Noodle restaurant by a 600-year zelkova tree in Suji: Chilseong

Today I'm writing about my visit to Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji Main Branch.

I wish I had something like this right by my house~

That's the kind of place this is.

Where is Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji, and how do you get there?

Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji is inside the Seohee Star Hills commercial building. It's at 1F Unit 104, 80 Seongbok1-ro, and opens at 11 AM.

The walk there is honestly enjoyable — another reason I wish this place was near my home~

• 950m from Exit 4 of Seongbok Station (Sinbundang Line)
• There's a protected 600-year-old zelkova tree right in front of the store

3. This is that zelkova tree. It's a great spot to sit and rest, the kind of place where conversation just naturally flows. You wonder how a tree like this ended up right here.

4. If you're driving, search "Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji Main Branch" in your navigation app and the Star Hills parking lot will come up.

5. The parking lot looks like it goes down forever, but it's just basement level 1 haha. Just come back up to the 1st floor. Very easy to find. It's free parking, so remember it — whether you come for the tree and stay for a meal, or come for the meal and check out the tree, you can use the free parking either way.

Not sure if I'd call it Western-style or just an apartment complex commercial strip, but as soon as you leave the parking lot there's a row of shops.

Vietnamese food, chicken, coffee shops all lined up. Not hard to find at all.

The '7' (chil) catches your eye haha, because it's Chilseong~

The '33' also catches your eye, since they're introducing 33 different noodle dishes~

Inside Chilseong Jemyeonso: the room and its mood

Seating at Chilseong Jemyeonso: solo, two, four and eight

The inside of Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji is clean (that whole Smoothie King vibe haha). Solo dining, 2-person, 4-person, and 8-person tables are all available. Window views, wall views — designed, it seems, to fit the mixed-use commercial district with a tidy, easy dining setup.

Clean with no clutter!

What to order from the 33-dish noodle menu

I'd love to introduce all 33 noodle dishes, but I'll stick to the main categories. Chilseong Jemyeonso seems connected to Daegu's Chilseong Market. As someone who's been going to Chilseong Market since childhood, I recognized it 'instantly.' Sure enough, there's a wide range of Daegu-style dishes.

Since it's a nationwide franchise, they can't stick to only regional dishes. Daegu Chilseong Market-style menus and more universal dishes exist side by side in harmony.

There's a monthly recommended dish. September's pick is spicy udon (eolkeun udon). Being a noodle house, the noodles are great — broadly split into udon noodles and fresh wheat noodles (saengmyeon). The set meal is basically noodles + pork cutlet + soup.

We had

Yaki udon: stir-fried udon Jjolmyeon: a must-order at any noodle house Mandu: Daegu-style flat dumplings Fried vegetables: just because haha

That's what we planned to order at first, but since it had no broth, we also ordered the fresh noodle soup (saengmyeon guksu). Fresh noodles mean you slurp — you know the sound, right? Haha.

The rice dishes look good too. While we were 'studying' the menu, other guests arrived, and a lot of them ordered rice dishes. There are bibimbap varieties and galbitang (short rib soup) too, both popular~

There's udon and fresh noodles. Fresh noodles go horoluk (slurp), udon goes huruluk (slurp)~

Soba and jjolmyeon~ Hard to pick a winner, but my companion prefers jjolmyeon. In the end we chose jjolmyeon, then switched to somyeon (thin wheat noodles) since it had no broth — but I recommend the incredible jjolmyeon here!

At a Chinese restaurant, it's ganjjajang. At a noodle house, it's jjolmyeon~

That's just the rule, so take my word for it and order the jjolmyeon sometime. It's really good. Spoiler: we ended up ordering everything anyway haha.

The set meal comes with pork cutlet and gamjajeon (potato pancake), a Gangwon-do dish. I didn't order it, but from the photo it looked lightly grated and julienned, which should give it a good texture. Personally I prefer the julienned kind of gamjajeon over the fully mashed version — good chew, and since I love fried and stir-fried potatoes anyway, I like this more than 'plain gamjajeon.' Goes well with pizza too, right?

Fried dishes come out too. Tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) is a must. Broth tteokbokki, rosé tteokbokki — all great. And you can't have food like this without a cola.

Fried vegetables and the sweet-and-tangy house sauce

Meal photos~

I took a few photos of what we ordered.

The vegetable fritter. Vegetable fritters can't be bad — you mix the vegetables and deep-fry them in oil, so of course they're delicious soaking up that oil haha. And the special sauce — tangy! And sweet! It's not just plain soy sauce, there's something extra in there. Anyway, it's sweet and tangy with not-too-spicy chili flakes, so even dunking the neatly cut fried vegetables all the way in doesn't make it too salty~

I was trying to take a photo of the self-serve bar and kitchen when I locked eyes with the owner haha.

The owner serves every table himself

The owner of Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji is incredibly kind.

As someone who eats out a lot, from what I could see, this owner is

• Good-natured
• Has lots of acquaintances
• Great at cooking
• Once you're close, gives you everything
• And tall too haha

Seems to have everything a restaurant owner needs haha. Anyway, since the owner serves tables personally, the staff can't help but be kind too — they'll probably do well! I've never run a restaurant myself, but I've been to just about every one around, and seeing this owner, I think this place is bound to succeed.

Seafood yaki udon: stir-fried udon seasoned just right

Yaki udon — someone once told me not to use the Japanese word so I called it stir-fried udon, but honestly, is there even a distinction between Korean and Japanese words anymore? If it's tasty, that's all that matters~ haha.

I went to Osaka earlier this year. Kansai-region Osaka food really suits Korean tastes, hence all the tourists, but I felt it was a bit salty. Chilseong Jemyeonso's yaki udon, though, is seasoned just right. The rippling bonito flakes are just the right amount (too much rippling and that's no good either haha, quite finicky). The seasoning is perfect. The seafood is good, the noodles are cooked well, and it's nice and hot.

Fried vegetables and seafood udon together — excellent combo.

Jjolmyeon and fresh noodle soup: three dishes for two people

Next up: jjolmyeon and fresh noodle soup.

We dove in like we'd finish everything at once, but there's absolutely no way you can eat it all at once.

The broth is light and clean, good for drinking straight. Behind us, four sturdy-looking adults arrived and each ordered just one dish per person~ We, on the other hand, ordered three dishes plus fried vegetables for two people. Sure, we hadn't eaten much since breakfast, but even so it might seem excessive — except it isn't, really~

At a noodle house~

You order one dish each~ plus one more to share, 'a bite or two together'~ plus something like an appetizer~

That's how it's done. Trust me on this haha.

Why did I photograph the kimchi?

When you go around to a lot of good restaurants, there are photos and videos you plan out in advance. And then there are photos where you think 'why on earth did I take this?' The photo below is exactly that kind of 'why did I take this' photo.

I spent a good while wondering why I took this photo. It wasn't when the food first arrived, wasn't after we finished eating, and it's not even a spoon shot~

The kimchi is delicious~

Chilseong Jemyeonso's kimchi and pickled radish are really good. That kimchi in the middle is especially tasty — and I took such a lousy photo of it haha. Sorry, boss~ haha. Anyway, it pairs really well with the fresh noodle soup. The kimchi is delicious. Being right-handed, I can't take photos, eat, and use chopsticks at the same time, hence this little disaster~~

Not a scrap left: the verdict on Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji

Today too,

As always, not a scrap left haha

We cleaned every plate~ The fresh noodle soup was left with just broth, the yaki udon was wiped out, and the jjolmyeon — which we said we wouldn't eat because it had no broth — was finished down to the last vegetable. Even the fried vegetables, which I was avoiding for fear of gaining weight, ended up wrapped up with the leftover jjolmyeon vegetables haha.

This was a restaurant we truly enjoyed. The owner leading by example and the staff's smooth teamwork made for a great meal. With good energy from that 600-year-old zelkova tree next door,

The kind of place I wish was right by my house~

That was my visit to Chilseong Jemyeonso Suji. Thanks for reading!