After a nice Chuseok day, the next day our club held a small foodie meetup. I was craving naengmyeon, and the reason I went out of my way to pick Pyeongyang Myeonok in Jangchung-dong was its varied menu. There are mandu, there’s eobok jaengban, and there’s jeyuk (boiled pork). Just having a quick bowl of naengmyeon and calling it a day would feel a bit lonely.
In the end, though, the dishes that came out were underwhelming, so my plan kind of lost its point. If I’d known, I would have just gone to Woo Lae Oak. Or Pyeongnaeok..
Myeonsu..
You can’t trust a naengmyeon place that doesn’t serve myeonsu (the noodle-cooking water).. I got there around 11:30, when there weren’t many people, but by around 12 it was packed. It’s definitely a popular place.
Side dishes
They keep it light.
We ordered the eobok jaengban.
This isn’t bad, but it’s definitely not cheap for what you get..
Wang mandu (giant dumplings)
They’re big, but the taste is just so-so. Not bad, mind you..
The eobok jaengban, cooked through
Time to dig in. The broth was a little salty, but it tasted fine. Still, the verdict around the table was that it was skimpy on the fillings. I hear eobok jaengban used to be all about the generous portions, but I doubted this amount would even make a dent in our hunger.
Jeyuk
The quality is really good, but considering the price it had better be. I hear prices have gone up compared to before.. hmm.. Overall it’s pretty expensive.
Adding noodles
You have to drop in a portion of noodles to get the full flavor.
Mul-naengmyeon
You can’t come to a naengmyeon place and not order naengmyeon, so I did. But the broth was seriously salty. I didn’t notice on the first bite, but after eating a bit it was so salty I just couldn’t go on.. I managed to fish out some of the noodles and gave up. I don’t think I’ve had naengmyeon this badly seasoned in a long time.. Could the grandma who cooks have something wrong with her sense of taste..
Bibim naengmyeon
This one was decent enough and not spicy. Honestly, this was the first day I ever envied the people eating bibim naengmyeon at a naengmyeon place. Some people say Woo Lae Oak’s bibim naengmyeon is better, but it’s actually a bit spicy.. sadly. And at Woo Lae Oak, mul-naengmyeon is the real draw anyway..
Yogurt cake that looks like cheese
A souvenir from someone who went to Miyazaki over the Chuseok holiday. It looks like cheese, but when you eat it, it’s a Yakult-flavored cheesecake. Hmm.. well, it was certainly a novelty..
Honestly, I should have picked a tastier place. I never imagined we’d get such a strange naengmyeon. You have to serve food fit for people to eat.. I don’t think I’ll be going back.