Jinjeop loach soup with pot rice and fried loach: Chuojeong Namwon

A go-to chueotang spot in Jinjeop, Namyangju Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang — even the soy-marinated crab is worth recommending 🚩Address 1828-4 Geumgang-ro, Jinjeop-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do 🕒Hours Daily 09:30–21:00 🅿️Parking available (free)

What is Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang on Geumgang-ro in Jinjeop like?

A well-known chueotang (loach soup) restaurant in Jinjeop, Namyangju — Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang. Whenever I'm in Jinjeop, this is the Korean restaurant I keep coming back to! Every menu item is always good, and parking is easy too, so I end up going again and again. There's free parking both in front of and behind the building, which makes it really convenient haha.

Can Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang seat groups and work dinners?

The inside of Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang is genuinely spacious, so it handles group customers without a hitch! They can seat 28 people together, and there's a room you can close the door on when you're meeting up, so it's plenty for a work dinner too haha. When I visited, there were quite a few groups — families having gatherings, coworkers out for dinner, that kind of thing.

Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang menu and prices

Since it's a chueotang specialty restaurant, you can get all kinds of variations — versions with added whelk, octopus, or abalone, along with the regular chueotang, so there's plenty to choose from. It's made using domestic loaches from fertile soil, simmered fresh every day by the owner with real care 👍 And since some people can't handle chueotang, they've also got pork cutlet, yellow crab soy marinade, and stir-fried baby octopus on standby haha. With pork cutlet on the menu, it's also a solid pick to bring kids along for a family meal.

Spicy chueotang ₩13,000 Jeju yellow crab soy marinade ₩16,000 Loach fritters (half) ₩9,000

Spicy chueotang, 13,000 won: how was the broth?

I love spicy food, so I ordered the spicy chueotang, and honestly the smell alone was stunning haha. Spicy and hearty aromas rise right up, and the broth tastes deep and rich, like you're eating real, proper chueotang! There's plenty of siraegi (dried radish greens) and other ingredients inside too, and the portion is so generous it's almost too much for one person ♪(´▽｀)

The pot rice and scorched-rice crust that come with it

One special thing — ordering chueotang comes with hot pot rice! You scoop the rice out of the piping hot pot, pour water in, wait a bit, and it turns into scorched rice (nurungji) haha. Mix the rice into the spicy chueotang first, then finish off with the scorched rice as dessert — it's honestly a perfect full spread ❤️❤️

The chueotang broth is genuinely thick — almost as if the loach was ground whole into it — so the flavor is deep and stands out 👏🏻 I love chueotang and have eaten it at a lot of places, and this one is really up there. If you're looking for a good chueotang restaurant in Namyangju, I genuinely recommend Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang!

Jeju yellow crab in soy marinade, 16,000 won

There's another hidden gem on the menu at Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang — the Jeju yellow crab soy marinade! It's ganjang gejang (raw crab marinated in soy sauce) made with yellow crab brought up from Jeju, and it's genuinely delicious haha.

It's packed with meat inside, so there's genuinely a lot to eat, and the soy sauce wasn't too salty, which I liked! It's even made by a soy crab marinade certified as a master of Korean intangible cultural heritage, so it comes with an extra-special flavor haha. I had no idea there was intangible cultural heritage status for ganjang gejang, but getting to try soy crab this good feels like a real treat 😉

Fried loach (half order), 9,000 won: the green chive batter

The last thing I want to recommend is the loach fritters ( •̀ ω •́ )✧. It's whole loach fried in batter, and the staff explained that the green color comes from mixing chives into the batter. Loach and chives together felt like a really good pairing — like eating it would actually be good for you!

I ordered the half size of loach fritters, and even that was a pretty generous portion, plenty to eat well haha. If you're pairing it with a meal, the half size works; if it's for drinks, I'd recommend getting the full plate. The loach fritters are so good that no matter how full I got, I kept reaching for more.

Is Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang worth a visit?

A Korean restaurant I'd recommend as a great place to eat in Jinjeop, Namyangju — chueotang specialist Chuojeong Namwon Chueotang. I've been visiting consistently for a long time now, so it's earned its place as a Jinjeop favorite for me — if you're craving chueotang, definitely go check it out! It's an easy place to eat with family or in a group, so it works well if you're going together haha.