Giheung kalguksu restaurant picked from Naver Map trending: Jangwongap

Why we picked this Giheung kalguksu restaurant off Naver Map's trending list

I visited Yongin over the weekend, and I tried a restaurant-finding trick I saw on a blog haha — it's such a great tip for a neighborhood you don't know well✨

When you open Naver Map, it shows the places that are currently trending in real-time directions, and a lot of genuinely good local spots pop up there haha

We were searching for kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup), and Jangwongap Kalguksu came up in the rankings, so we went 😋

• Restaurant: Jangwongap Kalguksu
• Address: 90 Gomae-ro, 1st floor, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 10:30–21:00 (break time 16:00–17:00)
• Parking: In front of the restaurant

What two people order at Jangwongap Kalguksu

We tried the signature menu — whole shrimp seafood pancake and two servings of spicy beef brisket-mugwort wrap shabu kalguksu. The kkakdugi (diced radish kimchi) fried rice came free haha

Whole-shrimp seafood pancake: spicier than it looks

The pancake came out first — crispy all over with shrimp and squid piled on top, really generous. "Whole shrimp seafood pancake" was exactly the right description, not a gap anywhere.

It was a little spicy, which paired well with the seafood and kept it from feeling greasy — good for sharing between two. But if you can't handle spice, it might be a bit much 😂

Brisket and minari wraps with mill-pressed sesame oil sauce

The beef brisket and mugwort wrap comes with sesame oil sauce. The mill-pressed sesame oil sauce is really the genius move here — honestly, there are so many kalguksu places with this mushroom-shabu vibe. As someone from Deungchon-dong who eats this kind of food often, I wondered if it would feel the same, but dipping the beef and fresh mugwort together in the oil sauce the way you're supposed to, it was more fragrant and worked better than I expected!

They said the sesame oil is pressed directly at a mill, so maybe that's why it tasted even better. The sesame oil sauce was so good I had two servings. The soy-wasabi sauce tastes like something you can get anywhere, so I stuck with the sesame oil sauce the whole time.

The side dish to know: Uiseong garlic kimchi, Korean-grown cabbage

The side dish is garlic kimchi — pleasantly spicy rather than harsh, so I kept reaching for more. With the recent scare over Chinese-sourced kimchi, I always check the origin these days 🧐 It said domestic napa cabbage at the entrance, so I could eat it with peace of mind! True to Uiseong garlic kimchi, the subtle garlic aroma coming through was the charm.

Noodles at 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 minutes: which one tastes best?

And now, the key point here — the noodles.

They call it the omakase of kalguksu, with instructions on how to eat it! I figured following the expert's method would taste better, so I read it carefully and gave it a try. There's a sand-timer hourglass, so it's easy to time haha. My boyfriend scooped out the noodles at each interval so we could compare as we ate 😋

The doneness levels are spaced at 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 minutes, and from the first bite I understood why they're so proud of the noodles. Thick noodles usually risk tasting floury, but here they soak up the broth so well and stay chewy — the best kalguksu noodles I've had in a while. I personally like well-cooked noodles, so from the 8-minute mark on, it suited my taste more.

I ate the noodles with the garlic kimchi and also with the sesame oil sauce. Dipping noodles in sesame oil sauce doesn't sound like it would work, but surprisingly it does haha

Free perilla oil kkakdugi fried rice and misugaru for dessert

For the kkakdugi fried rice, you call a staff member over to order — they ladle out some broth and drizzle oil on the fried rice, and after that we do the stir-frying ourselves. The perilla oil kkakdugi fried rice was great too. The kkakdugi is a bit tangy, which made it even more appetizing haha

After eating well and heading out, I noticed misugaru and snacks set up near the register for dessert. The owner made sure we didn't miss it, telling us to definitely have a cup before leaving, so after eating our fill, a sweet cup of misugaru was the perfect finishing dessert haha

Jangwongap as a stop on the Lotte Premium Outlet and IKEA route

With Lotte Premium Outlet, IKEA, and Living Power Center (recommended if you're furniture shopping! It's bigger than you'd expect 😎) all nearby, this feels like a great stop, so I've saved it as a favorite :)

If you're looking for a kalguksu spot in Giheung-gu, Yongin, I'd recommend Jangwongap Kalguksu alongside a trip to Lotte Premium Outlet or Living Power Center!