Chinese restaurant in Ilsanjin, Ulsan: macaron menbosha and chi-tang

Want to know my #1 favorite food? Chinese food, hands down. Jjajang, jjamppong, fried rice — I love it all, so hunting down good Chinese restaurants is my little pleasure in life! This time I finally made it to Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong, a place famous around Ilsanjin.

I went in with high expectations, and it genuinely exceeded them, so I want to share the review with you all right away haha. Here's my honest, mouth-watering write-up.

Where is Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong, and where do you park?

Ilsanjin 5-gil: dedicated parking right outside the door

Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong is on the 1st floor at 6 Ilsanjin 5-gil, Dong-gu, Ulsan, and there's a nice wide dedicated parking area right in front of the restaurant. When you drive out to eat and the parking is tight, it stresses you out before you've even sat down, right? But here, I felt great the moment I arrived haha.

How big is the dining room, and can you bring kids?

Even though it's a Chinese restaurant, Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong has a really spacious, comfortable dining room on both sides, and there were plenty of groups and families eating out together. Near the entrance they even have high chairs and kids' tableware, plus — did you catch this? — a microwave dedicated just to baby food. Moms visiting with babies would find this really convenient.

I visited at lunchtime and the place was already buzzing with diners! Definitely lives up to its reputation as a well-known spot in Dong-gu, Ulsan haha. Once inside, the staff member running the floor greeted us so politely and warmly that I was smiling before the food even arrived.

Green onion kimchi self-bar and free bowls of rice

Unlike a typical Chinese restaurant where the self-bar is just danmuji (pickled radish), Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong piles it high with green onion kimchi, and rice refills are free and unlimited too. While waiting for our order, I went to check out the self-bar and... oh my goodness.

Green onion kimchi is my and my mom's favorite kimchi, so I basically yelled when I saw it lol. The owner clearly knows exactly what people crave. The kimchi was perfectly fermented, generously seasoned, and paired with jjamppong it's basically heaven.

And free unlimited rice refills on top of that... I genuinely started worrying whether the owner makes any profit at all haha. Plain rice with just the green onion kimchi alone is enough to polish off a whole bowl — talk about generous.

Whole-squid stone jjajang on a 250°C stone plate

We were craving rich jjajang, so we tried the whole-squid stone jjajang at Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong. They say this is a special stone-plate dish available at only 3 direct-run branches nationwide (Busan Songjeong, Miryang, and Ulsan Daewangam). The stone plate is a scorching 250°C, so it arrives at the table still sizzling — the visual alone is insane. Because the food stays hot all the way through, every bite tasted amazing.

To enjoy the stone jjajang fully: unlike regular jjajang made with starch, this one skips the starch, so it stays clean and rich-tasting even as time passes! The whole squid on top was so tender and soft that I sliced it up and slurped it down with the noodles.

Scorched rice from the stone plate with green onion kimchi

You know the true highlight of any stone-plate dish is the scorched rice stuck to the bottom, right? Once you finish the noodles and scrape up the leftover sauce and the crispy scorched bits with the metal spatula... oh man, do I even need to say more? Topping it with green onion kimchi from the self-bar is an absolutely perfect match.

How do the handmade chi-tang and macaron menbosha taste?

Instead of regular sweet-and-sour pork, Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong offers handmade chi-tang made with chicken. It just feels wrong to skip sweet-and-sour when you're having Chinese food, right? You can tell the handmade chicken sweet-and-sour is fried in clean oil just from the color of the batter, and the moment you bite in — crisp outside, juicy inside! Paired with thinly sliced onion and dipped in the sweet-spicy yangnyeom chicken sauce, it's absolutely addictive haha.

Handmade macaron menbosha: I ordered it because it looked visually just like a thick, chubby macaron, and it turns out this is a side dish you absolutely cannot skip! Bite in and the finely chopped shrimp filling bursts with juice — dip it in the sauce and it's ridiculously delicious. This place is so good at frying everything, I couldn't give up either the menbosha or the chi-tang!

Dessert at Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong: yogurt and okkoshi

After eating until stuffed, on the way out to pay, a thoughtful dessert corner from the Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong owner was waiting for us! A cooler packed with ice held chilled yogurt drinks, along with plenty of nutty okkoshi (barley candy) stacked up. After the sweet-and-spicy stone jjajang and jjamppong, the cold yogurt cleansed the palate perfectly — a really clean finish haha.

Final verdict, plus a walk around Ilsanjin

Both my parents and I walked out patting our full bellies, thoroughly satisfied with Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong! After the meal, it was also great to take a walking loop nearby — Ilsanjin Beach, Daewangam Park, and Seuldo.

If you're visiting Dong-gu, Ulsan, or looking for a truly special, delicious Chinese dish around Ilsanjin, definitely visit Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong. You really won't regret it. Highly recommend — five stars, fully satisfied! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐