Skip to content
Quida 日本語

SeoulVisited March 2022 Views –

Simmani Yakcho Baeksuk, Seoul: A Mountain-Herb Chicken and Duck Pot in Seongsu

A wide brown glazed pot of boiling broth on a tabletop burner, filled with shredded meat, thin white mushroom stalks, orange threads that look like dried cordyceps and pale yellow pleated pieces.
How to order Address & map

Simmani Yakcho Baeksuk (심마니약초백숙) is a restaurant in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, that cooks chicken and duck with herbs and mushrooms. Esquire Korea names mountain-herb chicken baeksuk (산약초 닭백숙) as its signature dish: chicken boiled in a dark broth with more than 30 kinds of herbs and mushrooms.

The mountain-herb baeksuk pot

Baeksuk (백숙) is a bird boiled in broth until the meat falls apart. In the March 2022 cover photo above, the wide brown pot holds shredded meat, thin white mushroom stalks, orange threads that look like the dried cordyceps (동충하초) reviewers mention, and pale yellow pleated pieces. I can't tell from the photo whether the meat is chicken or duck.

A May 2023 reviewer says the owner trims the herbs and mushrooms for the duck baeksuk and serves them into each bowl. On the broth, Esquire Korea (July 2025) notes a faint herbal-medicine scent, while an April 2023 blog reviewer says it tastes like medicine and may split opinion.

A black bowl of broth holding large pieces of cooked meat and orange-yellow pleated pieces, with an empty black bowl, green chilies and chopsticks beside it.
A black bowl of broth with large pieces of meat, March 2022.

Side dishes and the herbal liquor

The table fills with banchan (반찬), small side dishes. In one photo they sit on black glossy dishes over a paper mat printed with Chinese characters: kimchi, seasoned greens, pink slices that look like ssam-mu (쌈무, pickled radish for wrapping), lettuce, a bowl of brown paste and green chilies with big pieces of white onion. An April 2026 reviewer passes on the owner's tips for eating the meal: lettuce with pickled radish and chili, a wrap in white kimchi, or a wrap in seaweed stems. The same reviewer says leftover banchan can be packed to go.

A wooden table crowded with black glossy dishes of side dishes, including kimchi, seasoned greens, pink radish slices, a pile of lettuce, a small bowl of brown paste, and green chilies with large pieces of white onion, over a tan paper mat printed with Chinese characters.
Side dishes on black glossy dishes, March 2022.

Another photo shows a white flask and a cup of amber liquid, though the photo doesn't show what it is. A May 2023 reviewer says the owner serves a house herbal liquor (약주) before the meal.

A white ceramic flask with a thumb dent and a small white cup holding an amber liquid on a wooden table, with a red object that looks like a portable burner behind them.
A white flask and a small cup of amber liquid, March 2022.

Simmani Yakcho Baeksuk: booking and prices

Simmani Yakcho Baeksuk takes bookings by phone (02-466-9368). The May 2023 reviewer calls a reservation essential for the duck baeksuk, and the April 2026 reviewer says you must book by phone. Baeksuk's base order is one bird for four people, says the April 2026 reviewer. Simmani Yakcho Baeksuk's menu board, in a photo from the May 2023 review, listed chicken baeksuk at ₩80,000, duck baeksuk at ₩90,000 and aged-kimchi chicken stew (묵은지 닭도리탕) at ₩60,000, and asked guests to finish within two hours. As of November 14, 2026, Polle's listing shows Simmani Yakcho Baeksuk's chicken baeksuk at ₩90,000, the duck at ₩100,000 and the stew at ₩70,000.

How to order

Show this to the staff

예약했어요.

Yeyakaesseoyo.

I have a reservation.

산약초 닭백숙 하나 주세요.

Sanyakcho dakbaeksuk hana juseyo.

One mountain-herb chicken baeksuk, please.

남은 반찬은 포장해 주세요.

Nameun banchaneun pojanghae juseyo.

Please pack the leftover side dishes to go.

日本語で読む

Sources checked