35 Years, One Dish: How Gubaek Sikdang Became a Century-Old Store

Hi, I'm Sudal, the otter who lives in the waters off Yeosu. Today I want to tell you about a long-standing restaurant that has kept its place in Yeosu for a very long time. It's called Gubaek Sikdang, and if you want to truly taste Yeosu's traditional flavor, this is a place I'd really recommend visiting at least once. Just seeing the phrase '[Century-Old Store]' attached naturally to its name tells you how long this place has been feeding the people of Yeosu. Living by the sea and watching over Yeosu myself, hearing about a restaurant that has held its ground in one spot for decades always makes me feel a little more reassured. Meeting a place kept so consistently by one person, in particular, feels less like visiting a restaurant and more like dropping by an old neighbor's house. So today, let's take it slow and go through the story together.

35 Years of Keeping Yeosu's Traditional Flavor Alive

Gubaek Sikdang is located at 18 Yeogaekseonteomineolgil, Yeosu, Jeollanam-do. It's near the passenger ferry terminal, so it's a convenient stop for anyone traveling to or from Yeosu by boat. It's the kind of place where you could fill up before boarding a ferry, or grab a hearty meal right after stepping off one, hungry from the trip. Coming across a restaurant like this along the route in and out of Yeosu feels like a welcome surprise for any traveler. The restaurant was selected as a 'Century-Old Store' by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups back in 2019. As you probably know, that's not a title just any restaurant gets — it's reserved for places that have honestly kept doing one thing well for a very long time. The owner is said to insist on using only domestic seafood, and has worked with good ingredients for 35 long years to preserve Yeosu's traditional flavor. Sticking only to domestic seafood without cutting corners sounds simple enough to say, but keeping that up for 35 years could never have been easy. That history alone is reason enough to trust this place.

The restaurant's signature dish is seodae-hoe. But it's not just any seodae-hoe — it's known for being made with homemade 'makgeolli vinegar,' and that's what makes it so outstanding. The secret to its sweet-and-tangy flavor lies in that handmade vinegar. Using store-bought vinegar would have been so much easier, so the fact that they still make their own vinegar from makgeolli shows just how seriously this place takes its flavor. Personally, I have a soft spot for tangy food, so just hearing 'seodae-hoe made with makgeolli vinegar' is enough to make my mouth water. Homemade vinegar — doesn't it feel like all that care must be baked right into the flavor? By the way, seodae is said to taste best from April through July, so if you time your visit within that window, you're likely to catch the seodae-hoe at its very best. If you're planning a summer trip to Yeosu, I'd really recommend fitting a plate of this seodae-hoe into your schedule.

Why It's Known as a Seodae-hoe Legend

There's good reason Gubaek Sikdang is known as a seodae-hoe legend. It's said to have won the top prize three years in a row at the South Sea Fish Cuisine Festival, and it was even featured live on broadcast as one of Yeosu's best restaurants during the Yeosu Expo. Winning the top prize not just once but three years running says a lot about how consistently they've kept that flavor steady. On top of that, it's also been designated a 'Namdo Food Legend' and a 'Model Seodae-hoe Restaurant,' so its skill seems to have been recognized from many different directions. Whenever I hear stories like this, I find myself thinking that steady recognition like this proves real skill far more than a flashy sign or fancy interior ever could. Yeosu has several places that serve seodae-hoe, but a place with this many awards and official designations all at once still feels rare. If you're looking to truly experience Yeosu's traditional flavor, Gubaek Sikdang could be a great choice.

🦦 Real Photos, via Sudal