I found out there’s an incredible Chinese restaurant in Gimpo from an episode of You Quiz on the Block featuring the YouTuber Kidari Jjamppong Ajeossi. When I got the chance, I finally went.
Gimpo scenery
Lots of people around here too. From what I heard in passing, soldiers come to this neighborhood a lot. I guess that’s why there are so many bars. As you walk around, you keep spotting signs for military discounts.
Liquor at Emart
I had some time before opening, so I wandered around. Haizhilan goes for about 60,000 won here, and for that price you could buy Tianzhilan at a duty-free shop and still get change back… Honestly, baijiu at duty-free is such a good deal that if you don’t pick up a bottle when you go abroad, it feels like you’re losing out in life… Though the boxes are big and heavy, so lugging them home is a pain…
The entrance
It’s a Blue Ribbon restaurant. So it really is a big deal… The way it works is you put your name down first, then come back at your reserved time. Since I came alone, they were kind enough to squeeze me in between so I could eat early. I was really grateful… That said, coming early in the morning and waiting around isn’t easy. But it’s that popular, so I guess that’s the price you pay.
Uncle Cho Sausage Restaurant
Turns out this place is a chain…
About Ddidi
Honestly, even if you serve great jjamppong and jjajangmyeon, it’s hard work and there’s no telling whether it pays off. Noodle dishes like these have thin margins. You make your money by selling lots of the bigger dishes, so it’s impressive that they focus only on jjamppong, jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk in pursuit of the best noodles possible.
Inside
Very flashy. The kind of vibe that’s great for social media.
Sprite
On the house…
Jjamppong
Just looking at it, this jjamppong almost seems over the top. When I dug through the toppings to get at the noodles, it took a serious grip, and I thought, this isn’t a jjamppong just anyone can handle… The sweetness of the clams, the savoriness of the mushrooms and the bouncy texture of fresh squid all come together, so of course the flavor just explodes… You could keep fishing out seafood forever, but the real winner was the broth, with all the goodness of that seafood, the vegetables and the mushrooms melted into it. I’d have loved to tip some rice into it, but I was already about to burst from the jjamppong alone, so I couldn’t go that far, which was a shame.
Honestly, the way they pile in clams and seafood and make it so delicious reminded me of Dongnak Banjeom, and in a way I feel this place didn’t just fall from the sky; it’s carrying on the lineage of Korean jjamppong. It’s really moving to see the old-school jjamppong flavor brought back to life through someone’s hard work and passed down to the next generation.
The noodles
Finding the noodles was no easy task. I wonder if I’ll ever get to taste jjamppong of this level again in my life…
Clams
This is how many clam shells piled up. No matter how much I ate, there was no end to them.
Side dishes are self-serve
I barely had a moment to spare for the side dishes.
The kitchen
It’s amazing that one person working so hard on their own can turn out this kind of quality.
I hear the jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk are great too, so I’ll have to come back another time. The thing is, coming here means setting aside an entire weekend day, so it’s not easy to find a date.
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