Pho restaurant by Seongbuk-gu Office for a summer boost: Mibundang

Where is Mibundang Sungshin Women's University Branch?

Mibundang Sungshin Women's University Branch is close to Sungshin Women's University Station and also near Bomun Station. Just think of it as being right across from Seongbuk-gu Office. With the heat wiping everybody out these days, I headed to the famous Mibundang for a bit of a health boost! I already knew Mibundang was well known for Vietnamese pho, and since it was my first visit, I was super excited.

Mibundang Sungshin Women's University Branch hours and break time

The shop is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., with a break from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Last orders are at 2:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., so be sure to check the hours, break time and last order times before you go!

Parking at the Seongbuk-gu Office lot

For parking, just use the Seongbuk-gu Office lot. The first 30 minutes are free on weekdays, and the first hour is free on weekends and holidays. After that it's ₩1,000 per 30 minutes (₩250 per 5 minutes beyond the limit), so parking is very cheap. The lot also turns over faster than I expected, and even on a weekday lunch I parked without trouble!

Mibundang atmosphere and kiosk ordering

The front of the shop is neat and calm right from the start. It looked like a Japanese-style restaurant where you eat quietly and comfortably.

You order at a kiosk outside the shop, which was super convenient! (Feels like I'm in Japan.) You can choose dine-in, fully cooked takeout or half-cooked takeout, so it looks great for takeout too. We ordered two brisket-flank-tendon pho and one potato-wrapped shrimp.

Brisket, flank or tendon: which pho to pick?

Mibundang's main menu is mostly Vietnamese pho. Brisket (chadol) is the safest, tender meat; flank (yangji) is clean meat without any greasiness; and tendon (himjul) is chewy, like cow knee cartilage (dogani). Order to your taste, but personally I recommend the brisket-flank-tendon pho, which has all three.

What are the open-kitchen solo seats at Mibundang like?

This is what the inside looks like from within the shop. The moment I walked in, powerful air conditioning! It was incredibly cool.

All the seats were counter-style single seats, with an open kitchen in the middle, so you can see the kitchen super vividly. I was totally surprised the moment I walked in, seeing how cleanly they cook and how neatly everything is prepared.

There's also a spot behind the seat for your belongings! And above each seat there are plenty of sauce bottles: hoisin sauce, hot sauce, chili sauce! All three taste amazing.

How to enjoy Mibundang pho

There's also a very detailed guide on how to eat the pho deliciously.

• Put noodles, bean sprouts and meat in a bowl and mix with onion and hot sauce
• Add hot sauce to the noodles for a spicy, hearty broth
• Put noodles, bean sprouts and meat in a bowl and mix with cilantro and hoisin sauce
• Mix green onion and hot sauce in a small sauce bowl and dip

Extra noodles are free if you order one meal per person! If you want cilantro, just ask. They're generous, so the extra noodles come in a very generous portion too. No worries about quantity, so it should be great for guys as well!

Maybe because there are signs everywhere saying "A space for quiet dining, please keep conversation low," everyone ate quietly and politely. Only nice music was playing, and it was so peaceful.

If you join the Naver receipt event, you get 2 pieces of sweet potato jjajo (fried rolls) for free, so definitely take part!

When I opened the drawer in front of my seat: a spoon, chopsticks and sauce dishes!

They set out the three sauces, hoisin, hot and chili, in as much as you'll eat! For side dishes you get pickled chili, pickled radish and pickled onion.

Noodles and broth cooked right in front of you

They boil the noodles right in front of me and set up the meat too. An open kitchen right in front of you — this felt like a first among pho shops. Mibundang Sungshin Women's University Branch is seriously amazing. The kitchen was kept so clean that it sparkled.

They also keep preparing fresh broth right beside it, adding all kinds of vegetables and cooking with great care.

How was the brisket, flank and tendon pho?

Oh! The brisket-flank-tendon pho finally arrived, brought straight to my seat. Hot and hearty-looking! The fried potato-wrapped shrimp came out right after, and now the real mukbang (eating show) begins. I tried the pho first.

Oh, first off, Mibundang's broth has a very deep flavor. It isn't Thai-style; it's that clean, deep Vietnamese taste. Eating the bean sprouts and green onion with the broth is super refreshing. I started with the tendon! Wow... it melts in your mouth. It's like cow knee cartilage. (It honestly feels a little restorative.)

They say they use domestic noodles. They're soft yet chewy, with a great texture. They seem easy to digest and gentle on the stomach. The default portion is quite big, so I was fine without extra noodles. If you want plenty, just add some.

I tried brisket + onion + hoisin sauce, and tendon + chili sauce too. Every combo was amazing. So light and tender!

Potato-wrapped shrimp and beef flank

The potato-wrapped shrimp was a treat too: shrimp inside crispy potato, a great bite. Recommended!

Let's try the flank too. Wow, so tender. If you're on a diet, I'd recommend the flank pho most. Tender, light, just right. It's probably the lowest in calories too.

The flavor connoisseur has arrived! I followed the eating guide and mixed it with the sauce. Oh wow, since it's eaten differently from the broth, it felt like a spicy mixed noodle dish (bibim guksu). Definitely give it a try!

Is Mibundang Sungshin Women's University Branch a good summer lunch?

Eating the pho at Mibundang Sungshin Women's University Branch felt like having a restorative dish, especially in the hot summer, and the cow-knee-like tendon was seriously the best! The broth was so rich and intense that I cleaned the bowl to the end. I watched them make the broth right in front of me, trimming everything by hand and making it with care, and thought, "Wow, this is really different."

It's great for a quiet solo meal, and fine for two people who want to eat quietly, and as for the taste, what can I say, it's fantastic. There can be a wait on weekends or at mealtimes, but there's plenty of seating and the single-item menu means fast turnover. I sincerely recommend it as a Bomun Station solo-dining spot and a pho lunch spot near Sungshin Women's University. Anyway, I finally got to a great restaurant in a while! Another happy lunch today.