Fried mandu at a Seooreung Chinese restaurant: Jjamppong Jijeon

I went out to the outskirts of Goyang and stopped by for lunch. This is Jjamppong Jijeon Seooreung Branch. I've always liked Chinese food, and I heard this place is famous for its jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup), so I decided to check it out.

• Convenient parking
• Good size for group visits
• Clean and pleasant interior
• Well-stocked self-serve bar (rice, side dishes, drinks)
• Variety of jjamppong menu options
• Choice of spice level for jjajangmyeon and jjamppong
• Seasoning that isn't overdone overall
• Cool, clean-tasting seafood jjamppong

They're open daily from 07:00 to 23:00, with last order at 22:00.

There's a spacious parking lot right in front of the restaurant.

Jjamppong Jijeon Seooreung Branch sits on a large lot in its own standalone building. The building itself is quite big, and the parking lot is spacious too, so it was easy to visit by car.

What is the restaurant like inside?

Once inside, the interior turned out to be quite spacious too. With so many seats, it looked great for family outings or group meals. I visited a bit earlier than typical lunchtime, but I was surprised there were already more customers than expected haha. I guess it really is a well-known restaurant near Seooreung. And another thing I liked — the place looked really clean!

There's also a sign on one side showing the origin of ingredients, so check it out if you're curious.

Free rice and side dishes at the self-serve bar

There's a self-serve bar set up near the front of the restaurant.

You can help yourself to kimchi, jjachai (pickled radish), mung bean sprouts, and other side dishes as much as you like.

Even the rice is free and self-serve!! When eating Chinese food, sometimes you just want to add rice into the jjajang sauce or jjamppong broth, so having rice ready to go like this was really great~~~

There's also a drink self-serve bar, so you can enjoy coffee, iced tea, or lemonade after your meal.

How to order at the table kiosk

Each table has its own kiosk, so ordering was easy. There are also simple condiments nearby the seats that you can use right away when needed.

As the name suggests, Jjamppong Jijeon Seooreung Branch specializes in jjamppong. Beyond the basic jjamppong and jjamppong bap (rice), they also had menus you don't usually see at other Chinese restaurants, like rice noodle jjamppong and hand-torn dough jjamppong. I was curious about the unusual options, but since it was my first visit, I decided to try the basic menu first!

The basic table setting comes with jjachai and pickled radish, and you can get other side dishes like kimchi from the self-serve bar.

Our food came out faster than expected. We ordered jijon jjamppong, jijon jjajangmyeon, glutinous rice tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), and jjamppong fried mandu (dumplings).

Jjajangmyeon that nails the basics

The jjajang was exactly the delicious, classic version done right. The noodles seemed a bit thinner than at other Chinese restaurants!? Thanks to that, the chewy texture came through even more when I bit into them. And since the noodles were thin, more sauce clung to them, which I loved haha.

The jjajang sauce itself wasn't too salty, so it was easy to eat without feeling weighed down. They also gave a generous amount of sauce, so a good bit was left over even after finishing all the noodles. Couldn't just let that go to waste.

I grabbed some rice from the self-serve bar and mixed it into the leftover jjajang sauce. Jjajang rice can never be bad, haha. It was the perfect hearty way to finish the meal.

Spice level 1 jjamppong: cool and clean-tasting

And now, the jjamppong!!!!!! Since I came to a jjamppong specialist, I had to try it properly. The broth had an incredibly cool, clean flavor. It tasted like a seafood-based broth, and the refreshing taste of the seafood really came through.

Jjamppong Jijeon also lets you choose a spice level. We went with level 1, and it was just right! Not overwhelmingly spicy, but with just the right amount of kick, so even people who can't handle spicy food much could probably enjoy it. And despite being jjamppong, the broth wasn't too salty! Since I'm not a huge fan of overly intense flavors, I especially appreciated this part haha.

There was way more clam meat in it than I expected, and since the clam meat was already shelled and served, it was easy to eat without having to pick through shells one by one. The broth was tasty, the seafood was generous, and overall it was a satisfying jjamppong. I could see why this place is called a Seooreung must-visit restaurant haha.

Chewy glutinous rice tangsuyuk

You can't skip tangsuyuk at a Chinese restaurant. The batter had a chewy yet soft texture.

The meat had a rich texture when I bit into it, and it was really delicious. Alternating between the jjajang and jjamppong while adding a piece of tangsuyuk here and there made for a really great combination.

If you love tangsuyuk when eating Chinese food, I'd definitely recommend ordering it here!! The tangsuyuk sauce also wasn't overly sweet, which I liked.

Don't miss the jjamppong fried mandu

Personally, the dish that stood out most from this meal was the jjamppong fried mandu. I'd never seen this on the menu at another Chinese restaurant, so I ordered it out of curiosity.

Whoa, this was way tastier than I expected haha. The mandu itself came out perfectly crispy from frying. It's not your usual fried mandu — you can actually taste jjamppong in both the batter and the filling. The spicy flavor of jjamppong packed into the dumplings made it a truly unique treat.

The filling was also generously packed in, so one bite gave that satisfying, fully-stuffed feeling!! Everything else on the table was delicious too, but this jjamppong fried mandu was the one that really stuck with me. If you like trying unusual menu items, give this one a shot!

This time at Jjamppong Jijeon Seooreung Branch, I tried a wide range of dishes — jjajang, jjamppong, tangsuyuk, and jjamppong fried mandu. Overall, the food wasn't just intensely spicy, salty, or sweet — the seasoning was just right. Plus, with the spacious parking lot and dining area, the clean space, the well-stocked self-serve bar, and the free rice, it was overall a comfortable place to eat. If you're looking for good Chinese food near Seooreung, give Jjamppong Jijeon Seooreung Branch a try. Next time I visit, I want to try the rice noodle jjamppong or hand-torn dough jjamppong that I didn't get to this time haha.