Crispy fried squid at Gyodong Jjamppong, Cheongju Chinese restaurant

My second kid suddenly pointed and said she wanted to go to Gyodong Jjamppong in Yongjeong-dong, Cheongju... She said she wanted the squid, haha. This is the umpteenth time our family has been to this restaurant.

Where is Gyodong Jjamppong Yongjeong Branch? Red sign in the Korea Mart food alley

Gyodong Jjamppong Yongjeong Branch is within 5 minutes' drive of Lotte Mart, along the Korea Mart food alley. It's right across from Barbershop King's Cafe, and the red signboard makes it easy to spot — one of the nationally trusted top-5 jjamppong chains!! There are plenty of other restaurants nearby too, so there's a good amount of foot traffic in the area.

The noodles are aged for a long time before being made, so they're praised for being soft yet chewy, with a rich, spicy, and smoky wok-hei flavor — mixing the leftover broth with rice at the end is the perfect finish, remember that, haha.

Inside Gyodong Jjamppong: seating and is solo dining comfortable?

My second kid always sits in the same spot — I think she's eaten here about 5 times just in this seat...? It had been a while since she got to go out just the two of us, and she was so happy to be at the Cheongju Chinese restaurant she picked herself, haha.

The tables have plenty of space between them, and the vibe is calm and comfortable — plus there were quite a few people dining alone, so no need to worry about that. The restaurant is fairly spacious too, so it's great for families, friends, or coworkers to eat together.

The staff were friendly, and there's a self-serve side bar off to one side where you can help yourself to the basic side dishes.

Gyodong Jjamppong Yongjeong Branch menu and prices

• Jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) ₩9,000
• Jajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodles) ₩6,000
• Fried rice ₩9,000
• Mini sweet-and-sour pork ₩14,000 (extra-mini is ₩7,000!!)

On the wall there's a lineup of other dishes — jjamppong hot pot, stir-fried bean sprouts, chicken salad, crispy squid, hangover-soup wheat noodles, and more — perfectly good as a late-night drinking snack too.

What the table looked like when the food arrived

Even the pickled radish was nice and crunchy!

The food came out fast!!! Even though they're technically side dishes, the sweet-and-sour pork and fried squid honestly felt like the main event ♪

Large jajangmyeon (noodles in black bean sauce)

The jajangmyeon is ₩6,000, and we ordered it large. They gave a generous amount of black bean sauce, and being the large size, it felt like even more.

The base flavor is sweet, but it's sweet and salty in just the right balance — solid, crowd-pleasing flavor that basically everyone likes. Kids would probably love it, haha.

Extra-mini sweet-and-sour pork for 7,000 won

One great thing about Gyodong Jjamppong in Yongjeong-dong is that they have this extra-mini sweet-and-sour pork, so you can enjoy it in a more budget-friendly way!! It's surprising because the meat inside isn't skimpy at all — it's packed full, haha.

There are also fried dumplings so you don't feel shortchanged.

She insisted both were hers...^^ But in the middle of all that, what a sweet boy — he wanted to share with his sister if she'd been there...♡

It's a bit much for one person, plenty for 2-3 people to share. The sweet-and-tangy sauce goes really well with it too — I ended up eating almost all of the sweet-and-sour pork myself, haha.

Crispy fried squid, the dish her child asked for

This one... if you love squid, you absolutely have to order it!!? Seven thousand won of happiness... T.T It's fried until crispy, so even the skin is delicious, and once you try it, you'll order it again next time.

Soy sauce + mayo + cheongyang chili combo — no need to say more...T.T? I worried I'd overordered, but after tasting it I immediately congratulated myself, haha. (My husband asked several times when I was ordering whether we could actually finish it all.)

The main event: jjamppong at spice level 1

Honestly, Gyodong is already famous as a chain, so of course!! Looking at Naver and receipt reviews, there are a surprising number of people who say the Yongjeong-dong branch is even more delicious?

At level 1 it's not too intense, and doesn't feel heavy even the next day?! When you want to sweat out some stress, level 2 or 3 does the trick.

It really does feel different since they use only 24-hour aged house-made noodles without any noodle-strengthening additives?! The noodles don't go soggy even as time passes, so we could eat slowly and take our time.

There's also seafood like scallops, squid, and shrimp, which makes the broth taste cleaner and boosts the umami.

With seafood added to the meat-based broth, it felt deeper, cleaner, and more refined! Somehow eating it felt like it cured a hangover too, haha.

This is one of my brother-in-law's favorite spots, a trusted Cheongju Chinese restaurant favorite — Gyodong Jjamppong Yongjeong-dong. Next time I think we'll come as the full family.