Giheung kalguksu restaurant with free kkakdugi fried rice: Jangwongap

You know how the second it gets even a little chilly, all you can think about is hot broth? I wanted proper spicy soup with kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), so I headed to Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch.

I'd searched a lot for restaurants near Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung, and Jangwongap Kalguksu kept coming up as the most famous! Great for a meal before or after shopping, and hearty enough for a proper one-plate meal.

How is the spicy shabu kalguksu broth with chadol-minari wraps?

What I picked at Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch was the spicy shabu kalguksu, served with a chadol-minari (beef brisket and water dropwort) wrap piled high with minari. The second it hit the table, the look of it alone got my appetite going!!

As it started bubbling away, that spicy, sharp smell rose off the broth and honestly made my mouth water like crazy ㅠㅠㅠ

Shabu shabu is all about that bubbling, cook-it-yourself fun. I dropped in the vegetables and the shabu meat and let them cook through — the meat alone was delicious, and eating it with the vegetables made the broth taste even richer.

What I liked most was that the broth wasn't just spicy for the sake of being spicy. It had heat, but also a real savory depth, so my spoon kept going back in.

With shabu shabu, the best part is barely cooking the meat in the broth, right? Dropping the chadol brisket into the rolling broth meant it cooked in seconds and was ready to eat right away.

Kalguksu noodles first, then the free kkakdugi fried rice

After eating through the shabu shabu for a while, I added the kalguksu noodles at Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch. Honestly, when I eat shabu kalguksu, I'm always waiting for the noodles at the end more than the meat, so I had high expectations ㅋㅋㅋ

Once the noodles went into that deeply spicy broth, the flavor felt even more layered than before~~ The noodles soaked up the broth properly, and slurping them down was spicy, hot, and just the kind of thing that instantly clears your head!

Rather than putting the noodles in from the start, eating the shabu shabu first meant the broth had already picked up the flavor of the meat and vegetables, so it tasted even better with the noodles added later.

And here's the part that really got me. I thought it was over once the kalguksu was done, but there was still free kkakdugi fried rice to enjoy. No Korean person can resist that, seriously??? ㅋㅋㅋ Even after filling up on kalguksu, the second that fried rice smell hits, some magic space opens up in your stomach.

With kkakdugi mixed in, it had a crunchy bite that plain fried rice wouldn't have, and eating it alongside the spicy broth made it the perfect finishing dish. Piled with Uiseong garlic kimchi on top, it was basically rice-thief heaven.

Seafood pancake with whole shrimp, and packing the leftovers yourself

Just having kalguksu felt like it wasn't quite enough, so I also ordered the seafood pancake with whole shrimp at Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch. This one — seriously, I was so glad I ordered it too!! The outside was fried up crisp while the inside had that chewy seafood texture, and it paired really well with the kalguksu.

With squid in there especially, you get that springy bite when you chew, and shrimp popping up throughout made it feel really generous. I ended up packing the leftover pancake to go at the self-service corner.

Is Jangwongap a good meal stop near Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung?

If you're looking for a place to eat around Yongin Giheung, you probably end up searching for restaurants near Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung.

If you're after a hearty meal before or after shopping, kalguksu was a pretty solid option. Shabu shabu is also nice for chatting over, and the menu setup works well for anyone from two people to a bigger group, so it seemed like a good fit for a family meal out or a get-together with friends.

For someone like me who loves spicy broth, this really hit the spot! On days when you're craving something hot like this, it's basically an unwritten rule.

And adding the seafood pancake on top made the table feel packed, which was fun in itself. Above all, the spicy broth went so well with the kalguksu that I'd especially recommend this to anyone who loves a good broth ㅎ

If you're searching for restaurants near Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung and wondering "what should I eat today?", try Jangwongap Kalguksu for the spicy shabu kalguksu together with the seafood pancake!!