Gwangju Cheomdan Chinese restaurant with a self-serve side bar: Mayway

Today I went to Mayway, a well-known spot in Cheomdan. Craving Chinese food on the weekend is basically a national law, haha. I wanted jjajang, I wanted tangsuyuk, so off to Mayway Cheomdan we went.

Where is Mayway in Cheomdan, Gwangju, and what are its hours?

Mayway Gwangju Cheomdan is located near Lotte Mart. It's open daily from 11am to 10pm, with a break time from 3pm to 5pm.

Daily 11am–10pm / 3pm–5pm break time

Here's the exterior of Mayway. Clean and upscale interior.

Mayway menu: hot stone jjajang, 1-person sets and the draft beer deal

There's hot stone jjajang too, and 1-person set menus. If you order 2 draft beers, you can get tangsuyuk for just ₩1,000. That's insane, so nice. Tangsuyuk with draft beer is such a great pairing.

The table next to us ordered hot stone jjajang. Turns out Mayway is also famous for its webfoot octopus hot stone jjajang. Chewy octopus on a sizzling hot stone plate with smoky jjajang sauce~ I'll have to try that next time. So many menu options, and the prices were really nice too.

Inside Mayway and what the self-serve bar holds

The inside of Mayway is also very clean. Plenty of tables, so it's comfortable and tidy whether you're eating alone or with a group. There was a big TV too, so we watched baseball while eating!

The self-serve corner in particular was great for helping yourself. And get this — even rice is at the self-serve bar. If you run out, just add rice and mix it with the jjajang sauce. Such a nice touch. The self-serve bar has pickled radish, green onion kimchi, corn macaroni salad, and onion.

The free sweet potato fritters at Mayway

The sweet potato fritters that come as a default side were so good. Thin but crispy. Sweet and crunchy, made my mouth water.

Totally my style. Perfect as an appetizer.

What we ordered at Mayway: 1-person set, grapefruit cream shrimp, small tangsuyuk

Let's scoop up a plate from the self-serve bar. Even macaroni salad, so nice. Green onion kimchi with jjajangmyeon is basically the law. I eat a lot of pickled radish, so being able to freely take as much as I wanted from the self-serve bar was great.

Mayway's menu is ordered by QR code. We ordered one 1-person set meal (jjajang + jjamppong + dumpling set), grapefruit cream shrimp, and a small size tangsuyuk. There was also a 1-person nurungjitang (scorched rice soup) but nurungjitang is always a main dish, so it's tricky when you want to try this and that too — having a 1-person menu option was really nice.

Mayway's 1-person set meal: three dishes at once

Here comes the 1-person set meal.

Three menus at once, what a novel idea. Such a great setup for eating solo. Wanting to try this and that but it being overkill alone — solved. And the price was nice too.

Three types of dumplings. Crispy and looked so delicious, cooked so perfectly. The crunchy texture was great too.

These dumplings, packed full of filling, were so good. There was also shrimp dumpling with a crispy outside and juicy inside. Now I'm craving dumplings again.

Time to mix up the jjajangmyeon. Top it with green onion kimchi, slurp it up, do a little noodle-slap for fun. The portion was just right for one person.

How the jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) broth tastes

The spicy jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) got poured all the way down.

The broth was delicious, with that smoky wok-hei flavor too.

Tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) made with Korean fresh sirloin

Crispy tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), made with domestic fresh sirloin, they said. Given today's prices, this portion is such a great deal. The sauce comes on the side, great for dipping-style fans.

The portion of tangsuyuk was really good value too. Dip generously in the sauce for a bite, crispy and juicy. Look at that meat, packed full of lean cuts.

Best beer pairing ever. Highly recommend this meat-packed tangsuyuk. There was cabbage too, which was a nice extra treat alongside.

Grapefruit cream shrimp, a first taste at Mayway

The grapefruit cream shrimp also arrived. I've had lemon cream a lot, but grapefruit shrimp was a first.

The slightly bitter grapefruit flavor went surprisingly well with the shrimp. The sweet cream sauce with a hint of grapefruit aroma, plus the clean flavor of the shrimp~

I really liked the amount of meat. A full mouthful, tender with juices bursting out. The tangsuyuk was so delicious.

Three dishes for two people, under 50,000 won

It was there, and then it was gone. We ordered three menu items for two people and it came to under ₩50,000.

We finished up refreshingly with some ice cream at the end.

Is Mayway Cheomdan good for solo diners and groups?

Mayway Cheomdan has a great value menu lineup with lots of options, and the 1-person set meal lets even solo diners try a variety of dishes, which is so nice. Recommended for solo dining, and it also seems great for groups wanting to try several delicious dishes together.