Ginseng sprout jjambbong near Gupo Market, Busan: Gupo Jjambbong

Can Chinese food be health food too? Gupo Jjambbong makes its noodles with sanghwang mushroom and its broth with sanghwang mushroom plus five herbal ingredients, so apparently it can! Add a whole octopus and abalone on top, plus ginseng sprouts, and I really felt the restorative vibe. And one more thing: the eggplant dishes, which are the number one most-ordered items! Here's my story of Gupo Jjambbong, which I found after a trip to Gupo Market.

Where is Gupo Jjambbong Gupo Main Branch? Hours and parking

Gupo Jjambbong Gupo Main Branch is at 48 Sirang-ro, Buk-gu, Busan, on the 1st floor. It is open 11:00–21:00, with last order at 20:30. There are 4 parking spaces in the lot beside the building, and you can also use the nearby Sirang Park public parking lot. It's known in Gupo as the Chinese restaurant with herbal-ingredient jjambbong.

Sirang Park public parking lot: ₩100 per hour

The restaurant has its own lot, but it's small, so I used the Sirang Park public lot, a 1–2 minute walk away. At ₩100 per hour it's so cheap I didn't think twice. It's unmanned, so you either drop cash in a box or pay by bank transfer. I park here when I go to Gupo Market, too.

What are the atmosphere and seating like at Gupo Jjambbong?

I visited on a weekday a little after 11:00, early, and by 12:00 the place was packed with locals. A true local favorite.

There are tables that work for groups, seats along the side for solo diners, and high chairs for little ones too.

The self-serve bar has onion, pickled radish and chunjang (black bean paste). And there's steamed rice!! Perfect for dunking in your jjambbong broth after the noodles.

Gupo Jjambbong cooks with a restorative broth made with sanghwang mushroom, ogapi (Siberian ginseng), hwanggi (astragalus), mulberry, eomnamu (prickly castor-oil tree) and danggwi (angelica), and says it aimed to serve a bowl that nourishes the body.

Gupo Jjambbong menu and prices

The menu at this Gupo, Busan Chinese restaurant is split into jjambbong (spicy seafood noodle soup), jjajang (black bean noodles), rice dishes, main dishes and set menus.

• Jjambbong: regular ₩9,000 / octopus-abalone ₩15,000 / premium short rib-abalone ₩18,000
• Jjajang: regular ₩6,500 / tray jjajang ₩9,000
• Rice dishes: fried rice ₩8,500 / Chinese-style seafood rice bowl ₩10,000
• Dishes: tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) mini ₩13,000 (small to large ₩18,000–34,000) / Sichuan tangsuyuk ₩24,000
• Set menus: lunch special course (1 person) ₩15,000 / A and B courses (1 person) ₩25,000–30,000 / tangsuyuk sets ₩23,500–34,000

There are also kkansyo shrimp (fried shrimp in sweet chili sauce), fried dumplings, egg with garlic chives, and the signature eggplant dumplings and chili eggplant, among others.

Five popular dishes to try at Gupo Jjambbong

That day I ordered octopus-abalone jjambbong, tray jjajang, a Chinese-style seafood rice bowl, eggplant dumplings and chili eggplant.

Octopus-abalone jjambbong with ginseng sprouts: does it taste medicinal?

The octopus-abalone jjambbong (₩15,000) comes with abalone and octopus in the restorative broth, and finally ginseng sprouts are neatly placed on top. Jjambbong made with sanghwang mushroom and herbal ingredients? I ordered it most curious about this one.

First I chewed the ginseng sprouts thoroughly. Starting jjambbong with that ginseng bitterness feels different from ordinary jjambbong, more like a restorative meal.

What makes Gupo Jjambbong special is the sanghwang mushroom noodles, which I've never seen anywhere else. The dark brown noodles are made with ground mushroom and pulled by a master noodle maker, and the texture was one I'd never felt before. There's no mushroom smell, so even people who dislike mushrooms can eat them, and the noodles are neither too rustic nor too smooth, just right, with real character.

The octopus was chewy without any toughness, which shows a real understanding of seafood cooking. And the broth I was most curious about, the one with herbal ingredients, surprisingly had no medicinal taste. A subtle coolness follows quietly, a mild, healthy flavor that felt very fresh.

Tray jjajang that even my jjajang-loving partner praised

The tray jjajang (₩9,000) is thick, with sweet sauce soaked well into the noodles. You can't skip jjajang at a Chinese restaurant, so I ordered it. My partner is a jjajang lover and picky about it, yet praised this tray jjajang.

The vegetables were stir-fried fresh, and the sweet sauce is the kind anyone would like. The sauce clings to the noodles so it's on the thick side, and with seafood and other ingredients mixed in, it had that savory flavor tray jjajang is known for.

Smoky Chinese-style rice bowl with egg soup

The Chinese-style seafood rice bowl (₩10,000) is a Sichuan-style seafood rice bowl, basically Chinese bibimbap. It's what I always order when I want rice with Chinese food. Seafood and vegetables are stir-fried over high heat in a wok, giving a lovely smoky aroma, and one bite is wildly addictive. A soft-yolk fried egg sits on top too.

The vegetables and seafood were stir-fried so well that the wok flavor made it delicious. It's slightly spicy but not strong, so even people with low spice tolerance can eat it comfortably.

Other places usually don't put zucchini in, but here the zucchini was soft and gave a nice texture. I think it was my favorite of the main dishes.

The rice bowl comes with egg soup, which I really liked! It's a thoughtful soup that soothes an empty stomach as an appetizer.

Gupo Jjambbong's signature eggplant dumplings

The eggplant dumplings are a signature item: sliced eggplant stuffed full of meat filling and fried, a must-order. I'm a fan of eohyang eggplant (eggplant in garlic sauce) and fried food, so I ordered with high expectations, and it delivered.

With the slices packed full of meat filling, the batter was moist, and the eggplant and filling were moist too. It was a delicious side.

Sweet and sour chili fried eggplant

The chili fried eggplant is fried eggplant, not a dumpling, coated in chili sauce. The sauce was so sweet, sour and tasty that I kept reaching for more. The chili eggplant and eggplant dumplings are both sure bets, so I'd add at least one to your meal.

Is Gupo Jjambbong worth it for a nourishing Chinese meal?

Gupo Jjambbong, famous for jjambbong in Gupo, uses a broth with sanghwang mushroom and five herbal ingredients, and it made me think for the first time that Chinese food could be restorative too. The broth was mild yet deep, and the eggplant dishes are popular for good reason, so ordering one of them alongside your noodles should make for a very satisfying meal. Why not stop by Gupo Jjambbong on your next Gupo Market shopping trip, like I did? 😉