Naengmyeon spot with basement parking at Sunae Station: Myeongyeok

Today I visited Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae (면계옥), near Sunae Station in Bundang, where you can have naengmyeon (cold noodles), kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) and chicken katsu all in one place. From the name I assumed it was a pure noodle specialist, but the menu turned out to be more fun than I expected, with lots of naengmyeon types plus half-chicken kalguksu and old-style katsu. This time we ordered a naengmyeon piled high with meat, a kalguksu with half a chicken in it, and the chicken katsu, haha.

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae location and hours

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae is at 9-7 Hwangsaeul-ro 200beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Unit 101-2 on the 1st floor, and it is open 11:00-21:00. It is an easy walk from Sunae Station on the Suin-Bundang Line, so access is decent when you are looking for lunch or dinner nearby. The retro sign in orange and green really catches your eye from outside.

Where do you park at Myeongyeok near Sunae Station?

If you drive, use the basement parking of the building where Myeongyeok is located. Around Sunae Station, figuring out where to park is always a bit of a worry, so being able to park in the building is definitely a plus. The free parking time and registration method can change, so I recommend checking when you pay!

Atmosphere inside Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae

As the exterior suggested, the inside was clean and a little casual. It felt less like an old-school naengmyeon house and more like a tidy, modern noodle restaurant!

There are seats by the window too, and the wood-tone chairs with dark green tables went together nicely.

You order from a tablet right at the table, so it was easy to take your time browsing the menu.

Warm broth before the food

Before the food came out, they brought us a cup of warm broth.

You can't skip this warm broth at a naengmyeon place, right? Haha. A warm sip loosened up my stomach a little before the real eating. Personally I love having something hot like this before cold noodles.

Meat-bomb naengmyeon: how much meat is there?

The meat-bomb naengmyeon (고기폭탄냉면) had meat piled up to cover almost one whole side of the bowl, and it was the most striking dish of the day. Look at the amount of meat on top, haha! When it arrived, my eyes went to the meat before the noodles. It wasn't just a few slices as a topping; it nearly covered one side of the naengmyeon.

Each piece of meat is fairly large and has some thickness. At naengmyeon places, extra meat sometimes disappears after a few bites, but here there was enough to keep eating with the noodles the whole way through, which was very satisfying.

I tossed the sauce through all the noodles and took a bite. The noodles soaked up the seasoning well, so I could taste it from start to finish. It was spicy with a slight sweetness, not overwhelmingly hot, just a familiar bibim naengmyeon (spicy mixed cold noodles) style that keeps you reaching for more!

Half-chicken kalguksu: is there really half a chicken?

The half-chicken kalguksu (닭반마리칼국수) came with chunks of chicken big enough that you could see the drumstick and wing shapes. I wondered if "half chicken" was just a name, but when it came out, the chicken was really big.

You could see the shape of the drumstick and wing, so it looked hearty right away. It felt less like kalguksu with a few extra pieces of chicken and more like eating dakbaeksuk (whole-chicken soup) and kalguksu together!

The kalguksu noodles were fairly thick. When I lifted them with chopsticks they came up plump, and they had a nicely chewy texture. The broth wasn't strongly seasoned; it was a mild style built around the flavor from the chicken. A sip of hot broth, slurping the noodles, then tearing off some chicken is really filling, haha. I especially liked that the chicken was more substantial than I expected.

How to toss kalguksu noodles in perilla oil sauce

With the half-chicken kalguksu, you can take some noodles out and toss them in the perilla oil sauce (들기름장) set out on the table. It was a slightly unusual point I discovered while eating the chicken kalguksu.

I took out a few noodles and mixed them too. The taste is completely different from eating them in the broth.

With the nutty perilla oil aroma and the flavor of the seasoning, the kalguksu suddenly turns into a savory mixed noodle dish, haha. Eating it in the broth first and then tossing in the perilla oil sauce halfway made it feel like one dish eaten two ways, which was fun.

Old-style chicken katsu and the morning roll burger

The old-style chicken katsu (경양식 닭카츠) comes as a big chicken cutlet with a generous amount of brown, Western-diner-style sauce on top. It also comes with coleslaw, pickles and morning rolls, so you can make it into a burger.

In the photo it looks almost like a regular pork cutlet, but it's chicken inside, so the texture is a little different. It's crispy outside and tender chicken inside, easy to eat without feeling heavy.

Next to the katsu came coleslaw, pickles and morning rolls. At first I thought, "Why are there morning rolls with chicken katsu?" but you can put the katsu between the rolls and make a burger. Split a roll in half, add a piece of katsu and some coleslaw, and you have an instant chicken katsu burger, haha. It was more fun than just eating the katsu, and I think kids would love it too.

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae: would I go again?

A place where it's fun to pick and choose from naengmyeon, chicken kalguksu and chicken katsu

At first I thought Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae was just a naengmyeon place near Sunae Station, but in person the menu was much more varied than I expected. What impressed me most was the meat-bomb naengmyeon! It wasn't just a few slices on top; there was enough meat to eat with the noodles to the very end, so as a meat lover I was very satisfied.

The half-chicken kalguksu really had big pieces of chicken, so it felt like a proper meal rather than a simple kalguksu, and tossing some noodles in the perilla oil sauce gave it a different flavor, which was fun. The chicken katsu had a good mix of crispy coating and tender chicken, but what stuck with me was being able to turn it into a burger with the morning rolls, haha.

If you're looking for naengmyeon or kalguksu near Sunae Station, or you want a filling naengmyeon with plenty of meat, Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae is worth a visit! 🍜🍗