Kokkiri Tteokbokki in Gongdeok: A Delicious Carb Fest
After visiting Chaegro, we were about to head home but got hungry and wandered around Gongdeok Station. I was craving tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), so we went to Mapo Tteokbokki, but it was way too crowded. We changed our plans and stopped by Kokkiri Jeukseok Tteokbokki right next door. I'd heard this place was also a great spot, and visiting this time, I realized the menu is truly just carbs on carbs.
The menu is simple and the restaurant is cramped, but I absolutely loved the smell of an old-school tteokbokki joint. It brought back memories of eating it as a little kid, which made it taste even better. The flavor is that classic, sweet "junk food" style tteokbokki. There isn't really a special way to eat tteokbokki, but since this place serves it pre-boiled, you have to polish off the rice cakes quickly. The tteok is perfectly chewy right when it comes out, so I recommend finishing it as fast as possible.
Ramen noodles seem to pair best with it, and getting fried rice at the end is a must. But honestly, the rice cakes themselves are the best part here. I even recommend ordering an extra portion of just the tteok to really enjoy it.
The interior, which only decades of history can create, combined with the sweet tteokbokki, really brings back the old days. It might be hard to eat it deliciously every single day like when I was a kid, but it's a true soul food tteokbokki spot that instantly lifts my mood whenever I drop by.