Sinhodeung Jangjak-guiWood-Fired Whole Chicken in Goyang, Tender Even in the Breast

The wood-fired chicken I think of every summer

It's the classic Korean rotisserie chicken, except here it's cooked over a wood fire. As in the photo, one bird is spatchcocked and grilled whole, then set over rice.

Walk in and several staff are working the wood fire, turning chickens as they cook. Grilled well like that, even the breast — usually the dry part — comes out tender. With a glass of draft beer alongside, well carbonated, it all sits together nicely.

The big room was full, and people were happily waiting even on that hot day. It's the kind of place that comes back to mind every summer.

What it looks like

On a large foil-lined plate lies a whole chicken, split in half and grilled. The skin is browned to a deep golden color with dark-scorched patches here and there, and grains of rice show beneath the chicken. On the left is a bowl of clear soup with some ingredients in it, and on the right a bowl of leafy-green kimchi and cubed white radish. The table is a light wood color and the bowls are earth-toned with black rims.

Menu words

• Tongdak is a whole chicken roasted as one piece
• Jangjak-gui means grilled over a wood fire
• The clear soup is served alongside the chicken

The skewers are just a side act

The fish-cake broth that comes with it is a slightly odd thing to find at a chicken house, but it was fine.

I saw chicken skewers on a lot of nearby tables, so I ordered one — chicken threaded with spring onion, in a gochujang glaze. Not bad. But ordinary next to the wood-fired chicken, so I wouldn't order it first.

What foreign visitors should know

• Jangjak-gui is a whole chicken grilled over a wood fire. Think of it as the wood-fired version of the "rotisserie chicken" common in Korea. It is not spicy.
• Staff grill and serve it, so you don't need to know how. It comes set over rice — just pull it apart and eat.
• The breast is on the tender side. Manageable even if dry chicken breast usually puts you off.
• The chicken skewers carry a gochujang glaze, so they're mildly spicy. If heat is a problem, the whole chicken alone is plenty.
• Draft beer pairs well with it. A fish-cake broth comes alongside too.
• It's away from central Seoul. A rental car makes it an easy stop; on public transport alone it's a hassle.
• ✅ Good if you like wood-fired or rotisserie whole chicken, you've been put off by dry chicken breast, you want an easy meal with a glass of draft beer, or you have plans around Goyang or Ilsan
• ⚠️ Reconsider if you're relying on public transport from central Seoul, or you're coming for the skewers — the wood-fired whole chicken is the main event here. Even the large room can have a wait at meal times in high summer

Before you go

• Getting there — Goyang, Gyeonggi. It's a drive out from central Seoul, so check the name on the map before you set off.
• Ordering — the wood-fired whole chicken first. Skewers as a side at most. Draft beer and the fish-cake broth come with it.
• Wait — in the summer peak and at meal times, even a large room can be full.
• Hours · prices · closing day — Open noon to 11:30 PM, the wood-fired whole chicken is 24,000 won, and as far as I know there is no set closing day (as of Sep 2026). Worth confirming again before you go.
• Elsewhere in Gyeonggi — I also visited Paradise City Cimer on Yeongjong Island in Incheon. It's a proper drive from Goyang, not a same-day pairing.