The whole shop only serves one dish: Seoul Cheese & Squid Cannon Braised Chicken!

Text and photos byLittle Dot Paine

I first saw netizens sharing about this little chicken-head-egg braised chicken shop. At first, I thought the little chicken head was amusing, so I decided to give it a try. The shop I had originally planned to visit with Maru, who worked at a Seoul guesthouse, had closed down, so this one quickly became our target. I thought it would just be a simple braised chicken place, but turns out they also serve fried squid here—and the taste was actually pretty good. What started as low expectations turned into a really enjoyable meal for both of us. Also, for some reason, the whole place gave off a quirky, fun vibe. More on that below~~

First off, the shop is called Cannon Braised Chicken—haha, the name is pretty funny.

Also, the restaurant only has two dishes, kind of like two opponents going head-to-head in a battle (but what’s the point if they’re basically the same thing?).

The place is small, but business is super busy. It seems there’s a second floor, but it’s not open on weekdays at lunch.

The chickens on the wall are hilarious—note, these are Korean, the King Chicken (hahahaha).
Arabian Power-Up Chicken (hahahaha).
German Wall-Breaking Chicken (this one’s got a great joke, haha).
But why is there a French Painter Chicken (?????).

Then there’s this super annoying chicken bell. I actually found it really loud, but you just can’t not press it. I pressed it timidly, afraid of startling others, so I barely pressed it. Just as my friend Maru and I were wondering who could possibly hear such a soft press—bam—the staff came running over immediately!!! They are really sensitive to that sound, hahaha.

Let’s look at the menu—it’s super easy to order. You choose braised chicken, whether you want cheese, and whether you want the big squid. On the left, it’s per person, and adding the squid costs an extra 5,900 KRW. If you want boneless, it’s +1,000 KRW. Extra cheese is +3,000 KRW, and the Cannon Rice is 3,000 KRW—that’s fried rice.

On the right are the steps: first pick how many people, then choose bone-in or boneless, then choose cheese or squid or both. Finally, pick the spice level—but I recommend mild, I personally thought it was spicy enough already. The “Flaming Chicken” sounds intense!

The best part here is the self-serve rice and side dishes (???)

The rice is unlimited and not bad at all—it’s actually pretty tasty. I had two bowls, haha!

The sides like corn and pickled radish are great for cooling down the spiciness.

Main dish is served. We only added the squid, no cheese (there’s some cheese already included). Whoa, that comes to 19,000 + 5,900 KRW~

The little chicken head is tilted, looking a bit helpless, cough cough

You have to cut the squid open to eat it—time to bring out the almighty scissors I call the “finger-cutting scissors.”

The squid isn’t small—it’s quite sizable and can go toe-to-toe with Taiwan’s famous fried squid. And why is Korea selling so much fried squid lately? Seems like it originated from our night markets in Taiwan!

But the main star is the braised chicken~~~

Take away the squid, and here’s the true face of the braised chicken!

The braised chicken is delicious. The chicken itself is pretty tender—I prefer the bone-in kind (I’m scared of boneless because it’s usually just breast meat, haha). The flavor isn’t too sweet (just mildly sweet), and it has a bit of spice.

The fried squid is delicious, and quite fresh—pretty good!

I love thick glass noodles—they soak up the sauce so well.

A nice surprise—I thought it was just regular rice cakes, but there’s cheese inside (the braised chicken also comes with normal rice cakes, but they’re a different shape). It was a little unexpected delight when I bit into it.

In terms of taste, I’d say it’s not too different from other braised chicken shops I’ve been to, but each has its own sauce style. I think this one wins with its fried squid—it’s genuinely tasty. Plus, the whole squid on top of the chicken looks really impressive. The little chicken head was also a big part of why I came here. It’s a nice-looking and pretty tasty shop. Maybe after trying places like Bongchoo or Andong, you can check out this unique little spot!

Oh, and if you want to find Maru, she works at a guesthouse (she’s Taiwanese, and if you have any questions, she’s really cute and super helpful).

There are two homestays: Insadong Hostel Lian Leian Youth Hostel (evening shift), and SHINCHON HOSTEL Sinchon Dormitory (day shift — this one was recently renovated, with all new interior decor; I’ll upload new photos later). This isn’t a commercial recommendation; I just think Xiaowan is really nice. She only told me about her homestay after we’d finished dinner, so I’m just helping to spread the word!!

Xiaobuodao the World ★ Fun Things to Do in Korea Rolling Around
Blog:http://www.paine0602.com/blog
Facebook Fan Page:https://www.facebook.com/paine0602