Korean Celebrity Favorites | Famous Daegu Locations You Need To Visit

Did you know Daegu is Korea's third largest city?

It's a great place to visit when you're on vacation as there is a lot to do and see.

Today I want to show you some of the places that have been visited and loved by Korean celebrities as well as daegu locals.

Keimyung University Daemyung Campus
계명대학교 대명캠퍼스

Address: 대구광역시 남구 대명동 명덕로 104
104 Myeongdeok-ro, Daemyeong-dong, Nam-gu, Daegu

First, I want to introduce you to Keimyung University Daemyung Campus.

This absolutely gorgeous college has been dubbed "Korea's little Harvard".

If you're a fan of Seventeen, you probably have seen these photos already.

The members visited the Daemyung campus to film the videos 만세(MANSAE) Part Switch Ver. and 울고 싶지 않아 (Don't Wanna Cry) Part Switch Ver.

Additionally, many dramas have been filmed here such as Boys Over Flowers, The Priests, Extraordinary You, and Mr. Sunshine.

This is the main building on campus, the place where Seventeen's photos were taken.

The red brick building covered by climbing ivy vines coupled with the white pillars make for a beautiful backdrop, so its no wonder it's been used in multiple filming projects.

The more western architectural style really makes a statement.

Recently, the drama Mr. Sunshine was filmed here.

It would be fun to have a picnic here too, don't you think?

Or how about sitting on the steps and eating sandwiches like Go Ae-shin and Eugene Choi?

The rest of the campus is equally stunning, from the kitchens to the open auditorium.

You don't want to miss this place when you visit Daegu!

How To Get There

From Namsan Sation (남산역) Line 3, take exit 2 then cross the street at the crosswalk and continue straight.

Follow signs for Keimyung University, about 5 minutes by foot.

Jeil Sutbul Makchang
제일숯불막창

Address: 대구광역시 수성구 황금2동 841-2
841-2 Hwanggeum 2(i)-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu

Hours: 17:00-02:30

Daegu is known for its flame-grilled makchang (숯불 막창).

Makchang is made of either beef or pork intestines and is a chewy, savory dish loved by Koreans.

The grilling of intestines over charcoal started in Daegu in the 1970s and was so popular that it eventually spread throughout the country.

Even though you can find many makchang restaurants anywhere in Korea now, nothing quite beats the original.

Today I want to introduce you to the best makchang restaurant in Daegu that IU enjoyed when she was on Hyori's Homestay.

On the show there were five coworkers from Daegu and they brought makchang with them and grilled it at the homestay on Jeju Island.

IU really loved the makchang and it became a hot topic thereafter.

We of course had to pay a visit to the restaurant and try it for ourselves!

As you would expect at a really good restaurant, it was packed even on a weeknight.

The walls were adorned with many celebrities' autographs who had visited the restaurant, as well as images from the episode of Hyori's Homestay that featured the restaurant's makchang.

Since there were three of us, we decided to order one portion of beef makchang and two portions of pork makchang.

The sides dishes were very simple, limited to lettuce and perilla leaves to use as wraps and other vegetables and sauces to use as condiments.

But the highlight of these is the makjang sauce, which is made from soybean paste.

Add some of the green chili peppers, green onion, and minari to the makjang and you're ready to get grilling!

Since I had never had pork makchang, we decided to try the pork first.

Pork Makchang (1 serving, 150g) 10,000 won
돼지 막창

You can either cook the makchang as is, or cut the pieces so that they lie flat.

Cook them until they develop a nice golden brown color and bit of crispy charring.

There are two ways to eat makchang and naturally I tried both.

The first is to dip the makchang in the makjang sauce with peppers, minari, and onion.

The second is to use a lettuce or perilla leaf as a wrap and place the makchang and other condiments inside.

Beef Makchang (1 serving, 150g) 15,000 won
소 막창

After finishing the pork makchang, we started grilling the beef, which is more expensive, but tastes even better in my opinion.

The beef makchang can be eaten just like the pork, either dipped in makjang or in a wrap.

The beef is chewier than the pork, so if you like that kind of texture, I recommend the beef over the pork.

I really enjoyed both of them and the open flame grilling and their special makjang sauce really added to the flavor and experience.

How To Get There

Take exit 1 from Children's Hall Station (어린이회관역) Line 3, cross the street and go left.

Turn right at the second side street, then take the second left.

Beodeul Restaurant
버들식당

Address: 대구광역시 달서구 성당1동 118-1
118-1 Seongdang 1(il)-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu

Hours: 12:00- 22:00
Break: 15:00-17:00

Next, I want to show you Beodeul, a restaurant right by Duryu Park, the largest park in Daegu.

It is a very old gopchang restaurant that has been around for three generations now.

It is also listed as one of the top 100 restaurants in Korea by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Many locals and tourists have been visiting Badeul for over 50 years.

In 2018, on the JTBC show Night Goblin, Lee Hong-gi of F.T. Island and JR of NU'EST ate here and had an enjoyable meal.

When you first walk in, there is a hallway with doors on either side and behind each door is a room with 1 to 2 tables.

It was nice to relax in such a cozy environment.

The menu is largely divided by hotpot (전골) and seasoned for grilling (양념구이) options.

Since the restaurant is known for its hotpot, we decided to order their signature hotpot for two people.

Fantastic Taste (Samhap hotpot) (1 portion, 250g) 17,000 won
환상의 맛 (삼합 전골)

The hotpot was placed on the burner in the middle of the table and side dishes around it.

The side dishes included typical options such as bean sprouts and fishcakes.

We also ordered soju, a must when eating this type of food!

The hot pot was served with a generous amount of perilla leaves and mushrooms on top.

Everything else is fully cooked and ready to eat, so just mix well and when the perilla leaves and mushrooms are to your liking, go ahead and dig in!

The best part about this hotpot is that it includes gopchang, daechang, and bulgogi!

The cast of Night Goblin chose this dish as well so they could enjoy the three different cuts of meat.

The combination of sweet bulgogi, chewy gopchang, and savory daechang was, quite literally, a fantastic taste.

Half & Half Noodles 1,000 won
반반사리

After finishing the meats, we added udon and ramen noodles, which is a common practice in Korea.

After all that food we were very full and satisfied.

How To Get There

From Duryu Station (두류역) Line 2, take bus number 503 by exit 9.

Get off at Duryu Park Junction (두류공원네거리2) and cross the street, then walk down the smaller street to find Badeul Restaurant.

Jungang Tteokbokki
중앙떡볶이

Address: 대구광역시 중구 동성로2가 동성로2길 81
81 Dongseong-ro 2-gil, Dongseong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Daegu

Hours: 11:30-20:00 (may close sooner if they run out)
Closed: First Sundays, every 10 days.

The next place we're going to check out is Jungang Tteokbokki located in the center of the city.

This snack bar has been here for around 30 years and is well loved by locals and visitors.

This eatery appeared on the program Baek Jong-won's Top 3 Chef King.

The celebrity chef enjoyed it very much and named it one of the top three tteokbokki restaurants in Daegu.

You can see the staff preparing the tteokbokki in a large iron pan, traditional Korean snack bar style!

The dining area had long bar style tables on either side, which provided more seating.

Luckily, we didn't have to wait since it was after the lunch rush when we arrived.

There were autographs on the walls of famous customers such as soccer players for the national team, actor Ahn Jae-wook, and 2PM's Jun. K.

Here's what we ordered!

It's the signature food of Jungang and the same thing Chef Baek Jong-won had when he was here.

Rice Tteokbokki 4,000 won
쌀떡볶이

Big and chewy rice cakes and savory fish cake in spicy red sauce!

It's become such a famous Korean dish these days, it hardly needs an introduction.

Some tteok is made with wheat flour, but since these are made with sweet rice flour, they are very chewy and delicious!

I'm not particularly fond of spicy food, so I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to eat this, but it was not too spicy and I really enjoyed the sweet taste and different depths of flavor.

Napjak Mandu 4000원
납작만두

Napjak mandu means "flat dumplings".

They originated here in daegu and their characteristic feature is that they are, as the name suggests, flat, without as much filling as regular mandu.

They are served in Tteokbokki sauce and are quite tasty.

Nabjak mandu are delicious on their own, but the best thing to do is wrap them around your tteokbokki for a heavenly combination of flavors and textures!

How To Get There

Take exit 2 out of Jungangno Station (중앙로역) Line 1, then go down the side street on your left.

At the end of the road, turn right and you will come to Jungang Tteokbokki on your right.

Subong Banjeom
수봉반점

Address: 대구광역시 북구 대현2동 321-70
321-70 Daehyeon 2(i)-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu

Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11:00-15:00
Sat & Holidays: 10:20-15:40
Sun: Closed

Subongbanjeom is another long-standing Daegu establishment that was also featured on Chef Baek Jong-won's show as one of the top 5 jjampong restaurants in Daegu.

It's been around for twenty years and is one of the most well known Chinese-Style Bibimbap restaurants.

Since this restaurant is insanely popular and always busy, they have a unique way of handling the crowds.

Orders are placed at the front of the restaurant and a certain number of guests are allowed to enter all at the same time.

As shown in the photo above, tables are cleaned up and reset at specific times when the previous group of guests leaves, and then the next group is allowed to enter.

I arrived at 13:30 and ordered, but the next time slot, 13:55, was already full, so the soonest I could be served was 14:30.

You can sit or stand and wait in front of the restaurant, or you can walk around and explore while you wait.

Chilseong Market is a large traditional market that would be the perfect place to kill some time while you're here.

When the number on your ticket is called, you can go in, so be sure to be back on time if you do go exploring.

As you can see, the inside is not very large and can only seat 7-8 groups at a time.

The side dishes are the very simple, just pickled radish, raw onion, and chunjang (black bean paste)

Chinese-Style Bibimbap 8,000 won
중화비빔밥

Finally I get to try the Chinese-Style Bibimbap!

I was really excited since this dish is very hard to come by anywhere other than Daegu.

As was recommended by Chef Baek Jong-won, I first tried the jjampong which comes with the entree order.

The flavor was quite spicy, but had a lot of depth from the various seafood and vegetable ingredients.

And finally I tried the famous Chinese-Style Bibimbap, made with delicious pork.

The red color had me thinking it was going to be very spicy, but it was pleasantly sweet and not too spicy.

The taste was so addicting that I was sad when it was gone.

It definitely deserves it's title as Daegu's specialty.

If you want to try Chinese-Style Bibimbap, definitely check out Subong Banjeom.

How To Get There

From Chilseong Market Station (칠성시장역) Line 1, take exit 4 and cross the bridge you see on your left.

After crossing the bridge, go straight for one block then turn left down the side street.

8beon Sikdang
8번 식당

Address: 대구광역시 중구 서성로1가 59-1
59-1 Seoseongno 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Daegu

Hours:
Mon-Fri: 08:00-24:00
Sun: 08:00-21:00

Next, I want to take you to a restaurant called 8(pal)beon Sikdang, the name meaning "restaurant number 8".

This restaurant with 40 years of history is known for their gukbap (국밥) - rice soup.

Pork gukbap, a favorite dish among Koreans, originated in Gyeongsan-do, so there are a lot of great restaurants here that serve it.

8beon Sikdang does offer pork gukbap, however they are best known for their sundae (순대) gukbap.

Sundae (pronounced more like soon-dae, not like the ice cream dish) is a type of sausage that is extremely popular in Korea.

Although the restaurant is old, the interior was very nice and looked to have been remodeled at some point recently.

Tables are spaced out so you can eat comfortably, and there are dividers inlace now due to COVID-19.

At the entrance you can see plates that have been signed by famous people, which is fun a different.

There were a number of autographs of celebrities from Daegu as well as members of ZE:A, and also a photo taken with PSY.

The menu is divided into soup dishes and meat dishes.

I chose to try the Sundae Gukbap, since that's what they are famous for.

The side dishes were kept simple, kimchi, onion, chili peppers, and cabbage and lettuce salad that was dressed with a sweet and sour sauce and sesame oil.

Sundae Gukbap 8,000 won
순대국밥

The earthenware pot was full of Sundae Gukbap and had a generous serving of scallions on top.

Soups like this come unseasoned and the patron seasons it to their liking with the salt, pepper, and red pepper paste provided.

Plump pieces of sundae were hiding underneath the green onions in the broth.

Most sundae is made with thin, transparent sausage casing, but 8beon Sikdang uses thick, high quality makchang, which made for a more chewy and savory sausage.

The broth was also very high quality, and I could tell a lot of care had been put into making it.

If you want Daegu's best sundae gukbap, go to 8beon Sikdang!

How To Get There

From Seomun Market Station (서문시장역) Line 3, take exit 1and turn right then go straight.

At the intersection, cross at the crosswalk on the left then go straight for one block.

You will find 8beon Sikdang by the entrance to the alley yon the left.

C'est La Vie Music Cafe (Closed)
쎄라비음악다방

Address: 대구광역시 중구 국채보상로102길 60
60, Gukchaebosang-ro 102-gil, Jung-gu, Daegu

Lastly, we're going to look at C'est la Vie, a cafe that was the filming site for the drama Love Rain.

Since the show was set in the 70s, the crew designed and built a cafe that was like a music cafe right out of the 70s.

After the filming was over, the cafe operated for about ten years and received lots of love and support from many people.

It was popular with older people who enjoyed the nostalgic aspect, as well as young people who wanted to experience a bit of the 70s for themselves.

Recently the drama Youth of May was also filmed here.

Sadly, the cafe closed its doors in August 2021, and we were just in time to capture some last photos.

The cafe is located on the second floor.

The neon signs and furnishings looked, to me, faithful to the theme.

The interior was white spacious and the lighting had a yellowy, warm tone to it that seemed to add to the 70s vibe.

The interior was plain wood and white with a lot of retro style furniture and decorations, which gave the cafe a very comfortable feel.

The chairs were all soft and cushioned, great for relaxing in for while.

On one wall there were photos of The Beatles along with signatures of the actors from Love Rain.

Due to COVID-19, the record player has not been used in a while and has collected dust, but it's still there and was cool to see.

Since it was originally a set for the drama, there are many traces of Love Rain left behind.

Unfortunately visiting C'est la Vie may not be possible again in the future, but I hope you can enjoy the photos we snagged while we were there.

Today we took you on a little tour of places in Daegu visited by celebrities, but that are also popular with the locals.

Next time you travel to Daegu, be sure to check out some of these cool places and let us know how you liked them!