Myth Jokbal

I chanced upon this store 4 years ago when I was shopping in the Hongdae area and the signboard attracted me. Since then I have been reminiscing about the taste of the Jokbal here and waiting for the day I can visit again once the borders opened

For those not familiar with Jokbal, it is a dish of Korean-styled soy sauce braised pig trotters. Similar to the braised trotters in Singapore, the trotters are mainly braised in soy sauce, the taste is somewhat different due to different spices being used. Myth Jokbal has been in operation for 30 years and is one of the more well-known brands around Hongdae

Located along the main stretch of Hongdae where the buskers usually perform, it is hard to miss the cute pig logo. They have a brightly lit neon signboard showcasing their menu right at their entrance

When I visited during dinner time, they were extremely crowded and we managed to get a table in their basement sitting area. There were about 8 tables in the basement housing close to 30 customers

At one corner of the basement was a partially open kitchen where some of the dishes were being prepared by the staff

We ordered the Medium sized Garlic Jokbal for KRW 39,000 and it comes with a free serving of kalguksu and fresh salad. I also ordered a separate serving of spicy sea snails salad for KRW 18,000. The servings were pretty big for the price and the spicy sea snails are crunchy and juicy. They are mixed with a spicy sauce with cucumber and carrots and some vegetables giving the dish many layers of texture and flavours

The salad is fantastic when eaten together with the Jokbal as it helps to cut the grease of the pork. All of the fresh vegetables were fresh and juicy and lightly drenched with a vinegarette dressing

The main star of the dinner was the Jokbal, we ordered a medium as one of my friends did not like eating pork which is also the reason why we ordered the garlic flavour hoping the pork flavour is partially covered. For those of us who love the taste of pork, the Jokbal was outrageous good. The meat was tender and succulent with a nice hint of soy marinate while the skin was bouncy and gelatinous. The garlic was not spicy at all and has a sweet flavour so it gives the Jokbal a different flavour when paired together

The kalguksu noodles given together with the Jokbal were served in a hotpot with a gas stove to keep the noodles hot and boiling. You can add the noodles when you are ready to eat. The consistency of the noodles is in between Chinese yellow noodles and flour hand-pulled noodles and we kind of overcooked it as we were concentrating on the meat. The soup was quite appetising and refreshing with a light hinge of spiciness. There were also some vegetables in the soup when served

I separately ordered a handmade fish cake soup for my friend who could not take spicy and much pork meat. The soup was very light if compared to the spicy version but it was refreshing and light but not bland. It is similar to the fish cake soup found at street food stores. For KRW 15,000, I find that it is slightly pricey since 1 stick of fish cake is usually KRW1,000 at the street stalls but the serving was quite huge and they include some Oden items other than the flat fish cake

Overall, Myth Jokbal does not disappoint as the standard of their Jokbal remains as good as I remember 5 years ago and my 2 travel mates agreed the Jokbal was really delicious. Even my friend who doesn’t like the taste of pork did try a small piece and found it nice. Whenever I visit Seoul, I always make sure I visit Myth to satisfy my Jokbal craving and my recommendation would be to order the original and not the garlic version as I think it tastes much better

Address: 123-1 Eoulmadang-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Operating hours: 4pm to 12 am