As a plain-Jane raised American (definite waygook), I never thought I’d be raving about a restaurant that specializes in beef intestines (gopchang). I complained about liver as a kid. But, here I’ll do just that! Gopchang Story is a Korean chain with US restaurants in NY, NJ, VA, TX, CA, RI, and MA, with more on the way. If you’re ever near a restaurant, it’s worth the trip!
I’m not going to lie, in my two visits here, the audience in the Boston restaurant was very much Korean, with a few token diversities. That’s probably how you know it’s good. And the feature of course is beef intestines, large and small, entrails, tripe, and heart (gui). Is it for the faint of heart? Absolutely. The Korean preparation of grill frying these assorted bits marinated in grain flour, salt, veggies, and yam flour makes for chewy explosion in the mouth as the fat renders. Imagine bacon, but better.
Honestly on our first trip, we went there specifically for dak galbi (spicy chicken). It’s hard to find in Boston, and an experience worth having in a restaurant. Their version is at-the-table cooked chicken with mushrooms and sprouts. But we also tried a tteokbokki (rice cakes) with intestines dish, and I loved the gui flavor so much, we vowed to come back for the full shebang.
Our second trip, we opted for the 2-person Mala assorted gui, so, saucy and spicy. We added extra vegetables (carrots and cabbage) and glass noodles, to round out the dish. Other options to include udon noodles, wide starch noodles, fried rice cakes, mushrooms, fondue, and kimchi fried rice. Our server took special care to cook our giant dish in front of us on the rubber mat grills, first plating out some salt-and-pepper dusted rice cakes. Of the gui lineup, I’d say the large intestines were my favorite, as they have a delicious fattiness to them that melts in your mouth. Each gui had a distinct characteristic. I think our added veggies/noodles pushed the dish to two extra lunch servings, so in all, not a bad value.
Gopchang Story offers the gui individually or as an assortment. They also feature an octopus, intestine, shrimp casserole, spicy crab, beef brisket, kalbi jjim (short ribs), bulgogi hotpot, kimchi cold noodles, and a yookwhe (beef tartar) bibimbap. The yookwhe is also available as an appetizer, along with tripe, and seafood pancake, and they offer tripe or egg fried rice and a doenjang jook (soybean paste risotto). The banchans were decent enough, nice kimchi. But the focus is definitely beef-leaning, and probably not the best choice for a vegetarian.
To round out the meal, Gopchang Story features Korean and domestic beers, soju, makgeolli (rice wine), wine, and highballs. I’m pretty sure they didn’t offer tea.
In all, we look forward to being repeat customers, and brining some new waygooks into the gui fold. Well, maybe not our pickiest friends. But it’s worth stepping out of one’s comfort zone to enjoy this delicious dish!
