Chinese restaurant in Cheomdan, Gwangju with half yusanseul: Mayway

Where is Mayway Cheomdan and how do you get there?

Mayway Cheomdan is a Chinese restaurant on a roadside near Cheomdan Lotte Mart in Gwangju. I was trying to figure out what to eat for lunch in Cheomdan and suddenly craved Chinese food after a while, so I went — and since it's right on the road, it wasn't hard to find at all.

They're running an event where if you order 2 glasses of cold draft beer, you get tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) for just ₩1,000. If we'd been drinking that day it would've been perfect — a bit of a shame we missed it.

Parking behind Mayway, the room, and the best time to visit

There were about 4 parking spots behind the store, and even if those were full, alley parking was possible, so it was fine to visit by car.

The place felt clean and tidy, and we went before closing time. I figured lunchtime would be crowded, so we came in the evening instead, and it was nice and relaxed.

Mayway's menu and the 1-person set

At Mayway Gwangju Cheomdan, you order via the QR code attached to each table.

What I especially liked was that they have a 1-person set menu. Even solo diners can get jjajang or jjamppong together with tangsuyuk, which seems great for eating alone.

Free sweet potato fritters and the green onion kimchi self-serve bar

They serve sweet potato fritters as a free side, and they were thin and crispy, which let the sweetness of the potato come through even more.

There's a self-serve bar for side dishes near the entrance, so you can just help yourself. Unusually, they had green onion kimchi there. Green onion kimchi with jjajangmyeon is such an insane combo, right?

How was Mayway's thin-noodle ganjjajang?

Mayway Cheomdan's noodles are thinner than at most other Chinese restaurants. I actually found this thin noodle pretty delicious. It felt less heavy than thick noodles and didn't get as soggy, which I liked.

The jjajangmyeon and ganjjajang didn't taste hugely different from each other, but both were tasty, so I was satisfied. Personally, I love a place where the basic menu items are just cleanly delicious, haha.

Eating well-mixed ganjjajang together with green onion kimchi is genuinely delicious. And the kimchi isn't spicy green onion either!!!

What comes in the jjajang, jjamppong and tangsuyuk 1-person set

For the 1-person set, we ordered jjajang + jjamppong + tangsuyuk.

The ganjjajang and the 1-person set came out first, so we dug in before the noodles could get soggy.

Even as a 1-person set, the noodle portion was pretty generous. The regular jjajangmyeon also had a well-defined chunjang (black bean paste) flavor, just like the ganjjajang, and was delicious. These days a lot of jjajangmyeon tastes overly sweet, so I liked that this one wasn't like that.

And for jjamppong, they have a regular version and a spicy version — but even the regular jjamppong is really fiery. It was spicy for me since I'm bad with heat, but my boyfriend loved it, saying the spice level was just right for him.

Mayway's thick-cut tangsuyuk was the most memorable dish

And here's the tangsuyuk that I liked the most. The meat pieces were genuinely thick, with no gamey smell and a great texture.

The tangsuyuk was so much better than expected that I want to come back next time and order just tangsuyuk on its own, without anything else.

How big are the fried rice and half yusanseul portions?

The fried rice came with jjajang sauce on the side. It was fluffy and mildly seasoned — the kind of tasty fried rice kids could eat too.

Lastly, we ordered a yusanseul (half) — stir-fried mixed meat and vegetables in white sauce — and the portion was substantial even for two people.

We were already quite full from the jjajang, jjamppong, and tangsuyuk, but the yusanseul was so good we kept eating.

One thing I liked about Mayway — you can get a bowl of rice.

My boyfriend grabbed some rice and made it into a yusanseul rice bowl, and he said it was delicious. Eating here, I was glad this Chinese restaurant wasn't overly salty.

Rather than the intense flavors typical of Chinese food, the overall feel was clean and light. So it seems like a place you could visit for lunch without any guilt.

Is Mayway worth a return trip for lunch in Cheomdan?

They even gave us strawberry ice cream for dessert, so we finished the meal on a refreshing note. It's a good place to visit whenever you're craving Chinese food near Cheomdan Lotte Mart. If you're visiting alone, the 1-person set is also a plus since you can enjoy several dishes at once.

The thick-cut tangsuyuk especially stuck with me, so I think I'll come back next time just for that. If you're looking for a lunch spot in Cheomdan, Mayway Cheomdan is worth stopping by as a solid lunch option in the area.

• Name: Mayway Gwangju Cheomdan
• Address: 6 Cheomdangangbyeon-ro 87beon-gil, Unit 102, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00-22:00 (break time 15:00-17:00 / last order 21:30)
• Parking: Available (rear lot or alley parking)
• Info: Gwangju Sangsaeng Card accepted