Daegu Chinese restaurant for clam white jjamppong: Machai Jjamppong

Today I visited Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch (마차이짬뽕 신암점), a great jjamppong spot in Sinam-dong near Dongdaegu Station!

Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch: location and atmosphere

Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch is a Chinese restaurant I personally love!! Even though it is a chain, the food is tasty and consistently high quality, so I come here often~

The restaurant is large and spotless like this!! There are plenty of tables with lots of space between them, so you can sit comfortably~ There is also bar seating by the window, making it great for solo diners. Lots of people eat alone here, so you can visit without feeling awkward!

There is group seating farther inside! It is separated by partitions, so it feels relatively cozy and quiet—great for group gatherings or company dinners~

There was a self-service bar on one side, with Cheongyang chili peppers as well as danmuji (yellow pickled radish) and onions!! It said Cheongyang peppers were the way to enjoy jjamppong, so I brought back a plate too~

Each table has a tablet, and there is an event offering ₩1,000 off every menu item when paying in cash!! They also have a receipt-review event, so take advantage if you are dining in~

Ordering clam white jjamppong and jung-hwa bibimbap

Here is the menu!! Along with the standard dishes you would expect at a Chinese restaurant, there are yakki udon and jung-hwa bibimbap (Daegu-style Chinese spicy mixed rice), dishes you mainly find in Daegu~ There are also summer dishes, soups, and special set menus, so it is a good place to visit in any season, whether for a meal or drinks~ I ordered one clam white jjamppong, one jjamppong, and an extra-large jung-hwa bibimbap~

Clam white jjamppong loaded with seafood

The clam white jjamppong came out first!! It is Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch's signature dish. The refreshing, milky-white broth was full of dongjuk clams, with Cheongyang peppers sprinkled on top for a pleasantly spicy kick~

You can see just by looking at it that it is packed with every kind of ingredient~ It has Cheongyang peppers and dried red chilies, but unless you bite directly into a pepper, it is not extremely spicy. The peppers infused the broth with such a refreshing flavor—it was so good~ Totally hangover-food material, haha. It was not greasy or overly intense, so it sat comfortably in my stomach.

The noodles at Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch are a pale green color~ Maybe because of that, there was no floury smell, and they were much chewier and more springy!! I also loved the generous portion of noodles and ingredients~

It was overflowing with clams, squid, and webfoot octopus, and the dongjuk clam meat was so plump and chewy. One thing I really liked: they did not use dry giant squid!! The seafood quality was excellent~

Classic jjamppong with both meat and seafood flavor

This is the jjamppong!! It is not a special jjamppong with unusual ingredients—just the most basic kind—but it still had so many ingredients~ Such a generous serving, packed with seafood and vegetables!!

There were lots of shrimp, squid, and mussels, plus big pieces of sliced meat that made the broth even richer!!! Daegu jjamppong is known for its hearty, fiery meat-based flavor, right? I personally love that style too. Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch seems right in the middle: it has the rich flavor of meat jjamppong and the clean, refreshing flavor of seafood jjamppong!! Even with meat in it, it was not very greasy, so my stomach still felt fine after finishing it~

Extra-large jung-hwa bibimbap with egg soup

This is jung-hwa bibimbap! I ordered the extra-large size. Since the bowl is deep, at first I wondered, “Is this really extra-large?” But the rice just would not disappear, haha. Jung-hwa bibimbap is a signature Daegu Chinese dish, and since Machai Jjamppong is a franchise that started in Daegu, you cannot go wrong with its yakki udon or jung-hwa bibimbap~ I love both, but chose jung-hwa bibimbap today!!

At Machai, the jung-hwa bibimbap comes with egg soup. Some places serve jjamppong broth, but you know a place serving egg soup is the real deal, right...? It means they are confident in the jung-hwa bibimbap itself, not letting it be overshadowed by jjamppong broth~.

True to Gyeongsang-do food, there is a fried egg on top. All kinds of vegetables and mushrooms, squid, and shrimp are stir-fried in a delicious sweet-spicy sauce and piled high in the bowl.

Give it a quick mix and that spicy flavor and wok aroma rise right up!! The vegetables still have their texture, while the seafood is cooked just right, which seems to maximize the flavor of the jung-hwa bibimbap~ Also, although the sauce is red, it is not overly spicy, so even people who cannot handle much heat could give it a try. There are lots of great Daegu jung-hwa bibimbap spots, and this chain has spread across Daegu and the Gyeongsang region, with branches recently expanding to the Seoul metro area too!! The flavor is reliably above average, so it is a safe way to try Daegu-style jung-hwa bibimbap!!

A corner for post-meal coffee

At the end, there is also a coffee corner, with vending-machine coffee, an ice bin for iced coffee, and a coffee machine~ It is great for a little coffee to cleanse your palate after the meal.

Whether it is a weekday or weekend, lunchtime, mid-afternoon, or late evening, there always seem to be lots of people here~ There is a reason this place has been loved by the neighborhood for so long. They must use good ingredients, because I did not feel bloated or get that burning feeling from too much spice after eating. I recommend Machai Jjamppong Sinam Branch, a great Daegu jjamppong spot!!