16.365 Galbi Tang

Cycle 16 – Item 365

POST 5,844

5 (Mon) January 2026

Galbi Tang

2.5

-Nonhyeon, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W

The restaurant has added galbi tang, as well as galbi jjim, to the menu. Which raises an eyebrow first because neither dish is northern in character, as the other dishes on the menu firmly are, and second because the menu hasn’t changed once, as fas as I can recall, in the three decades that I’ve been a customer.

Half empty at 12:44 – used to be a queue during the lunch rush.

Business must be existentially slow for the hyper-conservative owners to adopt such an extraordinary measure. While the demand for Pyeongyang-style MNM remains stronger than ever, the supply is even stronger, so many restaurants now specializing in the dish, at least 10 in Gangnam alone – 10 years ago, there was only this place.

The first time documenting the menu, so I can’t compare the price increases over the years, but I’d bet the MNM cost around 10,000 back in Cycle 1.

I wonder if the owners of the other branches have done the same.

For some reason, I’d never noticed this “HOW TO ENJOY” guide until today, though prior posts do show that it’s been up for years.

The galbi tang was okay. But totally unnecessary. Will never order it again.

New banchan: ggakduki (bottom left) and geotjeolli (top right), both distinctly red, very southern in style, compared to the kimchi (top left) and muji (bottom right), more traditionally northern.

****

CYCLE 16 WRAP

Highlights, both personal/professional and culinary, included the college transition trip to Berkeley, liveaboard trip to Indonesia, and jjambbong trip to Gongju/Gunsan.

Cycle 16 was very successful, as represented by 24 dishes/meals rated 4.0, compared to 20 in Cycle 15, and 19 in Cycle 14. (Cycle 12 has had the most 4.0 posts with 35, followed by Cycle 5 with 25, and Cycle 10 with 24).

37K views, a surprising 136% increase from 15.7K in Cycle 15, 13,231 in Cycle 14 – I continue to believe that these are probably bots, mostly.

26.3K visitors, up 134% from 11.2K visitors in Cycle 15, 8,618 in Cycle 14 – again, bots.

Top 10 countries: China (first time ever cracking the top ten), USA, Canada, Republic of Korea, Philippines, UK, Singapore, Germany, Australia, Indonesia – we lost Sweden (Gustaf!!).

While the milk taste test post was again the most viewed at 1,057 (see 12.122 Taste Test: Korean Milk), the most viewed post from Cycle 16 with 18 views was about the Yeongbinru jjambbong (see 16.073 Jeonguk Odae Jjambbong: The Yeongbinru); followed by chicken adobo at NAIA with 17 views (see 16.149 Chicken Adobo with Rice); and boiled chicken in Taipei (see 16.201 “Chicken Meat”), Toowoomba pasta at Outback (see 16.042 Toowoomba Pasta), and fried chicken from Hachin (see 16.003 Yetnal Tongdak) with 16 views each.

The top 4 most viewed posts of all time (only 4 posts with 1,000+ views): milk taste test with 4,202 views, but only 3 comments (all from Gustaf) + 1 like (see 12.122 Taste Test: Korean Milk); Burger King taste test with 1,366 views, 0 comments + 1 like (see 10.090 Taste Test: Flame-Grilled Cheeseburger vs Whopper Jr); water taste test with 1,055 views, 0 comments + 0 likes (see 12.098 Taste Test: Mineral Waters); and Misik Ramyeon with 1,035 views, 0 comments + 1 like (see 13.030 The Misik Ramyeon (Spicy)).

Other than a handful of comments from Number One Fan LJY (after she was guilted into it), only 1 non-spam comment from an actual viewer, but on a post from Cycle 1 (see 1.085 Maakouda Sandiwich).

In family matters, the big thing was DJ getting accepted to Cal and setting off into the world on his own.

BEST DISH BY ME

16.173 Chicken Marsala with Papardelle