Couple's dinner with whole octopus jjamppong in Paju: Dolpanseok

Today I went with my husband to Dolpanseok Jjamppong, a Paju Simhaksan restaurant. It's near the Lotte Outlet, so it's a perfect stop for a weekend family meal after shopping 🤗

There are a lot of good restaurants and cafés near Simhaksan in Paju, so it was easy to get around! We ate here and then moved on to a café for some delicious bingsu (shaved ice dessert) >.<

Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch: hours and amenities

• Hours: 11:00 – 21:00 (last order 20:00)
• Break time (weekends): 16:00 – 17:00
• Closed every Tuesday
• Group seating available ⭕
• Baby chairs available ⭕
• Corkage allowed ⭕ (free / up to 1 bottle)
• Parking available ⭕

Dolpanseok Jjamppong turned out to be quite a large place. It was big enough to work as either a family dining spot or a venue for group gatherings. The parking area was especially spacious, so it's a Paju Simhaksan restaurant that's easy to visit if you're driving 😊‼️

The signature dishes are dolpan jjamppong and dolpan jjajang, served on a hot stone plate — the visuals alone are incredible..!

It's a restaurant that's been on TV too, so our expectations were UP UP before we even walked in ⭐

Inside the restaurant: plenty of room for groups and families

The interior was really spacious — enough for a group of 8 or more, or a family outing! I visited on a weekday, but I'd also recommend it as a Paju date spot on weekends.

The tables were spaced well apart and there were partitions too, so it was nice that you could also eat somewhat privately.

At Dolpanseok Jjamppong, dishes are cooked to order and served on a hot stone plate, so you can eat it warm from start to finish — I really liked that.

Self-serve corner and unlimited rice refills

Inside the restaurant there's a self-serve corner where you can easily refill any side dishes you run out of, and — though I didn't get a photo — there was pa-kimchi (green onion kimchi) too, which goes perfectly with dolpan jjajang. ?.?

Another thing I loved: rice refills are unlimited too ‼️⭐ You can even make jjajang-bap or jjamppong-bap (rice mixed into the sauce or broth)!!!!

There's a card at every table showing how to best enjoy the dolpan jjamppong and dolpan jjajang! Oh, and there's also nurungji (scorched rice) underneath the stone plate 🤗

You order from the kiosk set up at each table,

and besides dolpan jjajang and dolpan jjamppong, there are also single-portion menu items and a kids' shrimp fried rice, so it's a great Paju spot for family gatherings with kids too 👍

We ordered: dolpan jjamppong (medium) + donchitang set (₩42,000), whole octopus add-on (₩5,000)

Our review: dolpan jjamppong (medium) with whole octopus added

The dolpan jjamppong served on the sizzling hot stone plate! Loaded with bean sprouts, and above all, the portion was genuinely huge!!!! 🥹

We added the whole octopus, and personally... the whole octopus was so good. If you like octopus, this is an absolute must-add!

The tip for the best flavor is to mix the bean sprouts and noodles together first!

Once we mixed all the way down to the bottom, it was packed with seafood! Ordering a medium for two people gives you a genuinely generous amount.

We asked for it less spicy — how did it turn out?

The rich jjamppong broth and the chewy noodles — one bite and it's packed with savory flavor 🔥 We heard the default spice level is like Shin Ramyun, so worried it'd be too spicy, we asked for it a bit milder — but honestly, I think it would've been just as delicious at the regular spice level!

Near the end, there was nurungji underneath the stone plate, so we finished with that 👀

It was like eating rice mixed into jjamppong broth! Since we asked for it a bit less spicy than the default, I think it would've actually tasted better with a bit more kick 🥹 We were kind of sorry about that after finishing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

If you like jjajangmyeon and jjamppong, you have to try the dolpan jjamppong here! There's a reason it's a well-known Paju Simhaksan restaurant.

What exactly is the donchitang set?

We were debating what side dish to order and saw the donchitang set on the menu, so we tried it — and it turned out to be really, really good....

It's a combo of donkkaseu (pork cutlet) and chicken tangsuyuk (sweet and sour chicken) — at first I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was much better than I imagined!

My husband especially said the chicken tangsuyuk was the best part!!!! That was the real highlight — it had a bit of a dakgangjeong (Korean fried chicken) vibe, sweet, with really tender meat inside. Thinking back on it, it really was delicious..? They're great at frying here!

The portion was genuinely huge, so in the end we could only eat this much before giving up ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Both generous in size and really tasty!

A dessert corner too, and final thoughts

On the way out there's even a dessert corner, so we could finish up happily with some yogurt drink and rice crackers 🤗 There's really no reason not to bring the kids to this Paju Simhaksan restaurant!

The restaurant is spacious, the parking is plentiful, and it's a great stop after a trip to the Paju outlets. Generous portions and friendly staff — if you're looking for jjajang and jjamppong, a Paju Chinese restaurant, I can definitely recommend this place :)