Gwangmyeong jjukumi restaurant, ramen add-on: Jeongipum

This was my second visit! I had such delicious memories of trying Jeongipum Jjukkumi Gwangmyeong 1st Branch with my husband the last time that I kept thinking about it. Since it was the weekend, we went to Gwangmyeong Costco together and, without even having to think about dinner, headed straight back to Jeongipum Jjukkumi.

It is only about a five-minute drive from Costco, so it fits perfectly into the route!! This time, we added ramen noodles to the jjukkumi pork belly, and once again the jjukkumi was so plump. Above all, the combination with the white garlic sauce is seriously delicious. If a place is just as good on a second visit as it was the first time, I think it is somewhere you can trust to return to!

Close to Gwangmyeong Costco, with parking

Jeongipum Jjukkumi Gwangmyeong 1st Branch is a five-minute drive from the Gwangmyeong Costco we visited that day. We used the building's underground parking lot, which was very spacious, so there was no parking stress at all. Park downstairs and take the elevator up, and you come out by the largest lobby on the first floor. The sign is big and shiny, so it is easy to spot.

A comfortable restaurant even on Saturday evening

We visited at around 6 p.m. on Saturday, and because I had made a Naver reservation beforehand, our table was already set when we arrived. There tends to be a lot of waiting after 6 p.m., so I recommend making a Naver reservation~!

The restaurant is quite large, with plenty of space between tables. That makes it comfortable to eat without feeling crowded. I liked the overall bright, white-toned atmosphere too. There were all kinds of diners, including families, couples, and groups. It is a place to come for spicy jjukkumi in Gwangmyeong, but the restaurant itself feels quite clean and neat, which I loved.

Jjukkumi menu and the complimentary side dishes

As a jjukkumi specialist in Gwangmyeong, jjukkumi is the main dish. You can choose frozen pork belly or beef brisket as a topping, and you can also add stone parsley separately. There were lots of side dishes too; the fried shrimp and rice balls both looked delicious, but the garlic corn cheese served in a cast-iron pan was especially striking.

The side dishes were wonderfully varied: bean sprouts, dol gim (stone-roasted seaweed), salad, house-made shredded radish, chilled cucumber soup, steamed egg, perilla leaves, white garlic sauce, and flying fish roe. I especially want to give them major points for serving steamed egg as a standard side, not an extra order.

Less-spicy jjukkumi pork belly with ramen noodles

We ordered jjukkumi pork belly! And added ramen noodles too. We chose the less-spicy level, but it was not completely mild like I had expected. That actually made it even more delicious. The pleasantly spicy seasoning keeps drawing you back, so you just keep reaching for more as you eat.

Once the mountain of minari (water parsley) has wilted down and the meat and jjukkumi have absorbed the seasoning well, it is ready to eat. The jjukkumi was really plump, and I worried that the large pieces might be tough, but they were sooooo tender and bouncy that even someone with weak teeth could enjoy this dish.

As the pork belly and sauce cook down together, they become richer and thicker. It is delicious on its own, but wrapping it in a perilla leaf with dol gim and a generous amount of white garlic sauce is such an amazingly good match. Add the popping flying fish roe, and it is truly the finishing touch. It was delicious on our last visit, and it was really delicious again this time.

The tender rice cakes and ramen noodles

I tend to think rice-cake noodles are hard, but perhaps because these ones were hollow in the middle, they were as soft as freshly made garaetteok (long cylinder-shaped rice cakes). I wanted to order an extra serving!

The ramen noodles come out slightly cold, so I recommend turning the heat back up and letting them boil thoroughly after mixing them into the sauce! That way, the seasoning soaks properly into the noodles and they taste even better.

If you keep eating only spicy jjukkumi, your mouth starts to tingle, but there are so many side dishes to enjoy with it, including wraps and white sauce, that you can make lots of combinations without getting that feeling. We wanted fried rice too, but after the ramen noodles we were both so full that we had to give up on it in the end ㅜㅜ Next time, I am definitely trying the fried rice too~!

Jeongipum Jjukkumi Gwangmyeong 1st Branch is a great jjukkumi restaurant in Gwangmyeong that was just as delicious on a return visit! If I come to Gwangmyeong Costco again, this is a restaurant I will return to.