I’ve never been to Jinju, so I’ve never had the original Jinju naengmyeon, but its reputation isn’t all that great. How to put it, it feels like it has no real roots.. the history is short and they just threw in whatever.. that sort of talk goes around.. anyway, I was curious all the same, and once a Jinju naengmyeon place opened in Hongdae there was no way I wasn’t going to check it out..

Looks roughly like this..

A shot of the inside..

I went twice, so the image quality varies a bit..

Bibim guksu

There is a generous pile of yukjeon on top, and plenty of other toppings besides. Sweet and spicy, and the noodles are not bad either. This is actually pretty tasty, was how it felt. Given that Hamheung naengmyeon places at a similar price give you almost no toppings, I would say this is genuinely competitive. What I did not get, though, was any strong sense of “so this is Jinju naengmyeon” as a character of its own. Still, having no character beats tasting bad, I suppose. Honestly, with a spicy bibim naengmyeon the difference between Pyeongyang and Hamheung styles is not that big either..

The noodles

Noodles much like Hamheung naengmyeon.

Mul naengmyeon

Still, they say mul naengmyeon is the one to order if you want to feel what makes Jinju naengmyeon distinctive, so I tried it.. hmm.. this one, though?? The broth seems to have some kind of seafood base, and to a palate used to Pyeongyang and Hamheung naengmyeon it does not really feel like naengmyeon.. it has character, but it is not to my taste..

The noodles

Still, Jinju naengmyeon is not that bad. Because Pyeongyang and Hamheung naengmyeon have gone up in price so much.. for what you pay there is a clear advantage here.. next time I go I would like one more bowl, maybe the bibim naengmyeon..

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