Old flavors tucked in Daegu’s alleys: pumpkin pancakes and spicy beef soup

Text and photos byLittle Dot Paine

There is a small lane called 赡?憨 in downtown Daegu. Hancom translates it as "Jin Alley," but some say it’s just a long lane. In Daegu’s tourism guidebook, this lane is referred to as “Long Lane Alley.” I wandered around Long Lane Alley in search of this place — 赡?憨螺铲长巷弄食堂 — because it’s said to be an old shop with amazing traditional flavors. They serve pumpkin pancakes 指?? and spicy beef soup (恰?钎), so I decided to give it a try.

A very hidden gem of a restaurant

Nestled inside an alley

And it’s even recognized as a quality dining spot by the Daegu government. You can dine here with peace of mind if you see this sign.

The owner, seeing that I was a foreigner, warmly welcomed me and invited me to check out their shop’s interior. Turns out, it’s just an old house.

The pumpkin in the corner is shockingly huge.

The menu is simple — the two must-orders are the 恰?钎 spicy beef soup and 指?? pumpkin pancakes.

It arrived. The total was 13,000 won, and I ordered the portion for two people. For the side dishes, the highlight of old shops like this is the super sour kimchi.

Korean spicy beef soup has always been a dish I didn’t quite understand. It’s such a dark color and has such a strong flavor, and the bowl used is always this classic old-style one.

It contains garlic and green onions — huge ones too. After cooking it all together, I could barely recognize them. The broth is rich and thick. I heard it’s good for sobering up after drinking. It’s a bit spicy and a bit salty. There's a lot of garlic. I didn’t get much beef though.

The pumpkin pancake is the dish I liked more. Actually, I came here mainly for the pancake, but I thought ordering just the pancake would be a bit weird, so I added the spicy beef soup too.

The pumpkin pancake was really delicious — soft and chewy, with real pumpkin mash that had an authentic taste. I think a little sugar was added because it had a mild sweetness, but the flavor worked perfectly to balance out the spiciness and saltiness of the beef soup.

Jin Alley (Long Lane Alley)食堂
Hancom Map
Address: ???彭萝 ?? 赡?憨? 9-1
Phone: 053-253-3757
Hours: 10:00–22:00
Coordinates: 35.868067, 128.592511

Little Dot Sees the World ★ Exploring Korea
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