The area around Sinsa Station has Garosu-gil, the hot spot everyone is talking about these days, and plenty of good places to eat, but the famous, stylish, expensive ones always feel like they fall a little short of satisfying a middle-aged foodie’s palate. Bukgyeong Banjeom sounds like the kind of Chinese restaurant name you’d find one of in every neighborhood, but this one has been in business here for a long time and has a reputation for good food – and since the weather had turned hot and I was craving Chinese-style cold noodles – I ended up going.
The entrance
It’s in a semi-basement, but the inside is neat and tidy. It’s near exit 8 of Sinsa Station.
Kongguksu
It’s kongguksu made at a Chinese restaurant, but the basics are done well.
Chinese-style cold noodles
Nothing special about the ingredients, and yet there aren’t many places that make it well – that’s Chinese-style cold noodles for you. This place shows you the standard textbook version. It had been a while, and I happily finished the whole bowl. Like most other Chinese restaurants, it’s probably not worth going out of your way for from far off, but if you’re out around Sinsa-dong and nothing in particular appeals to you, I think it’s a fine place to drop into.
Finishing with a Yakult
Maybe the secret of a popular Chinese restaurant really is the Yakult at the end.
We wandered around looking for dessert, but every place was packed, so we went into Tokyo Panya.
Chestnut pastry
For the record, the bread at Tokyo Panya was distinctive, but not to my taste.
A streusel bun with red bean paste inside
The streusel topping is sweet enough on its own, and with red bean added it turned into a bit much for me..
Juice
Unremarkable. It’s a good place for cheap dessert in Sinsa-dong, but for anyone chasing really good bread I’d recommend Pain de Papa, Le Alaska or Rolling Pin nearby.