Hwaseong Korean restaurant: naengmyeon and pork at Naengmyeon Gajun

Among the restaurants near Dongtan Lake Park, Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch is a place where you can have refreshing naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) with meat at a great price. Mul naengmyeon starts at ₩7,900, and adding gochujang samgyeopsal and webfoot-octopus dumplings made for a seriously generous spread for the money.

Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch by Dongtan Lake Park

Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch is on the second floor of Luna Gallery, right in front of Dongtan Lake Park. Once inside, I found the restaurant much more spacious than I expected.

The wood-toned tables and chairs gave it an overall relaxed feel, and the tables were spaced far enough apart that it looked good for a family meal too. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see Luna in the direction of Dongtan Lake Park, so a window seat lets you enjoy the view with your meal.

Each table has a tablet, so you can order right from your seat, and a serving robot brings the food over. It was kind of cute that they had literally taped on a note saying not to take the trays from the robot, haha. The basic sides are simple pickled radish and fresh radish salad, while extra sides and aprons are self-service.

₩7,900 mul naengmyeon and a variety of set meals

Naengmyeon for ₩7,900! The first thing that caught my eye at Naengmyeon Gajun was definitely the price. Their kudzu mul naengmyeon is currently ₩7,900. They were running a funny promotion that says, “Until Korea’s economy gets better,” with ₩7,900 noodles until the KOSPI reaches 10,000, haha. Considering what a bowl of naengmyeon costs these days, it is clearly a great-value choice among restaurants near Dongtan Lake Park.

Beyond naengmyeon, there is a wide range of dishes including braised beef short ribs, pork belly, galbitang (beef short-rib soup), and yukgaejang (spicy beef soup), plus sets that pair naengmyeon with meat.

The naengmyeon and gochujang pork belly set I ordered

• Spicy bibim naengmyeon ₩8,900
• Mul naengmyeon + gochujang samgyeopsal ₩16,000
• Half portion of webfoot-octopus dumplings: 4 pieces, ₩4,500

The ₩16,000 mul naengmyeon and gochujang samgyeopsal set was especially good value.

A bowl of mul naengmyeon comes with a plate of gochujang pork belly, and together they cost ₩16,000—pretty easy on the wallet considering restaurant prices these days!

Half portion of webfoot-octopus dumplings

The webfoot-octopus dumplings I ordered as a side were unusual too. A half portion is four pieces for ₩4,500, just the right amount to add casually alongside naengmyeon. The wrappers are thin and chewy enough to look translucent, while the inside is packed with a spicy filling containing webfoot octopus. When naengmyeon alone feels a little lacking, adding meat or dumplings makes the meal much more satisfying.

Icy mul naengmyeon with warm pork belly

The mul naengmyeon had plenty of broth with tiny shards of ice, and the dark-colored kudzu noodles were wonderfully springy. It came topped with cucumber, egg, and seasoning; once mixed well, it was cool and full of savory flavor. The noodles are good on their own, but naengmyeon really calls for meat, haha. The pork belly had plenty of onion and green onion, thoroughly coated in sweet-spicy gochujang seasoning. A bite of cold naengmyeon followed by a piece of warm pork belly was such a perfect combination. Wrapping a piece of meat in the noodles was the best bite of all.

Spicy bibim naengmyeon with plenty of sauce

Spicy bibim naengmyeon, ₩8,900. From the moment it arrived, there was a very generous amount of seasoning. The noodles were buried under so much red sauce that you could barely see them, with cucumber and egg on top. After cutting the noodles with scissors and mixing them well with the sauce, it looked spicy just sitting there! The sauce coated every strand thoroughly, so it stayed richly flavored rather than becoming bland toward the end. A separate broth comes with the bibim naengmyeon too, so you can sip it alongside or add a little according to your preference.

More than anything, the thought I kept having throughout this meal was: what great value. Plenty of places charge well over ₩10,000 for one bowl of naengmyeon, but here mul naengmyeon is ₩7,900, and even naengmyeon with gochujang pork belly is ₩16,000. Adding webfoot-octopus dumplings still did not make it feel expensive, even when trying a little of everything. The restaurant is spacious and clean, and its location right in front of Dongtan Lake Park is ideal for a meal before or after a walk. If you like naengmyeon and are looking for a restaurant near Dongtan Lake Park, I recommend Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch for its value. Rather than ordering naengmyeon alone, definitely try the gochujang pork belly set with it. Cool noodles and warm meat really cannot go wrong :)