Cheomdan Chinese restaurant in Gwangju for seafood rice bowl: Mayway

Looking for a clean, tidy place to eat Chinese food in Cheomdan, I visited Mayway, which recently opened near Lotte Mart Cheomdan. Beyond the basics like jjajang and jjamppong, they had a surprisingly wide range of menu items you don't usually see at a Chinese restaurant — stone-pot jjajang, seafood scorched-rice soup, cream shrimp, and more. Everything was clean and tasty, and the prices were reasonable too — a Cheomdan spot I'd want to come back to!

Let me introduce Mayway, a Cheomdan Chinese restaurant that works well for a family meal with a group or for sharing a variety of dishes between two people.

• 📍 6 Cheomdangangbyeon-ro 87beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
• ⏰ Daily 11:00–22:00
• ⏸️ Break time 15:00–17:00
• 🚗 No dedicated parking lot, use nearby parking spaces
• ✔️ Reservations and group visits possible
• ✔️ High chairs and kids' tableware available
• ✔️ Takeout and delivery available

Where is Mayway, and is there parking or a weekend lunch wait?

Cheomdan Mayway sits on a main road close to Lotte Mart Cheomdan and Gyeojasi Church. The red and black sign stands out, so it wasn't hard to find even on a first visit. There's no dedicated lot, but you can park behind the building or on the street in front.

I visited around noon on a weekend, and there was no wait then, but the seats filled up fast as time went on!

Inside Mayway: a roomy, spotless Chinese restaurant in Cheomdan

As a recently opened Cheomdan spot, the interior was spacious and tidy overall. There are two-seat, four-seat, and sofa tables, and pushing tables together lets a larger group sit together, making it fine for a family meal or gathering.

You order by scanning the QR code at the table. It was convenient to browse photos and prices on my phone and take my time choosing, and the menu was more varied than I expected.

What's at Mayway's self-serve bar, side dishes and free rice

The basic side dishes at the self-serve bar include pickled radish, onion, corn salad, and scallion kimchi — just take what you'll eat. Rice is also self-serve, which is handy for spooning into jjamppong or other soup dishes at the end 👍

Before the main dishes came out, they also gave us thinly fried sweet potato chips — sliced so thin they weren't dry at all, just crispy and crunchy!

Mayway's solo set meal: jjajang, jjamppong and tangsuyuk in one order

What we ordered this time was the solo set meal, a half portion of grapefruit cream shrimp, and a seafood rice bowl. When you go to a Chinese restaurant, you want to try a bit of everything, but ordering a noodle dish and a separate dish can get pricey and be too much food, right?

If there's one standout menu item, it's that Mayway has its own solo set meal. The solo set comes with jjajang, jjamppong, and one fried item (choice of tricolor mandu, tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), or menbosha (shrimp toast)).

This suited me well since I like eating a variety of things rather than focusing on one dish. All three were so good it was a dopamine hit... The jjajang was thick and rich, the jjamppong had that smoky wok-hei kick with a really refreshing broth, and it was nice and spicy. The tangsuyuk was crispy too, and the portion was really generous.

Mayway's seafood rice bowl, loaded with plump seafood

Of everything we ate that day, the one I liked best as a hearty meal was the seafood rice bowl. At a glance you could tell the seafood was generous — it never felt like a rice bowl padded out with mostly rice. Mixing the seafood and sauce evenly through the rice meant every spoonful came with ingredients, so the texture never got boring.

Best of all, the seasoning wasn't too heavy or overpowering — it hit just the right amount of tasty. Chinese dishes can sometimes feel too intense and get tiresome fast, but Mayway's seafood rice bowl went down easily, and before I knew it I'd finished the whole bowl.

If you're craving a rice dish instead of jjajang or jjamppong, or want a hearty meal loaded with seafood, I'd recommend ordering the seafood rice bowl too.

Grapefruit cream shrimp at Mayway, ordered in half size

I ordered the grapefruit cream shrimp in half size, and the fried shrimp was crispy rather than hard, with the soft, savory flavor of cream shrimp layered with a tangy, slightly bitter grapefruit taste — I never got tired of it. It's a dish you often skip because the portion is too big, but having a half option made it easy to order and enjoy.

The jjamppong broth served alongside was salty with that nice smoky flavor — it comes as a default with the meal, so it's nice to be able to sip it while eating jjajang too.

Is Mayway worth it for Chinese food in Cheomdan, Gwangju?

Cheomdan Mayway is a Chinese restaurant with a wide range of options, from hand-pulled house-made noodles to tangsuyuk made with domestic fresh sirloin, stone-pot jjajang, and a solo seafood scorched-rice soup. With QR ordering, a self-serve bar, and rice available, it was a solid choice for a hearty lunch.

The seafood rice bowl, generously loaded with seafood yet not too heavily seasoned, was satisfying too, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes rice dishes. Whether you're dining solo, as a couple, or with kids as a family, Cheomdan Mayway made it easy to pick dishes to fit any group size and taste.