicken Poop Houses" (닭똥집).  Let me clarify that these restaurants are not claiming to be houses of poop themselves - not at all.  The term refers to the dish they serve, known less descriptively in English as chicken "gizzards."

Gizzards are specialized stomachs found in some species of fish, birds, worms and dinosaurs.  Well, not found in dinosaurs anymore I guess, but we still have their distant, red-headed step cousin: chickens.  Because these bird-brains swallow stones and dirt or whatever else, their gizzards are designed to grind up food with strong muscular walls.  Therefore, they are tough, yet not quite chewy.  I'd equate their texture with a stale hot dog.  Fortunately they are deep-fried, marinated and/or dipped in salt and mustard, and served with sweet potatoes and seasoning.  So in the end I'd say they are quite tasty.

There are 3 types of deep fried Chicken Gizzard:
1) 양념 (yang-nyum) - marinated in spicy sauce
2) 간장 (gan-jang) - marinated in soy sauce
3) 튀김 (twee-gim) - plain deep fried
Our restaurant (see menu picture) offered a serving for one person for \7,000, two people for \10,000, or a combo of all 3 types (pictured here) for \15,000.  

They also offer 볶음 (fried) and 누드 ("nude") chicken gizzards for \10,000.  And there are other chicken dishes, such as 찜닭 (chicken and vegetable spicy stew), 통닭 (fried chicken), 순살 (boneless chicken), and 닭날개 (chicken wings).

Atmosphere

The "Alley" is actually 3 sides of a city block.  Each of the 20 or so restaurants sell the exact same chicken.  Each also claims to be the 원조, or "original."

Most of them are somewhat modern and fancy.  Typical of chicken places, they have comfortable booth seating (not metal tables and plastic stools like many BBQ places).  They offer reasonably priced 안주, or food to go with alcohol, so it's a popular area.  However, most consume beer with their chicken, so it doesn't become a soju-induced rumpus.

Livening things up with So-Maek

Location

"Chicken Poop-House Alley" is located a few blocks northwest of 동대구역 (Dongdaegu Station).  Walking out of the Station, with your back towards it, turn right on the main road.  At the T-intersection at the end of that road turn left.  The alleys are 3 or 4 blocks down on your right.

The easiest way is a cab ride, about 10 minutes and \6,000 from Downtown.  Just tell or show the driver:
닭똥집 골목
"dalk ddong jeep  gole moke"

Also, it's located in the market named:

평화시장
pyung hwa  she  jang

See map

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If you're craving some more chicken, also try:

• Spicy chicken stew (jjimdalk), near Samduk Fire Station
• Spicy chicken stir-fry (dalkgalbi), near the stage downtown
• Amazing fried chicken (Wong-Ju), near the stage downtown
• Nutritious chicken and ginseng soup (samgyetang), central downtown

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