Weekend 15-min wait for 250°C stone-plate jjamppong: Dong-gu, Ulsan

Today I went to Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong, a must-visit spot near Daewangam in Ulsan.

It's famous for its smoky stone-plate jjamppong and jjajang, so there's a wait on weekends... I just showed up and waited about 15 minutes before getting in. I guess a lot of people who come to eat near Daewangam end up here too.

It's a kid-friendly place, so they even had a microwave for warming baby food. Bonus points~

Ulsan Daewangam Dol Jjamppong: location, parking, and kid facilities

• Address: 6 Ilsanjin 5-gil, 1st floor, Dong-gu, Ulsan, South Korea
• Parking: space right in front available; if full, use the public lot near Starbucks or ask about flexible parking
• Closed every Tuesday
• Kid-friendly: baby tableware, high chair, microwave for warming baby food, yogurt and snacks

Fun surprise — they served green onion kimchi with the meal, and I loved it. This green onion kimchi is seriously a hidden gem lol. Plus onions and pickled radish stacked on the side. Oh, and to wait, just register with Tabling.

Ordering the dol jjamppong + handmade donchitang set

The menu is pretty varied... I ordered the dol jjamppong + handmade donchitang set. There's also a single jjamppong with squid on top. Oh, and note this place is portioned for two, so eating solo might be tricky.

I was curious about dol jjajang too, but this is literally called a dol jjamppong place...! So I went with jjamppong. I wondered what donchitang was — turns out it's pork + chicken sweet-and-sour (tangsuyuk), haha. They also had chitang (chicken only) and dontang (pork only) as separate options.

Funny thing about the origin labeling. The owner insists it's 100% domestic~ (I've reached the age where this kind of thing makes me laugh). Apparently the pork is always Korean hanwoo pork.

Dol jjamppong bubbling like lava — how spicy is level 2?

Anyway, the dol jjamppong (stone-plate jjamppong) showed up and true to a must-visit Daewangam restaurant, the portion was huge lol, and the value for money was excellent. It arrived bubbling like lava, with a smoky char still alive, and the bean sprouts layered underneath cooked to a crisp, adding to the texture.

Spice level 2 was just mildly spicy, easy for an adult to handle and just the right amount. Since the heat is adjustable, even people who can't handle spicy food should be able to enjoy it without worry!

Pork + chicken, handmade donchitang

The donchitang was such a surprise. The combo of chicken with the sweet-and-sour sauce was pretty great, and pork tangsuyuk — well, that can't go wrong anyway. And all these chili-sauce-like dips were delicious too. Crispy and paired well with the sauce... personally I thought it went really well with the jjamppong.

250°C amphibole stone plate — two flavors like yakiudon

So good~ It's less like jjamppong and more like a yaki-jjamppong, kind of like yakiudon, because the stone plate lets the sauce soak in really well. They say it's 250°C, and it really looks scorching hot (apparently it's an amphibole stone plate). The chicken-broth jjamppong flavor later turns into a yakiudon-like flavor with the bean sprouts, so you get to enjoy two different tastes.

There were plump shrimp and small clam meat in there too, and they were delicious haha. I love yakiudon, and having it on a stone plate made it even tastier.

Personally, my favorite combo was the dol jjamppong with the green onion kimchi! At first I just ate it along without thinking, but before I knew it I was continuously reaching for the green onion kimchi... If you visit, I definitely recommend eating them together.

The fun of scraping up the scorched rice on the bottom

Since it comes on a stone plate, you can eat it piping hot until the end, and there's scorched rice underneath, so scraping it up is delicious and fun too. Next time I'll have to try the jjajangmyeon...

If you're near Ilsan Beach or looking for a must-visit restaurant near Daewangam in Ulsan, I recommend this place~ It's also great to bring kids, so it's good for a family meal out.

It seemed to be set out for the kids, but as an adult, I had one too. The yogurt was so good lol. There were rice snacks too, but I was too full to eat them haha.

Order-taking was well organized and the food came out at a good pace, and if you run out of rice you can just grab more yourself, self-serve style, haha. If you come during a quieter time, it seems like a nice place to relax and eat.