Seohyeon noodle restaurant for kongguksu: Gangnam Gyoja

A Korean noodle restaurant close to Seohyeon Station

I love flour-based dishes, so naturally I’m a huge kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) fan too. Among them, I especially love a spicy jang kalguksu. I suddenly craved a spicy, deeply rich bowl of kalguksu, and while searching, I found a noodle specialty restaurant on Seohyeon Station’s Rodeo Street. So off I went! It was Gangnam Gyoja Bundang Seohyeon Branch, located by Seohyeon Station in Bundang.

From Exit 5 of Seohyeon Station, walk straight for about a minute and you’ll arrive at Gangnam Gyoja Bundang Seohyeon Branch. It was so close to the station, which made it easy to visit. It’s on the second floor of the Daebbang Arcade building.

Inside, there were plenty of spacious tables—enough to accommodate groups. It seems to be a local word-of-mouth favorite, since there were customers of all ages.

Ordering spicy kalguksu, kongguksu, and gyoja dumplings

There was a wide selection, from kalguksu and sujebi (hand-torn dough soup) to bibim-guksu (spicy mixed noodles), plus rice dishes such as bibimbap and dakgaejang. We ordered the spicy kalguksu, kongguksu (noodles in chilled soybean broth), and gyoja dumplings!

They also sold chogye-guksu and bossam (boiled pork wraps)~ And since they had tteokgalbi (grilled minced meat patties), it looked like a nice place to bring young children too. There really were lots of people visiting with kids! I was surprised that you could take the kimchi to go, and my dining companion said it was incredibly good—they got refills twice, haha.

The spoon and chopsticks came neatly packaged in individual sets. Daedaegi spicy seasoning, chili powder, soy sauce, and pepper were available to suit your taste. Everything was seasoned just right for us, so we didn’t add anything extra, haha.

Not long after we ordered, all the dishes arrived together. Doesn’t it all look amazing just looking at it? Each dish came in a huge bowl, filled to the brim, so the portions were generous too.

Thick, nutty chlorophyll kongguksu

Let me show you the kongguksu first. The noodles were green, so I asked about them, and they said the color comes from chlorophyll. The thick soybean broth was wonderfully nutty and so delicious. My dining companion is on team sugar, so they asked for some separately and added it in, haha.

The chewy texture of 10 gyoja dumplings

A platter of gyoja dumplings comes with 10 pieces, and the dumplings were quite large, so two people could get absolutely stuffed eating them. They arrived with steam rising as though they had just come out of the steamer. So appetizing, haha.

The filling was packed with good-quality pork and Chinese chives, making the flavor feel really full. The dumpling skin was chewy and the filling was juicy and moist, so they were delicious on their own and paired nicely with both the kalguksu and kongguksu.

Spicy kalguksu with beef-bone broth and meat dumplings

The spicy kalguksu came in a truly overflowing portion! Gangnam Gyoja Bundang Seohyeon Branch’s signature soft noodles had soaked up all that broth, and they were exactly my kind of food. I think I enjoyed it even more than the jang kalguksu I had while traveling in Gangwon-do, haha.

There was also plenty of minced meat on top, which made the broth so good. Four flat meat dumplings, different from the gyoja dumplings, came with it, and they complemented the kalguksu without overpowering its flavor. The spicy kalguksu combines rich beef-bone broth with spicy seasoning for an impressively deep, peppery taste.

The soft noodles were delicious too, but the broth was so perfectly my style that I think I ate it nonstop. The kongguksu was thick and nutty as well, so we cleared both dishes completely. I don’t think I need to go all the way to Gangneung for kalguksu anymore, hahaha.