Manjok Ohyang Jokbal: Seoul City Hall's Michelin Spot
I don't know who came up with it, but there's a list out there of "Seoul's Top 3 Jokbal (braised pig's trotters)." The list includes Manjok Ohyang Jokbal—the place I'm posting about today—along with Seongsu Jokbal and Yeongdong Jokbal. Out of these, Manjok Ohyang Jokbal is the only one that has expanded into a franchise with locations in various areas so far. Of course, taste isn't something you can rank from first to last like a cooking competition, so it doesn't mean much. Even among the "Top 3," some places are just okay.
There's a Manjok Ohyang Jokbal branch in Gyodae (southern Seoul), and when I visited, it didn't quite live up to its reputation. But recently, I had a gathering at the main branch near City Hall, and it completely blew away my previous disappointment, screaming, "This is the true taste of the main branch!" I'm not sure if the "ohyang" (five spices) in the name means it's actually made with the traditional five spices, but seeing how it's steamed without any gamey pork smell, they must be in there.
Ohyang Jokbal has two special menu items: bul-jokbal (spicy braised trotters) and naengchae-jokbal (chilled trotters with mustard). The naengchae-jokbal is especially famous, though personally, I prefer the regular jokbal. Still, since someone in our group had never tried it, we ordered the naengchae-jokbal set.
The mandu-guk (dumpling soup) and jaengban-guksu (spicy platter noodles) are mainly there to fill you up, so we just happily ate them for that purpose. The warm regular jokbal came out first, and it was the only dish on the table that completely disappeared. It tasted great with no unpleasant smell, and while the portion wasn't overflowing, it felt generous enough.
The naengchae-jokbal is unique. You eat it by pouring a little bit of the mustard-infused sauce over it, and it almost feels like eating a premium version of chogye-guksu (chilled chicken noodle soup). There are vegetables at the bottom, which makes it a bit tricky to pull out and eat. It's good for the first few bites, but the flavor gets tiring pretty quickly. Maybe it's because my image of jokbal is supposed to be warm, but I felt a bit negative about it. Still, a lot of people love it depending on their personal taste, so I do recommend giving it a try.
Since the restaurant is tucked away in a corner near City Hall, there's no dedicated parking; you'll have to park at a nearby public lot. Also, keep in mind that the lines here can get quite long.