Paju dumpling restaurant with an 8-mandu hot pot: Bubyeokjeong

Why we drove to Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu after the Paju animal farm

I went with my wife and our not-yet-two-year-old to an animal farm in Paju. Our kid loved it so much, I was genuinely happy — coming here was clearly the right call. After an hour or two of playing, everyone got hungry, so we headed to Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu, a well-known restaurant near Lotte Outlet.

It's a place that serves my favorite Pyeongyang mandu (dumplings) along with Pyeongyang naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles), so I was happy to go. My wife and I are both obsessed with Pyeongyang naengmyeon — we hadn't really gotten to enjoy it properly this summer, so this felt like the perfect chance. The parking lot was nice and spacious, so we parked easily and went in.

How long is the weekend afternoon wait? 10 parties, 15 minutes

We went on a weekend afternoon and there were 10 parties ahead of us, but with so many tables, the line moved fast. We waited about 15 minutes, comfortably in the car, and finally got seated.

What we ordered at Bubyeokjeong: mandu hot pot for two, mung bean pancake, mul-makguksu

We ordered the Pyeongyang mandu hot pot for two, one mung bean pancake, and one Pyeongyang mul-makguksu. You can basically think of the mul-makguksu as similar to Pyeongyang naengmyeon — both the broth and the noodles were excellent.

They had a baby chair, so we sat our kid comfortably and fed them first. Our baby loves eating so much that the second we sit down at a restaurant, there's crying — hurry up with the food, basically.

Sauce matters a lot with Pyeongyang mandu, and every table comes well stocked with it.

Here's the menu again for reference — Pyeongyang mandu hot pot, Pyeongyang mandu soup, mandu jjabagi, hanwoo (Korean beef) jjabagi, Pyeongyang mul-makguksu, Pyeongyang bibim-makguksu, and more.

Our order arrived. We were hungry from wrangling the baby, so we couldn't wait to dig in — heart racing a little, honestly.

Mung bean pancake (nokdu bindaetteok): crisp and served hot

Then the mung bean pancake. A few months back I ordered one at a dak-hanmari (whole chicken stew) place and was disappointed, so I wanted to give it another shot here. It was crisp and warm and genuinely delicious.

Pyeongyang mul-makguksu: as mild as Pyeongyang naengmyeon

Next, the Pyeongyang mul-makguksu. Despite the name makguksu, the mild broth tastes almost exactly like Pyeongyang naengmyeon. The noodles were very similar too. My wife and I ate it with real enjoyment.

Pyeongyang mandu hot pot for two: 28,000 won with 8 dumplings

The Pyeongyang mandu hot pot came with a bigger portion than expected — plenty of vegetables and as many as 8 dumplings. We got seriously full. At 28,000 won for two people, it felt like great value.

And here's the side-dish station. The selection isn't huge, but you can refill it yourself if you run out. The main dish portion was so generous we hardly needed extra sides anyway.

Where to find kids' dishware: the side-dish refill station

Our baby was busy eating away too. Kids' dishware is kept at the side-dish refill station, so if you need it, just grab it yourself.

Once the Pyeongyang mandu hot pot finished cooking, it tasted exactly as mild and delicious as you'd expect from Pyeongyang-style food. Dipped in soy sauce, the seasoning was spot on and truly delicious. I understood why the place is so busy — it really lives up to being a top restaurant near Lotte Outlet Paju, right on the edge of Seoul.

Can a toddler eat here? Mild seasoning meant sharing the mandu

Eating out with a baby is basically a battle — feeding ourselves and feeding the baby at the same time is a real war. Honestly, my wife has it harder than I do. Once our kid ran out of food, we gave them more mandu. Since the seasoning wasn't too strong, it seemed totally fine for a baby to eat.

At the end, we added noodles to the leftover broth. It was delicious too, but since we'd already filled up on noodles with the Pyeongyang mul-makguksu, we couldn't finish it all.

Would we return to Bubyeokjeong? Yes, for a family meal in Paju

After a great meal, we headed out. Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu left us with such a good impression that we'll definitely be back. If you're visiting Paju with family, I strongly recommend stopping by. We weren't the only family there — plenty of others seemed to be having a great time too, judging by all the happy faces.