Paju Chinese restaurant with menbosha shrimp toast: Dolpanseok

A day I went to Paju and found a great local restaurant! On cheat days we only eat jjamppong or dakgangjeong (Korean fried chicken), so we found a place where that exact combo fit perfectly.

While looking for a good jjamppong spot near Simhaksan in Paju, we ended up at Dolpanseok Jjamppong — jjamppong served on a piping hot stone plate, totally hyped for it, and here's the review after actually eating there :)

I was excited from the day before, because we're jjamppong-and-dakgangjeong killers. I honestly don't remember eating a really rich jjamppong before, so I really wanted to find one that was thick and just the right spice level.

Where is Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch, and when is it open?

Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch is at 8-38 Dolgotgi-gil, 1st floor, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do. It's open from 11:00 to 21:00, and closed every Tuesday.

Is there a wait on a weekday at Dolpanseok in Paju?

The Dolpanseok Jjamppong store is pretty large! We went on a weekday and there were still a lot of people, but since the place is big, we thankfully got seated right away without waiting!

Spacious, and with partitions everywhere so you can eat comfortably — great. The place was clean and the staff were super friendly, which put me in a good mood even before eating haha.

Before eating, I looked around and found a poster with this cute message on it! It was cute and made me feel comfortable — the owner's got great sense. We were two people debating between the large and medium size... and went with medium!

The medium jjamppong chidon set at Shin Ramyun spice level

At Dolpanseok Jjamppong you can order right from your seat! Lots of menu variety, and clear origin labeling too. I came running here for the jjamppong alone, but I hesitated a bit over the stone jjamppong too — in the end we first tried the best-selling jjamppong chidon!

You can also adjust the spice level, and we chose the shin ramyeon spice level!

On cheat days we only eat jjamppong or dakgangjeong, so this place amazed us. Jjamppong, dakgangjeong, and donkatsu (pork cutlet) all together?! Seriously never seen a place like this before — such a happy, happy cheat day!

It came out on a stone plate, sizzling hot, piled high with bean sprouts — I was amazed, ㅠㅠ. The donkatsu and dakgangjeong were also really good, but you especially have to dip the donkatsu in the sauce in that photo! It's way better that way.

Whole squid add-on is a must — and so is the menbosha

At Dolpanseok Jjamppong, you absolutely must add the whole squid! The squid and shrimp were both plump and delicious — honestly everything seafood-wise here is plump and fresh. Wrapping it with the bean sprouts is the best.

Especially, the noodles were so well soaked into the broth that the seasoning was completely spot on! I honestly haven't had jjamppong like this before. While eating happily, I saw the next table order menbosha (fried shrimp toast) and...

...ended up ordering it too. I'd never seen menbosha this big before. So packed and the sauce was outstanding, ㅠㅠ. How on earth did they make menbosha this good?! Seriously delicious.

Nurungji under the jjamppong: why Dolpanseok's broth tastes so rich

After finishing the jjamppong, there was nurungji (crispy scorched rice) underneath — jjamppong with nurungji, game over. Eating this makes me want to come back, ugh, I want to eat it again just writing this.

The broth was so rich that I just went 'wow, this is what jjamppong should be' — it wasn't only spicy, the spice level was just right, really! This is the jjamppong place. If you're looking for fresh jjamppong with thick broth, you must go eat at Dolpanseok Jjamppong in Paju.

Self-serve corner, unlimited rice refills and free dessert

The self-serve corner at Dolpanseok Jjamppong is totally clean too, with onions, danmuji (pickled radish), and green onion kimchi — great, great. Honestly I really wanted the green onion kimchi with jjajang, but since we had jjamppong we just loaded up on danmuji and onions and finished it all ㅋㅋㅋ

The rice here is also free and unlimited refill, so if you run out you can always get more — moved by that..

After finishing the jjamppong down to the nurungji, we came out full, and there was yogurt and rice crackers for dessert.. isn't that the best palate cleanser haha!!! Finishing off with cool yogurt and rice crackers is the perfect end to a Chinese meal! Lunch complete!

Is this Paju Chinese restaurant worth a second visit?

It'd been a while since I had jjamppong, and it turned out even better than expected. Since it's served on a stone plate, the food stays hot instead of cooling down, which was great, and the portions were solid enough for a filling meal.

Honestly, this was my number one among jjamppong places!! Really delicious, and next time I want to try the stone jjajangmyeon instead of jjamppong. Best Chinese restaurant in Paju = Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch. Seriously recommend it! 🤍