Dogs on the menu?
 

Hi all, I´d like to taste a dog meat in Korea or Shanghai on my next trip, but can´t find any reliable information and my contacts made in Korea seem to be lost. Would you have any suggestions where to go and taste dogs or cats? Thanks a lot

You can Naver search it when you are in Korea for reviews on the good restaurants that serves canines. Dog and cat food can be bought at your friendly grocery near you.

haha, sorry, not a native speaker, I meant a food FROM dogs, not FOR them, of course ;-)
Since I don´t speak korean, do you think that putting EN-KR translation into Naver and then translating it back will work succesfully? Thanks very much, I forgot the Naver option ;-)

I don't know of any famous places. The most famous one, I read, recently closed. Even if you can't speak Korean, you can call 1330 (the tourist information line) and they can tell you where you can go. Or ask your hotel. It's called "bo shin tang" (not proper spelling obviously, but it's for you to sound it out haha).

Just outside Gwangjang Market. Look for the rib cages outside.

thanks very much both of you, especially for the last, very helpful post. Hope that it wil remain until my summer visit.

You can also ask for "kay-go-gi", which is dog meat. Finding places selling dog is much harder than in the past. In 1988, the Olympics committee forced such restaurants into side street and alleyways to avoid a bad reputation of the country. You might find a friendly Korean (maybe older man) who would know where to go.

As for Shanghai, in the years I lived there, I never once saw dog meat, but, of course, I wasn't really looking too hard.

made a friend last time in Korea but lost the paper with his phone. Will try the Gwangjang option and if it won't work, then will have to ask around. Hope that korean friendliness will lead me to some boshintang or kaygogi. Maybe these words printed out in KR language will be helpful? Thanks a lot!

The average person won't really know where to go get it. I mean yes, they're in back alleys and they're everywhere, but it's not something someone usually has a favorite restaurant on rotation.

ok, I understand this point. Nobody wants to fight the prejudice probably. Do you think that when I find the cages with four-legged dinners near any of the markets and ask some older men there, it will work? Or would you share any exact places you know? (PM possible and secret-keeping guaranteed).Thanks for your time

You won't see any cages with dogs (or any cages) in them FOR SURE. And no, the old men probably won't talk to you because you don't speak Korean. Not to mention they're probably drunk and surly. If anyone has a foreigner prejudice, it's usually them haha.

You will only see a tiny restaurant with the letters 보신탕 on the outside. That's it. No dog pictures, no nothing. A lot of places that sell it also sell other soup more prominently and those letters might be tiny or barely visible.

haha, I don´t think that dog´s pictures will be there :-) OK, will try as hard as possible to find it.

this might be late for the OP but useful to others here. Very good boshintang. I was taken here by numerous colleagues and it's always consistently good. Far from Myeongdong or City Hall, somewhat closer to Park Hyatt but worth it. Ask your hotel concierge to make a booking.

청계산황구
서울특별시 서초구 원지동 375-5

well, not late nor too far :-)
Do I suppose well that you meant an adress (correct in google maps)?
Simple google search directs to some general hwanggu.net, where I´m a bit lost.
Thanks anyway!

It'll work if you're going to drive there, take a taxi and search on Daum, Never or Google Maps.

Hwanggu is the name of the restaurant. I recommend the junggol and su yuk and their dipping sauce.

Thanks, I found a metro station nearby too.
Something about the prices? Reservations are a must?
If I just arrive and ask for a boshintang, would it go well?

It's like 10-12 bucks a bowl. You could find cheaper in Jongno but this place specializes in dog. They keep good quality bred for consumption animals around and don't use the neighborhood catch. I recommend the su yuk platter because they give you the tang (soup) and you get to try steamed dog meat at its best. Are you going alone?

Thank you. Definitely alone. And low cost :-) Just a dog-meat guarantee would be OK. No perks or full belly necessary;-)

To me, taste of dog meat is very gamy and fatty venison or goat meat.

That's why they have the spicy ginger sauce. It's not something I go out of my way for but just wanted to help out folks here.

the folks here appreciate this and thank you:-)
well, to summarize this a bit, we´ve had a few tips here:
1) Just outside Gwangjang Market
2) Hwanggu restaurant on the outskirts
3) some "cheaper places" in Jongno (any exact known?)
4) asking for "kay-go-gi" or "bosintang"("s" or "sh" spoken/written there?), probably in the info booth on the Sejong-daero avenue, where they had a good english last time.

Which one would you, local (or half-local) guys suggest to a lonely traveller, wanting to just taste a dog with the priorities:
1) sureness of a dog meat
2) good price/power ratio
3) easy access by the public transport from icn/gmp/city center (t-money already in possesion)?
Thank you for your cooperation and feedback!

To be honest, a common problem you might have is that some places only do an order for two. That could be wayyyyyyy too much if you just want a taste.

For example, I found this place on a Korean blog. While I've yet to try, it actually looks quite good. Or at least they're good food bloggers. It's near Seoul University Station on Line 2, which may not be the most ideal.

http://leeve.tistory.com/m/post/1015

And it's spoken SHIN sound in bosintang. When you Romanize Korean, the letter ㅅ is technically S, but with certain vowels it makes SH sound.

nice post...but...do I see the prices well, that it´s more expensive than the first mentioned place? And...I don´t have any experience with "sit-on-the-floor" restaurants (and not much with restaurants at all), could it be a problem? Sorry if I´m too specific but I´d like to solve as much as possible in advance ;-)

Namdaemun market has a dog restaurant named Tong il-ok (통일옥). A boshintang restaurant for 60 years. Close to Seoul station and city hall. It was 11,000 won per bowl and 13,000 for the special, bigger bowl of boshintang.

http://m.blog.naver.com/hyeok0315/30188539122

Here's some pics of what you're getting yourself into.

Sitting on the floor is, for big, tall foreigners, unavoidably awkward. I will do it and don't mind it, but I know what's coming. My big legs can't sit crossed properly. Nice tiny Koreans fold up so well haha. My knees slightly angle up at the table when I cross them (as we would incorrectly say "Indian style"), so I have to really reach.

What I do instead is one leg normal (half "indian") and the other leg I fold it on its side. They will fall asleep this way, so I switch them throughout the meal. We all have a good laugh, eat, drink and enjoy.

Because it's boshintang, I imagine that it's never going to be the same price as a 6,000W bowl of kimchi jjigae. Also, 2,000W is barely $1.80. It's not that much.

nice, thank you both, my bosintang guides :-)
If I undersand well, the "restaurant" kind of places serves only two portions and more (it means hwanggu and 서울 보신탕맛집 30년전통 옛날사철탕삼계탕♬ as well) and I can only use the "market" places, which seem to be "Tong il-ok (통일옥)" or "something outside of the Gwangjang Market", am I true?

I'm sure Tongil ok would serve you a single bowl.

well, hope I´ll find it there with printed korean words or pictures, thanks once more for helpful answers.

Most likely will be posted on the wall.

Sooo....I´m back and thanks to the wonderful girls at some airport informations and receptionists, I found two working Bosintang places (Seoul, Busan) and another one working but not visited (Jeju city, the most pretty receptionist I´ve seen gave me scary 10-seconds look after hearing Bosintang, but found it for me anyway). I´d put here exact locations of the first two in google maps and the photo of the Jeju directions if you, folks, were interested, but at first I have to discover how to put the google maps (or better street view) links and pictures into the thread here.

Glad you got your dog fill. It becomes popular during the stamina dropping rainy season in July and August.

it was great. I got cold on the way to Korea, so the hot and spicy Bosintang was the best cure :-) It was especially funny to see all those little licker-dog pets on the way from the restaurant and even the chihuahua dog with pampers on Haeundae beach :-)

You'd probably also like samgyetang, as explained, by this great Korean medical clinic. The Korean version of chicken noodle soup. One of my favs too!

here

You almost had a three dog night!

Just for your information, 8/10 Korean women suposely had some form of plastic surgery done. Your perceived beauty may not be genuine. I'm just saying...

No need to burst his Korean dream bubble :D

just to make a final post if anyone was interested:
I can confirm Tong-il-ok working (on the second floor) and Pusan restaurant right in this house with great Bosintang for 10,000KRW, meat plates starting at 30,000KRW:
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.1675...7i13312!8i6656

Some good stamina food!