Yes! There is a museum out there for everything. If you are a fan of spicy Korean rice cake, be sure to visit the Sinjeon Tteokbokki Museum next time you are in Daegu!
Tteokbokki is one of the most common foods in Korea. There are many places to eat tteokbokki that can be found all over the country. You can find it sold as street food, in convenience stores, and in restaurants. This Korean food often appears in Korean dramas so many people internationally are familiar with the food, even if they’ve never tried it themselves.
‘Tteokbokki’ (떡볶이) is normally bright red. It consists of rice cake covered in spicy sauce. However, there are some variations served with other sauces, so it is not always its signature red color. In fact, Tteokbokki can be served with any sauce and stay true to its name. The name comes from combining the words rice cake (가래떡) and stir-fried (볶음).
One of the most popular tteokbokki brands in Korea, ‘Sinjeon Tteokbokki’ (신전 떡볶이), originated in the city of Daegu. It turns out that the brand ‘Sinjeon Tteokbokki’ has a museum. As a big tteokbokki fan, I decided to visit the ‘Sinjeon Museum’ and found many interesting things to try in this museum.
Sinjeon Tteokbokki opened its main store at Daegu in 1999. Then Sinjeon Tteokbokki got a Tteokbokki Seasoning HACCP certification. As of the date this article was written, ‘Sinjeon Tteokbokki’ has 782 franchised stores in Korea and abroad. Overseas franchises are in the US, Australia, China, Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Currently, they are also preparing to open additional overseas franchises.
The entire history of Sinjeon Tteokbokki is written in Sinjeon Museum. Their motto is “we plant dreams and create a new culture” (우리는 꿈을 심고 새로운 문화를 만들어갑니다). This is written in their museum wall, in multiple languages. The Sinjeon Museum has 3 floors. The first floor is the Museum, the 2nd floor is an office space, and 3rd floor is a ground area and sports center
There are lots of things to see and do in the museum. After paying the entrance fee, don’t forget to take a brochure. The brochure not only contains information and maps, but it is also the paper for the stamp tour.
The stamp tour map here is for finding the stamps throughout the museum. Then, you have to stamp it on the brochure. So, exploring Sinjeon Museum is more interesting with the guide and finding stamps.
The museum starts with an exhibition on chili pepper farming. Chili peppers are the essential component of seasoning for tteokbokki. Then, there is the motto wall, in many languages. Next, you can see the Sinjeon Tteokbokki franchise awards. Finally, there is an art gallery that displays the process of how seasoning is made.
After the exhibition, I went over to the experience section. There, I could try the tteokbokki that was provided by the museum. I had 4 pieces of tteokbokki and some fried food. After that, I made my own tteokbokki cup in the ‘My Cup Tteokbokki Factory’ room. It was so much fun to make tteokbokki cups according to my own taste.
They also have a lounge and a cafe, we may take a rest for a while here. There is also a game room but unfortunately, many of the machines were not working when I went.
Next, I went up to the 3rd floor of the museum and found the sports center. The 3rd floor is a rooftop with one building. The outdoor area is made up of a futsal field, tennis, and kick-board scooters racetrack. The indoor area is for equipment storage and a gym. We can only use the kickboard scooter for free even though the poster says paid rental. Other sports like gym, futsal, and tennis are for employees only.
This museum is child-friendly so when I was there most of the visitors were families. The museum offers a variety of exhibits that are colorful and appealing to children. Sinjeon Tteokbokki also has various characters that describe food: tteok, mandu, and fried foods. All the experiences available are also child-friendly because I saw some families who brought children to enjoy the stamp tour. Scooters that are on the 3rd floor are also available in various sizes so that both children and adults can use them.
Sinjeon Museum Daegu (신전 뮤지엄) Address: 43 Gwaneum-Ro, Buk-Gu, Daegu Korean address: 대구 북구 관음로 43 Operating Hours: Wed-Sun: 10:00 AM - 05:30 PM
If you’re visiting Daegu, Click Here to read about more fun destinations in the city!
