Actual Chinese – Gugugu
As far as I know, this is the only authentic Chinese restaurant in Ulsan. No jjajangmyeon or kimchi, it’s the real thing. There are some other lamb skewer places around and small restaurants, but here you have a big selection and no apparent attempt to Koreanify the food.
If you know Chinese food at all, you know that there is huge regional variety and the very term ‘Chinese food’ is kind of useless. This restaurant offers dishes from all over China, but is a northeastern style place, so it may not be what you’ve encountered in Beijing or Hong Kong or wherever.
It’s a small place down an alleyway near Taehwa Rotary, directions at the end of the post. The owners are friendly, there’s a giant dog on the roof who will whine at you as you enter, the beer flows freely and they’re open late, though I have no idea when exactly they close. No English, but you can manage. They speak Korean and Mandarin, if you have either of those in your group. And if you’re one of those nerds who learned Japanese you should be able to read the menu.
There’s a large variety of meat skewers–we went with lamb. Good flavor, tender, and cheap. Order more than you think you should.
They come with the mysterious spice mix that involves cumin, pepper, and peanuts. I don’t know what else, except for goodness.
We went with three main dishes this time around. The first was beef and leeks, in a vaguely sweet sauce. This was where we discovered the Korean menu has mistranslations–the Chinese says it’s beef and the Korean says it’s lamb. Definitely was beef. I suppose it’s nice to see that it’s not just English that gets mangled.
This is yuxiang rousi, a Sichuan pork dish. Despite being Sichuan, it wasn’t particularly peppery–this was one place where you noticed this is northeast China, where peppers aren’t used so much. Still good, but keep it in mind.
And this is a stir fried eggplant thing that is awesome and I don’t remember the name of. Look for eggplant in the menu. It has seafood as well; it’s Chinese food so it’s not vegetarian friendly.
They did give us this spicy veggie thing for free. I don’t know what it is, but it involved cucumbers and rice noodles.
Gugugu is located in Sinjeongdong near Taehwa Rotary. On the main north-south road with City Hall, you’ll be looking for a 7/11 and a Climberholic next to each other on the west side of the street. There’s also a decent Chinese grocery store a little further toward the rotary on the right side, if you want ingredients to make your own.
Go down there, it’s on the left side and the sign is in Chinese. (Check our drinking and dining map for a more exact location – Ed.)
Now, the meat of the post. I have brought you the magic. The holy grail. A menu translation. This translation is not perfect, and I didn’t do it so I’m not taking credit. But it will guide you in this land of Chinese delights, use it well.
Page 1 Skewers:
Lamb
Beef
Beef Tendon
Heart
Chicken Intestine
Chicken Heart
Pig Heart
No Idea
Squid
Shrimp
Dried Tofu
Chicken Wings
Beef Headcheese (not sure, maybe intestine)
Page 2 Pork:
어향 is fish seasoning, so yuxiang rousi
Some kind of seasoned pork, maybe five spice
Dried Tofu and Pork Wrapped in Lettuce
Hongso Ribs (stir fry with sugar and soy sauce)
Sweet and Sour Pig Ribs
Ribs and that Bean stir fry
Pork Shoulder Chili Stir fry
Pork Shoulder tempura
Sweet and Sour Pork (탕수육)
Spicy Pork Tempura
Sweet and Sour Pork Tempura
Pork Belly and Chili Stir Fry
Page 3 More Pork:
Pork Stew
Extra Spicy Pork Stir Fry (I guess, I don’t know)
Pork and Egg Stir fry
No idea, the Korean is weird on this one
Seafood and Burnt Rice (누룽지) Soup
Fish Seasoning Pork Liver Stir Fry
Pork Liver Stir Fry
Intestine Stir Fry
Kung Pao Pork
Spicy Pork Stir Fry
Pork and Green Onion Stir Fry
Page 4 Not Pork:
Sichuan Pepper Tofu
Tofu stir fry
Dried Tofu Stir fry
Shrimp Tempura
Shrimp Stir fry
Silkworm Tempura
Silkworm Stir fry
Corn and Pine Nut Stir Fry (maybe)
Page 5 More Not Pork:
Don’t know, some seasoned vegetables
Cucumbers and seasoned vegetables with 양장피 (like rice paper, made from sweet potatoes)
Century Egg and Tofu
Dried Pollock and seasoned vegetables
Dried Tofu and seasoned vegetables
Cucumber and Beef and seasoned vegetables
Pig Ear and seasoned vegetables
Some kind of seasoned beef, not sure
Anchovies and Peanuts
Cucumber and seasoned vegetables
Page 6 Other and Fish:
Beef fried on an iron plate (like teppanyaki)
Pig Intestine on an iron plate (might be cow, no idea)
Fish:
Hongso Hairtail (stir fry with sugar and soy sauce)
Pollack Stir Fry
Sichuan Pollack
Corbina Tempura
Squid and Chives Stir Fry
Seasoned Squid (might be five spice)
Page 7
Beef Stir Fry
Beef with cumin
Chili and beef stir fry
Beef Heart and cumin
Beef Tendon and cumin
Lamb and cumin
Beef and Lamb and Garlic with cumin (really not sure, don’t recognize the chinese characters)
Chicken:
Kung Pao Chicken
Chicken Wings Tempura
Hong So Chicken Wings (stir fry with sugar and soy sauce)
Page 8
Dog meat!
Lamb Hot Pot
Stews:
Dwenjang Jjigae (된장찌개)
Cheonggukjang (청국장)
Stuff to have with drinky drinks
Sundae (순대, probably chinese style)
Kimchi fried rice
Eggplant fried rice
Egg fried rice
Hot noodles
Cold noodles (probably chinese style)
Rice
Boiled dumplings 물만두
Page 9
海味烧茄子 – Braised Squid with eggplant
炸茄盒 (menu has a typo) – Fried Eggplant
地三鲜 – Sautéed Eggplant with Potatoes and Green Bell Pepper
烧豆角 – Braised Green Beans
木须韭菜 – Chinese Chives with Eggs
肉炒木耳 – Fried Pork with Black Fungi
肉炒芹菜 – Fried Pork with Celery
川白肉 – Pork with Pickled Cabbage
香菇肉片 – Sliced Pork with Mushrooms
元葱炒栮 – Fried Onion with Black Fungi