Ulsan Dal-dong milmyeon restaurant, three-item menu: Samsam Milmyeon

On a muggy, sweltering day when everything feels sluggish, milmyeon (cold wheat noodles) is exactly the food to perk up your appetite, right? I went to Samsam Milmyeon Main Branch, a Dal-dong, Ulsan spot known for its milmyeon!

When something too heavy feels like a burden, but you also don't want to just settle for a so-so meal, nothing beats milmyeon~ This place only has three menu items — water milmyeon, bibim milmyeon, and dumplings — which somehow makes it feel even more like a specialist. These days there are so many places serving all sorts of dishes, but a place like this is a real find.

Samsam Milmyeon Main Branch, Ulsan

Samsam Milmyeon dumplings: a main dish, not a side

At Samsam Milmyeon Main Branch, the dumplings are one of the three items on the menu right alongside the water and bibim milmyeon. At most milmyeon places dumplings tend to get treated as a side dish, but since there are only three items total, they feel like a main here too. I love pairing milmyeon with dumplings, so I ordered them together.

The dumpling skin isn't thick but has a nice chewy texture, and the meat filling was clean and light. Dumplings steamed just right in a steamer are honestly on a completely different level from the frozen dumplings you microwave at home ~~

They're good plain, but dipping them lightly in the salty sauce pairs really well with their clean flavor. Alternating a bite of cold, tangy milmyeon with a warm dumpling was truly a perfect combo~! Beyond sweet-and-salty, it's cold-and-hot, haha, the cold-warm-cold-warm technique +_+

What does the water milmyeon broth taste like?

Finally, the water milmyeon arrives. With ice shards floating on top, Samsam Milmyeon's water milmyeon looks refreshing just to see, and since the broth is made only from Korean native cattle bones with no additives, it had both a clean taste and a deep flavor at once. Confirmed: this is a Dal-dong, Ulsan spot that really knows its milmyeon!

It wasn't overly seasoned but had a deep savory quality that made me want to keep drinking the broth.

After thoroughly loosening up the noodles, I took a big bite of the springy, chewy noodles — the distinctive chewy texture of milmyeon was still there, while the cool broth had soaked in thoroughly, so a burst of refreshment filled my whole mouth.

Bibim milmyeon arrives already tossed in sauce

Samsam Milmyeon's bibim milmyeon has plenty of cucumber strips and tangy pickled radish piled on top, so it made my mouth water just from the look of it. I tried it right after the water milmyeon.

The sauce comes already mixed in evenly from the start, so there was no need to struggle mixing it myself — I dug right in. It wasn't excessively spicy, just the right amount of sweet-and-spicy with a savory kick that really woke up my appetite, and eating it alongside the chewy dumplings mellowed out the spiciness perfectly — a match made in heaven!

Warm broth and the mood inside Samsam Milmyeon

At Samsam Milmyeon Main Branch, they bring you warm broth as soon as you sit down. Even when it's hot outside, warm broth is a love language. A Dal-dong, Ulsan spot that's good at milmyeon starts strong with the broth.

The interior was much more spacious than I expected. The tables are also spaced generously, so it seems like a comfortable spot for both solo diners and families.

Where to park at Samsam Milmyeon Main Branch in Dal-dong

Samsam Milmyeon Main Branch doesn't have its own dedicated parking lot, but if you park at the nearby Daegyeong or Paldo parking lots, they'll give you a 1-hour free parking voucher at the counter after your meal. Parking is always the biggest worry when driving, but here you can visit without any parking stress even in the middle of busy Samsan.