No-wait late-summer milmyeon: Somunnan Gaya Milmyeon, Busan

Feels like summer's ending. It was so hot, but I'm still a little sad to see it go.

Late-summer milmyeon — Somunnan Gaya Milmyeon Busan City Hall Branch near Geoje Market

During summer the wait was too~ long, so I didn't even have the nerve to line up and kept going elsewhere instead. But these past few days it's been cool in the mornings and evenings, so I thought, maybe I can eat without waiting today! And off I went.

If you turned back in summer, go get some delicious late-summer milmyeon — here's the review, let's go~~

Hours and parking info

• Hours: Daily 10am–9pm
• Parking: Socar Busan City Hall King Kong Lot 1 parking support available, ₩4,000/hour

How to find Somunnan Gaya Milmyeon near Busan City Hall

Gaya Milmyeon is right next to Mega Coffee! Easy to find.

In summer, it's just this milmyeon place with a line stretching out that makes people go, what's that, what's going on there?

This is the milmyeon place featured on Life's a Master of Living, episode 683, in the hidden gem segment. It's been making traditional handmade noodles in front of Busan City Hall for 25 years!

King Kong Parking Lot 1 location can be confusing

Park at the Yeonsan King Kong parking lot to get the parking support (I visited on a weekend and just parked on the roadside).

It's really spacious~!! If you search 'King Kong Parking Lot 1' on Naver, it doesn't come up well — you have to search 'Socar Busan City Hall King Kong Lot 1'!! I marked it on the map above too. It's ₩4,000 per hour~!

So this is the place — apparently Day6's Park Sung-jin picked this as his favorite restaurant! Honestly, even before that aired, this Geoje Market milmyeon place was already famous for its long waits.

Seating and atmosphere

The store bends into an L-shape. Once you go inside, there's a lot more seating — roughly 10 four-person tables, plus 3-4 two-person tables~!

By lunchtime, the seats gradually filled up, and by the time I left it was almost fully packed. If you make a Naver reservation and leave a review, you get free dumplings, so using the reservation is a good idea~!

Menu board and what we ordered

True to a milmyeon specialist, the menu is so simple — divided into Milmyeon / Bibim Milmyeon / Dumplings, with a large portion adding ₩1,000. You can also stop by and get takeout, and the Baemin and Yogiyo delivery app alerts kept going off nonstop.

Large water milmyeon, large bibim milmyeon, 8 dumplings (₩23,000 total)

When I ordered the large size, the two noodle bundles showed up so intuitively clear..! A generous portion and mouth-watering red sauce~

They fill a kettle with hot broth for you, and since I ordered dumplings, pickled radish, soy sauce, and seasoned radish came out with it too.

Large bibim milmyeon: the ratio of sauce to noodles

The bibim milmyeon has red sauce all over~~ a truly generous large portion..!

It has cucumber and egg in it. Apparently milmyeon (wheat noodle) originated during the Korean War, made from relief-supply wheat flour mixed with potato starch as a substitute for naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) — I love how the noodles have that distinctive chewy, not-tough texture unique to milmyeon.

They sprinkle on mustard and mix it up for you. I thought there was a huge amount of sauce, but not at all — turns out there's a ton of noodles once you actually try mixing it.

It got mixed to just the right ratio. I didn't notice at first glance, but there's a ton of shredded meat topping underneath the cucumber~! I layer some on with every bite.

The not-too-sweet, spicy flavor made me understand why people wait in line for this. The tangy sauce doesn't sit on top but clings to the noodles perfectly, so it's really delicious. Since it's fresh handmade noodles, the chewy texture soaks up the sauce so well and tastes great.

A warm broth you keep wanting to drink. The broth also has that herbal-medicine scent and a strong meaty flavor — a hearty broth. They generously fill the kettle with hot broth so you don't have to go refill it, which is great~! The rich broth pairs really well while eating the bibim milmyeon too.

Large water milmyeon: the handmade noodles

Water milmyeon: broth with a thin layer of ice, and since it's a large portion, two noodle bundles show up~! It's handmade noodles, and they look slightly translucent and chewy.

The chili sauce, cucumber, beef, and egg all look super delicious.

There's a lot of chili sauce mixed in, so the broth turns red quickly. The noodles were really, really chewy — factory-mass-produced noodles would go through drying and freezing, but these are freshly pulled from dough made right in-house, so the chewy texture and elasticity are so good~!

Chewy but not tough — I really liked these noodles. The broth has a mild herbal-tasting meat broth with a subtle, deep flavor. Clean and hearty~!

Are the dumplings worth ordering too?

The dumplings, with warm chewy wrappers, were delicious too — packed inside with meat, glass noodles, and green onion. Since I was eating cold food, having these alongside was warm and nutty-tasting, good good.

Late-summer visit wrap-up

Ate well and left happy~! I turned back twice this summer, but even in late summer, milmyeon is still delicious..!! I'll probably come even in the dead of winter anyway... haha! Just eat it with hot broth~! That was my review of Somunnan Gaya Milmyeon Busan City Hall Branch.

Make a Naver reservation, leave a photo review, and get free potato dumplings!