Seongnam kalguksu restaurant with a warm broth bar: Myeongyeok Sunae

Today I went to Myeongyeok, a kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) spot near Sunae Station in Bundang.

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae hours and parking

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae has parking and never closes. Hours run 11am to 9pm, with a break time from 3pm to 5pm.

• Parking: Available
• Closed: None
• Hours: 11am – 9pm
• Break time: 3pm – 5pm

There are a lot of hagwons (private academies) and offices around Sunae Station, and the noodle menu was so varied that they even had a Tabling machine — you know, the machine that tells you a place is legit ㅎㅎ. The exterior gave off Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurant vibes haha.

Inside Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae and its self-serve bar

The restaurant is pretty spacious, and the self-serve bar has rice and warm broth so you can help yourself to as much as you want! Haaaaa. As a proper local favorite, delivery orders kept coming in steadily, but the staff were still so kind!!!!!!!!!!!

They said you get galbi mandu (rib dumplings) if you write a Naver review!! Speaking of galbi mandu I can't help but think of actor Song Il-gook's triplets Daehan, Minguk, Manse... me who used to watch the Superman Returns live broadcasts just to see the triplets... I'm not that into galbi mandu personally so I didn't write a separate review, but mandu with naengmyeon is basically mandatory............ if you love it, definitely write a review and enjoy them together.

What does the signature half-chicken kalguksu taste like?

Myeongyeok's signature dish is the half-chicken kalguksu! With chicken prices going up so much these days, it also feels like a nice alternative to samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) ~~~~~~~~~ Since a whole half chicken goes in, I liked that it wasn't some random boneless cut.

Two full plates of homegrown geotjeori kimchi

At a kalguksu place, the kimchi absolutely has to be good, and this geotjeori (freshly made kimchi) was so tasty I ended up eating two whole plates haha. Kimchi really is the best when things get rich and heavy!!!!!!!!!!! Homegrown cabbage, no less!!!!!!! It had a slight spicy kick that was so good, I just kept alternating noodles and kimchi on repeat .. hahahahahaaaa.

The half-chicken kalguksu I ordered had a whole half chicken in it, and I worried it might be undercooked or have that gamey chicken smell, but honestly... it was so tender, it felt like eating baeksuk (whole boiled chicken)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They could probably sell chicken porridge too, it was that soft haha.

Perilla oil naengmyeon with warm broth poured over

My partner ordered Myeongyeok's perilla oil naengmyeon. I really love perilla oil makguksu, but I wondered if perilla oil would even work with naengmyeon noodles — turns out the noodles didn't get soggy quickly, which I liked!!!!!!!!! For my taste it was a bit dry on its own, but pairing it with the warm broth made it come together beautifully ~~~ And I wondered ?????? whether perilla sauce and meat would really go with naengmyeon, but somehow the flavor felt oddly familiar and it all blended really well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The chicken practically fell apart the moment chopsticks brushed against it. Really tender and not spicy at all, so I thought it'd be great for little kids too!

Chicken tenderloin katsu and morning buns in the set

Ordering the perilla oil naengmyeon as a set comes with chicken tenderloin katsu, plus cute morning buns and vegetables — wrapping them up like a burger was such a treat!!

My partner, whose taste leans toward '101lia' style combos, ate this very happily haha. I'm personally not a fan of army-style rations food, but I do love old-school gyeongyangsik (Western-style Korean diner) pork cutlets, so the gyeongyangsik sauce drizzled over the chicken tenderloin katsu was really delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Traces of a slightly late, very hungry lunch. After the meal, we grabbed coffee at a local café nearby — a totally successful day!