Sokcho makguksu restaurant with trademark-filed deulmemak: Topgol

Why we chose Sokcho Topgol Makguksu for makguksu in Sokcho

Since I was traveling in Gangwon-do, I figured I had to try makguksu at least once, and that's how I ended up at Sokcho Topgol Makguksu. There are so many makguksu restaurants in Sokcho that I wasn't sure where to go, but I found this spot while looking for somewhere easy and low-pressure for a meal on the road.

Makguksu is one of those dishes that feels almost mandatory on a Gangwon-do trip. Especially on hot days spent wandering around tourist spots, you start craving something cool and clean, and makguksu is perfect for that. It's not heavy like a stew, but still filling enough to work as a full meal, so it suited both lunch and dinner during the trip.

Close to Sokcho Beach and easy to pair with a café afterward

One thing I really liked about Sokcho Topgol Makguksu was the location. When you're traveling around Sokcho, you don't just pick one restaurant — you tend to plan a route that includes nearby spots and cafés, and this place worked well for that. It's close to Sokcho Beach, so it's easy to stop by for a meal after some time at the beach.

In summer, if you come to Sokcho and spend a while at the beach staring at the water and walking around, you naturally get hungry. A cool bowl of makguksu cools you down and fills you up at the same time, which makes it a great addition to a travel itinerary. There are pensions, stays, and aesthetic cafés nearby too, so it's a good spot for a coffee afterward. Eating makguksu and then heading to a nearby café for a relaxed coffee sounds like the perfect course.

Sokcho Topgol Makguksu menu: trademark-filed deulmemak and side dishes

Here's the menu at Sokcho Topgol Makguksu. The signature dish is called 'deulmemak,' short for perilla oil buckwheat noodles, and the menu notes it's been filed for trademark with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which got my curiosity going.

Makguksu is the main event, but the sides feel like main dishes in their own right too — buckwheat perilla seed makguksu and king mandu soup are both available. Potato jeon (pan-fried pancake) and suyuk seemed like near-automatic orders at almost every table.

Since this is a buckwheat specialty restaurant, acorn jelly also seems to be a signature item. I'd like to try that next time.

Free wine corkage and 2 buckwheat king mandu for a review

They sell alcohol and sodas too. They don't sell wine separately, and maybe that's why they offer free corkage for wine — makes me curious how wine pairs with makguksu.

If you leave a review, they give you two whole buckwheat king mandu dumplings, so it's worth grabbing for the value.

Banchan and the full table at Sokcho Topgol Makguksu

The basic banchan (side dishes) were young radish kimchi and radish salad, which go well with makguksu, and since we ordered suyuk, they also brought garlic, chili, ssamjang, and salted shrimp.

We ordered the signature deulmemak along with basic buckwheat makguksu and suyuk. The table came out looking so full and satisfying, chu-beoreup (yum).

Basic buckwheat makguksu and how to add the secret broth

The basic buckwheat makguksu came topped nicely with seasoning sauce, seaweed garnish, pickled radish, and sesame seeds.

It comes with a secret broth on the side, and they tell you to add as much as you like to taste. They said it's fine even if you pour in all of it — at that point it naturally becomes a brothy version of makguksu. Vinegar and mustard are already on the table, so you can add those along with the broth to your taste. I tried the broth on its own first, and it was cool and sweetly refreshing — so good. Definitely try the broth by itself before mixing it all in.

The signature deulmemak: perilla oil aroma that hits hard

The signature deulmemak. I usually like spicy, bold flavors, but the fact that they'd trademark-filed this made me too curious not to try it. As someone who's into intense flavors, the strong perilla oil aroma was absolutely delicious.

The perilla oil aroma is intense in its own way, I'd say, and that strong scent suited my taste perfectly. If you want to switch it up partway through, they said you can add some of the broth too. It's delicious no matter how you eat it, but eating it plain first was genuinely amazing from the first bite. I don't think you'd regret ordering it.

Suyuk (boiled pork) served with raw fish salad

The suyuk came with raw fish salad on the side. The outer part was chewy and the inner meat was moist, and paired with the spicy-sweet seasoned raw fish and the seasoned dried radish, the combo was excellent, no need to say more. Naturally, it also went perfectly with the makguksu. If you're in Sokcho, definitely try the deulmemak at Topgol Makguksu :)