Ssangam-dong Chinese restaurant with robot serving in Gwangju: Mayway

I had somewhere to be in Gwangju and was looking for a place to eat, so I ended up at Mayway, a well-known spot in Ssangam-dong. Whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant I default to jjajangmyeon or jjamppong, but this time I wanted to try something different, so I went with nurungjitang (scorched rice soup), cream shrimp, and the solo set menu with menbosha added.

To cut to the conclusion first — the food was good overall and the menu lineup was solid, so this is somewhere I'd like to come back to if I'm ever in the Cheomdan area of Gwangju again. But surprisingly, the dish that stuck with me first that day wasn't even one I ordered. It was the complimentary sweet potato fries.

Free sweet potato fries at Mayway, before the food even arrived

At Mayway, while you sit and wait after ordering, they bring out sweet potato fries first, almost like an appetizer. Not the thick chunky kind you'd expect, though — these are thinly sliced and fried until crisp.

One bite and I thought, "Wait, this is actually good?" The crunchy texture with the sweet potato's subtle natural sweetness kept my hand going back for more before the main dishes even showed up.

Chinese food tends to be rich and heavy overall, so having something this sweet and crisp before the meal really does its job of waking up your appetite. Honestly, my first "kick" of the day at Mayway was this sweet potato fries dish. It's just a service item, but it was memorable enough to write home about.

Self-serve scallion kimchi and a tidy dining room

Mayway has a self-serve corner where you can help yourself to scallion kimchi. Looking forward to that self-serve scallion kimchi.

A clean, tidy interior.

Basic side dishes come out too.

What two people ordered: nurungjitang, cream shrimp and a solo set with menbosha

What we ordered at Mayway was nurungjitang, cream shrimp, the solo set menu, and menbosha on top. I wondered if that might be too much for two people, but part of the fun of Chinese food is having several dishes on the table and sharing a little of each.

The warm, savory flavor of the nurungjitang, the sweet and nutty cream shrimp, and the crispy menbosha — each dish had its own distinct style, and the combination worked better than I expected.

A robot brings the food to the table.

Mayway's nurungjitang: scorched rice soup best eaten hot

The dish I was most looking forward to was the nurungjitang. It's really best eaten hot — the warm sauce mingling with the scorched rice brings out that distinctive toasty aroma.

At first the scorched rice keeps its crunch, and after a bit it softens as it soaks up the sauce. Getting to enjoy both textures in one dish seems to be the charm of nurungjitang.

Seafood and vegetables are mixed in too, so spoonful by spoonful it's more filling than you'd expect. It's not sharp or overly salty — more warm and comforting, which makes it easy eating for kids and adults alike. Especially if you want one soupy dish alongside your Chinese food, this is a solid choice.

Cream shrimp at Mayway: nutty and sweet

Next up, the cream shrimp. Cream shrimp can easily go too sweet or too heavy on the sauce, but at Mayway the crunchy texture of the shrimp paired well with the cream sauce. Crisp on the outside, plump and springy shrimp meat on the inside.

Add the soft, sweet cream sauce on top and it's a completely different charm from the nurungjitang. Going back and forth between a bite of nurungjitang and a bite of cream shrimp — the savory and the sweet-nutty alternating — was really nice.

This seems like a dish that would go over especially well if you're visiting with kids. I kept reaching for it more than I expected, too.

Is the solo set menu good for trying several dishes at once?

I liked that Mayway has a solo set menu. There's always that dilemma at a Chinese restaurant — "jjajang or jjamppong?"

You want to try a bunch of things, but ordering each one separately means more food and a bigger bill. That's where a solo set menu comes in handy — you get to taste a little of several dishes. It works well whether you're dining alone or ordering it alongside other dishes to share with a group. We added menbosha on top of ours.

Menbosha (fried shrimp toast) with a crisp bite

Menbosha is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. It's shrimp meat sandwiched between bread and fried, and done right, you get crispness and juiciness at the same time.

Mayway's menbosha had that too — crispy outside, soft shrimp meat inside, great texture overall. Eating it fresh out of the fryer, the crunch on the outside was fully intact.

After the soft nurungjitang and the saucy cream shrimp, having a bite of menbosha in between gave a nice change of texture. If you want to enjoy more than just the mains at a Chinese restaurant — the sides too — this is worth ordering.

Why Mayway suits sharing several dishes in Cheomdan, Gwangju

What struck me about this visit to Mayway was just how varied the menu options are. From familiar dishes like jjajangmyeon and jjamppong to nurungjitang, cream shrimp, menbosha, and stone-griddle jjajang, there's plenty to share when you're dining with others.

So whether it's a family meal out, a gathering with friends, or dinner as a couple, you shouldn't have to worry too much about the menu. Especially recommended if you're looking for a Ssangam-dong restaurant or a Cheomdan Chinese restaurant in Gwangju.

Worth a second visit to Mayway in Ssangam-dong: stone-griddle jjajang next time

The menu choices worked out really well this time. The warm, savory nurungjitang, the crisp and nutty cream shrimp, the solo set menu that let us try several dishes together, and the menbosha with its great texture. But above all, the complimentary sweet potato fries at the very start was the real kick of the meal.

This feels like a place worth seeking out when you want to share a variety of dishes at a Chinese restaurant instead of the usual jjajangmyeon and jjamppong. If you're around Cheomdan or Ssangam-dong in Gwangju looking for a Ssangam-dong restaurant, a Cheomdan spot, a Cheomdan Chinese restaurant, or a Chinese restaurant for a family meal, Mayway is worth a visit.

Next time I go back, I'd like to try the stone-griddle jjajang and some other dishes I didn't get to this time.