Spicy mul-makguksu, buckwheat pancake & mandu at Sammiri Makguksu

Today I visited Sammiri Makguksu, a makguksu (cold buckwheat noodle) restaurant near Sinsa Station in Gangnam. Sammiri Makguksu is a small neighborhood spot about a 10-minute walk from Sinsa Station, but it makes makguksu better than most places in Gangwon-do! The buckwheat flavor in the noodles is rich and the broth is delicious too, so locals come for dinner and delivery orders keep pouring in — I found a real hidden gem!!

10-minute walk from Sinsa Station, with parking right out front

The restaurant is on the ground floor, and there's a small space right in front where you can park one car for the duration of your meal.

Sammiri Makguksu makes its own noodles in-house!! That's probably why the buckwheat aroma stood out even more.

The texture of buckwheat noodles cut at 3mm, the deep flavor of fresh buckwheat, and a clear, deep broth simmered with care. This new standard of house-made buckwheat makguksu really gave a distinctive texture when eating.

From solo bar seats to partitioned tables

The seating ranges from solo-friendly bar seats to partitioned 4-6 person tables — a small but well-organized restaurant!! It could fit around 6 groups at once.

The menu is just makguksu and sides

The menu is only makguksu and side dishes, so this is a place with real focus!! They also sell a large portion of makguksu and dongchimi (radish water kimchi) makguksu, which gave me a genuine Gangwon-do feeling!

The side menu had buckwheat pancake, fried mandu, and boiled pork (suyuk), but sadly the suyuk sold out right before my eyes... Apparently the suyuk portion is really generous and great value!!

For alcohol, they only sell makgeolli (rice wine).

• Spicy mul-makguksu ₩12,000
• Crispy buckwheat pancake ₩9,000
• Half-plate crispy fried mandu ₩4,000

Buckwheat pancake and fried mandu are great sides to eat together!! The mandu is also sold as a half-plate, making it an easy side dish to sample.

I sat at the bar seats, and it was nice that the seating was wide from side to side.

The basic side dish is pickled radish (ssam-mu)! You can't have makguksu without ssam-mu, haha.

The aprons were also neatly hung up.

With noodles called 'sammiri' (3mm), I was already excited about this place.

Spicy mul-makguksu, with the option to skip the cucumber

The spicy mul-makguksu arrived not long after ordering!! I'm the type who adds extra broth to bibim-naengmyeon, so I was so happy they sell this kind of spicy mul-makguksu!! Just looking at the broth topped with plenty of toasted sesame seeds already looked so nutty and delicious. Also, when ordering, there's an option to leave out cucumber for those who don't like it, so keep that in mind.

The crispy fried mandu came out right away too. The food really comes out fast!! And the dumplings were genuinely big.

How do the 3mm noodles and broth taste?

The noodles were really thin, true to the name Sammiri (3mm) Makguksu. Maybe that's why the texture felt so good and the noodles slid down so smoothly?? The broth was also clearly made with care — more of a carefully brewed flavor than an MSG taste! Add in the mixed seasoning paste and it gets even nuttier — I highly recommend the spicy mul-makguksu. It was so good I want to try the perilla oil makguksu next time.

Buckwheat pancake and mandu together double the flavor

Eating the mandu and buckwheat pancake together doubles the flavor.

The buckwheat pancake and mandu I ordered as sides came out really generously portioned.

The buckwheat pancake was really thick and packed full of filling — the kimchi filling inside was genuinely delicious.

True to being called crispy fried mandu, the outside was fried perfectly crisp, and one bite released juicy filling!! Highly recommend the mandu haha.

I thought it tasted best eaten together with the noodles like this!!

Why the delivery orders never stop

The vinegar and mustard came individually packaged, which made eating feel even cleaner!! The interior was also really clean and the food was delicious — personally, I enjoyed this more than the makguksu restaurants I've had in Gangwon-do~! Now I understand why the delivery orders never stop, haha. Sammiri Makguksu, a restaurant loved by the local Sinsa neighborhood, comes highly recommended.