Eggplant pork fritter at Jangbaeksan, a Gwangju Chinese restaurant

Today I was looking for a spot to have a beer with a friend and immediately thought of Jangbaeksan, the lamb skewer place near Gwangju Songjeong Station. I've actually been here many times before for the lamb skewers, so I already know the taste is guaranteed. It's famous around here for lamb skewers, but the Chinese dishes are also amazing, so I recommend it highly. This time my friend and I mostly ordered from the cooked-dish menu.

Where is Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong, and how big is it?

It's a 1-minute walk from Exit 1 of Gwangju Songjeong Station subway. There's also a bus stop nearby.

The restaurant spans two floors and is huge at about 397 square meters (120 pyeong), so it's great for group dinners and easy to visit comfortably. Even on a weekday evening, the first floor was already full when we arrived, but luckily a table opened up and we grabbed it.

Pickled radish (jjasai) and onion kimchi showed up as basic side dishes. They go great with the fried dishes or the lamb skewers.

Three cooked dishes ordered instead of lamb skewers

The menu ranges from lamb skewers to a huge variety of cooked dishes, packed with authentic Chinese items you don't see elsewhere. My friend isn't great with lamb skewers, so this time we ordered three things: sweet and sour pork, eggplant pork fritter, and fried rice.

They all arrived looking great — an instant pass on visuals. I'd already tried all these dishes before and knew they'd be good, so I wanted to dig in right away while they were hot.

Fried rice at Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong

The fried rice has that smoky wok-hei flavor and the grains stayed loose and fluffy. It wasn't too salty, just mild, so I kept going back for more.

It's built from basic ingredients but the flavor is spot on. Egg, scallion, carrot, and onion stir-fried together — not bland but not greasy either, so it paired nicely with the fried dishes without feeling heavy.

Eggplant pork fritter: thin, crispy batter

I ordered the eggplant pork fritter because it genuinely surprised me the first time I tried it. My friend, who doesn't even like eggplant normally, said this was actually delicious and kept eating without stopping.

The pork packed tightly inside the fritter paired perfectly with the thin eggplant on the outside. And the batter was thin and crispy — it was remarkable how it stayed crunchy even after cooling down, never going soggy.

Dipping it in the soy sauce that comes with it makes it perfect. The fritter itself is so crispy that dipping it and eating right away really brings out the savory, salty flavor.

Eating it with the onion and chili in the soy sauce is genuinely a hidden gem of a combination — this is the hidden menu item at this lamb skewer restaurant near Gwangju Songjeong Station. Honestly, I've had a lot of eggplant fritters elsewhere, but nothing matches this quality. The batter is that good and the thin eggplant tastes so good that I wish everyone could try it.

Guobaorou-style sweet and sour pork

The sweet and sour pork here doesn't come with sauce poured over it like the usual style — it's served guobaorou-style, and it's incredibly good.

There's glutinous rice inside the fritter, so the chewy texture holds up, and the sweet and tangy sauce is seriously addictive.

It's crispy outside, chewy inside, and thin and crunchy on the surface. You can really taste both the chewiness and the meat, so honestly, coming to Jangbaeksan and not ordering this is a crime.

It also pairs really well with the fried rice, so I highly recommend combining them. Piling the guobaorou on top of the fried rice is perfect. And eating like this with a beer — you all know how good that is, right? There's a reason the place is packed even on weekday evenings. It's not just the skewers that are good — the cooked dishes are so good that nobody wants to leave their seat.

Paying with local gift certificates, and what to order next time

You can also pay with Onnuri gift certificates and Gwangsan Sarang local gift certificates, so you can eat a bit more affordably with local vouchers. A lot of people only know Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong near Gwangju Songjeong Station as a lamb skewer spot, but the cooked dishes are just as good, so I think it's worth going to really understand why this place is famous in Songjeong, Gwangju.

If you're looking for a place with genuine Chinese local flavor, I'd recommend it even more — the taste is truly good and reviews often praise how well it captures authentic Chinese flavor. Looking at the reviews, it's full of genuinely satisfied comments from locals, so everyone can head home happy after eating lamb skewers before catching their train. I enjoyed the cooked dishes so much this time that next time I plan to try the mala menu too.

Honestly, coming to Jangbaeksan and not ordering the sweet and sour pork is a crime.