A while back I heard there was a famous Chinese restaurant in Incheon and had been wanting to go ever since, and then a chance came up to visit together with one of its regulars.

The front entrance

It is near Baedari in Dong-Incheon. When we got there, the entrance had been turned into a parking area and there was a long line. Quite a few families among the customers, too.

Peanuts, century egg and coriander salad

The century egg, without a trace of fishiness, was really good. I got the feeling they take a lot of care in prepping their ingredients. As for the coriander salad, I love coriander to begin with, so there was no way I could dislike it.

Ohyang jangyuk (five-spice braised beef)

A light, refreshing dish to start things off gently, but the flavor is anything but light.

The kaoliang liquor they recommended

They brought out a kaoliang liquor called Jiangnan Gufang on the house, and it was incredibly smooth for its proof. It seemed better than Yantai kaoliang, and I wish more places sold it.

Yangjangpi

The quality of the ingredients here is clearly on a different level from other Chinese restaurants. Not that they use expensive ingredients, mind you; it seemed like a great deal of work goes into the prep. Even allowing for the fact that we came with a regular, to have food prepared for us at this level, I can only be grateful.

A sea cucumber dish

I cannot quite remember the name, but it was top-tier among all the sea cucumber dishes I have had in Korea.

Zha chun juan (fried spring rolls)

Think of it as an egg roll filled with seafood and garlic chives, but it has to be rolled first and then fried again, so it takes an enormous amount of work. I almost felt unworthy of eating a dish like this.

Nanjawanseu (braised meatballs)

It looks ordinary, but of course it was delicious. This must be what they mean by living up to your reputation. By this point, though, I was slowly starting to get full.

Chicken

I cannot remember the name of this dish either, but the chicken was cooked so well that it beat most fried chicken joints. Being another labor-intensive dish, they apparently only serve it to regulars who have booked ahead.

Palbochae (eight-treasure seafood stir-fry)

They gave us this on the house because we were eating so well; it was slightly spicy.

Stir-fried bean sprouts

Generously, they sent out a whole plate of stir-fried bean sprouts, again on the house.

Fried rice

I figured it would help on future visits to know where this place stands with its jjajangmyeon, jjamppong and fried rice, so we ordered one of each. Plenty of wok hei in there.

Jjamppong

Spicy and refreshing. The dishes before this were not spicy so I had not realized, but the spicy dishes here are on the seriously hot side.

Jjajangmyeon

The staples like jjajangmyeon, jjamppong and fried rice are very well done too, but the main dishes here are so good that the staples end up a little overshadowed.

Coffee and a Dojima Roll that members brought along

As always, this crew is thoroughly prepared right to the end. I was worried it might have suffered on the way over, but the Dojima Roll was soft and fluffy. It felt great to discover such a superb restaurant for the first time in a while, but it is a hugely popular place, and rounding up members for a get-together all the way out in Incheon is not easy, so I have no idea when I will make it back.

한국어로 읽기日本語で読む