Kalguksu restaurant in Bundang, Seongnam with kids: Myeongyeok Sunae

Friday evening, where should we take two kids? While trying to think of a menu that adults would enjoy but that would also work well for kids, I ended up at Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae, known as a kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) spot in Bundang. It has everything from kalguksu to naengmyeon (cold noodles) to chicken katsu all together, which made it look perfect for a family visit. So that day we ordered half-chicken kalguksu, spicy crab-marinade bibim naengmyeon, and assorted breaded chicken katsu, and ate it all with the kids until we were stuffed 😊

Where Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae is and when it opens

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae is located at 9-7 1F 101-2ho, Hwangsaeul-ro 200beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. It's open from 11am to 9pm, with a break time from 4pm to 5pm. Last order is at 3:30pm and 8:30pm.

Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae menu: what to order with kids

The menu at Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae has kalguksu, naengmyeon, and chicken dishes all together, which made it easy to pick a family meal. When eating with kids, we usually end up ordering several different dishes to share rather than sticking to just one menu item. Especially on a visit like this with kids, it's better to let everyone pick something they want and share several dishes rather than order just one.

This Seongnam kalguksu spot, Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae, had chicken kalguksu, assorted-topping naengmyeon, spicy crab naengmyeon, meat-loaded naengmyeon, samgye (ginseng chicken) gomtang, breaded chicken tenderloin katsu, assorted breaded chicken katsu, sesame oil naengmyeon, pollock hoe naengmyeon, and cheese-loaded assorted chicken katsu, among others. So we picked one kalguksu, one naengmyeon, and a chicken katsu the kids would love 🍽️

Self-serve side dish counter and kids' tableware

At Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae, you could serve yourself as much of the basic side dishes as you wanted from the self-serve counter. Another nice touch was the unlimited rice blended with Suhyangmi, which was a plus.

And when they saw we had kids, they brought out separate kids' tableware — it was so cute and pretty that I almost wanted to take it home haha

🍜 Half-chicken kalguksu: how big is the portion?

With half a chicken included in the kalguksu, it looked quite hearty from the moment it arrived. Seeing the bubbling noodle soup topped with chicken made it feel like a filling meal just by looking at it. Kalguksu is fun for the combination of warm broth and noodles, and slurping the noodles down with the broth felt comforting and warming without being too heavy.

When eating with the kids, I cooled down some noodles and cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces to share. When dining out with kids, taste matters, but so does how easy a dish is to share. In that sense, the half-chicken kalguksu worked really well as a family dinner dish. 😊

🍗 Assorted chicken katsu plate, the dish both kids ate

Both my elementary schooler and my 6-year-old could eat this — the crispy fried chicken katsu was a nice change from the kalguksu and bibim naengmyeon, making it good to have on the table alongside them. Especially when eating out with kids, ordering one meat dish alongside noodle dishes tends to make the meal much more filling.

We cut the chicken katsu into bite-sized pieces to share with the kids — the crispy coating and tender chicken together made it a good dish for the whole family to share.

🦀 Spicy crab-marinade bibim naengmyeon was the standout

Ordering a cold noodle dish alongside a warm dish like kalguksu made the table feel much more varied. Bibim naengmyeon in particular, with its spicy-tangy sauce mixed into chewy noodles, has a different charm from kalguksu.

With spicy crab marinade added on top, it felt a bit different from a regular bibim naengmyeon. Ordering a warm soup dish together with a cold noodle dish also made it fun to switch back and forth between the two.

The chicken katsu that came alongside the spicy crab bibim naengmyeon meant we were completely stuffed by the end. That said, the bibim naengmyeon's sauce might be too spicy for kids, so I, the dad, mostly ate that, while the kids mainly had the half-chicken kalguksu and chicken katsu — and they ate it up eagerly. For a Friday dinner, being able to have the chicken from the half-chicken kalguksu together with the assorted chicken katsu made for a satisfying menu combination 👨👩👦

🍽️ Is Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae worth it for a family dinner?

This Bundang kalguksu spot, Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae, stuck in my memory as a great place for a family dinner since you can enjoy kalguksu, naengmyeon, and chicken dishes all together. If you're looking for a Bundang restaurant to visit with kids, it's worth checking out the menu lineup before you go. If you're visiting with kids like I did, ordering the half-chicken kalguksu and chicken katsu for them, while the adults add on the spicy crab bibim naengmyeon, and sharing everything around seems like a good approach.

A hearty bowl of warm kalguksu with chicken, plus cold bibim naengmyeon and crispy chicken katsu — that was our Friday evening!! Since it was a meal out with the kids, what stands out most in memory isn't just the food but the time spent sitting together chatting over the table. ❤️ If you're looking for a hearty family meal in Bundang, this Seongnam restaurant, Myeongyeok Bundang Sunae, is worth trying for its variety of dishes.