Paju dumpling house near Simhaksan: shabu-style hot pot, Bubyeokjeong

Where is Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu in Paju, and where do you park?

Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu (부벽정평양만두) is at 129 Jimok-ro, Ra-dong 1st floor, Paju, Gyeonggi, and it has its own parking lot, so it's easy to reach by car. I found it while searching for Paju dumpling spots, and a Pyeongyang mandu place I love was right nearby, so I ran over for dinner right away 💕

Hours are 11:00 - 21:00, with a break time of 14:30 - 17:00 Monday to Friday (none on Saturday and Sunday) and last order at 20:00. It's near Paju Book City, Heyri Art Village, the Unjeong new town and Simhaksan, so no parking worries and it's a perfect drive course!!

The interior has a clean, neat look, and even though it was early evening, the place was bustling with customers.

What are Bubyeokjeong's Pyeongyang mandu made of?

Bubyeokjeong's Pyeongyang mandu are said to be filled with chodang tofu, made with bittern from the East Sea off Gangneung. Once seated, let's check the Bubyeokjeong guide first :)

Mild, soft chodang tofu is a precious ingredient that brings out the clean, light flavor of Pyeongyang mandu :) The sign also explained that Pyeongyang mandu are known for being plain, true to their own taste, delicate, rustic and lingering. And, well, food made with good ingredients can't be bad, right? Haha. Bubyeokjeong, a place to trust 🙌

Bubyeokjeong menu and how to order

You order by table ordering, and the menu is split into meals, hot pots, side dishes, alcohol and drinks. There's also a menu board you can take in at a glance.

If you do the 1-minute Bubyeokjeong customer survey, you get one drink per table, and with the Naver review event the first 10 teams get a mung bean pancake, so keep that in mind ⭐️

We ordered these three things.

• Pyeongyang mandu hot pot for 2 ₩28,000
• Mung bean pancake (bindaetteok) ₩10,000
• Seasonal greens and tofu ₩12,000

After you order, the basic side dishes are set out first, and for extra side dishes you can freely use the self-serve corner.

How were the mung bean pancake and the seasonal greens with tofu as sides?

The mung bean pancake and the seasonal greens with tofu go well with the mandu hot pot, and the healthy flavor was easy on the stomach. The seasonal greens in particular matched everything, so they were great as a side!!

Mung bean pancake

They say it's made without any mung bean flour: 100% fresh mung beans soaked and ground in-house, then carefully pan-fried in lard the traditional way, giving a deep, nutty flavor.

Seasonal greens and tofu

They say it's a neat pairing of clear Gangneung chodang tofu with deep nutty richness and crunchy seasonal greens, and Bubyeokjeong's own tangy, spicy seasoning whets the appetite nicely.

How do you eat the Pyeongyang mandu hot pot for the best flavor?

Bubyeokjeong's Pyeongyang mandu hot pot (₩28,000 for 2) comes with plenty of vegetables, 8 Pyeongyang mandu and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles).

Once the broth boils, add the vegetables and suyuk (boiled sliced pork) first to make the broth richer and deeper,

The Pyeongyang mandu come properly steamed, so you only need to blanch them lightly for 1-2 minutes. To keep them from going soggy, drop in one at a time, only as many as you'll eat, and enjoy them shabu-shabu style haha.

The mandu hot pot tasted clean and good on its own, but I was told dipping in the special spiced sauce gives a deeper, richer flavor, so I dipped them in the sauce too, and picking at this and that, I got really full!!

Kalguksu: hourglass 5 minutes + 1 minute

For the mandu hot pot kalguksu, they say it's chewiest if you add the noodles, wait until the hourglass (5 minutes) runs out, then boil one more minute. I was full, but the finale was still waiting... haha. Of course I had to finish with the kalguksu too, right?!

I followed the instructions, and sure enough the noodles didn't get mushy and kept a chewy texture, so I enjoyed it to the very end 👍

Is there takeout and dessert too?

Bubyeokjeong also has takeout products, said to taste at home just like in the restaurant. Lots of people were getting takeout, so next time I want to take some home and eat it there too!

For dessert, Bubyeokjeong has misutgaru (roasted grain drink) and nostalgic Korean snacks, so finish off with dessert too 😊😊

Is Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu worth recommending?

The Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu branch near Paju Book City, Heyri, Unjeong and Sanbon has great food, and the staff were so kind that I left in a good mood :) If you're looking for a good Paju restaurant, or you love Pyeongyang mandu, I recommend visiting Bubyeokjeong 🙏