Mokcheon, Cheonan holiday dumpling hot pot with friends: Omi Omi

On a trip to Cheonan over the last holiday weekend, I finally visited a dumpling spot near Independence Hall that I'd had my eye on, since I love dumpling hot pot: Omi Omi Handmade Dumpling Hot Pot & Kudzu Naengmyeon Sono Bell Main Branch (오미오미 수제만두전골&칡냉면 소노벨 본점). The handmade mandu (dumplings) are filled with shiitake mushrooms and fern, and you can really feel the care in this hot pot. My friends all loved it too, so let me introduce it right away, haha.

Where is Omi Omi Sono Bell, and how's the parking?

Omi Omi is in Mokcheon, Cheonan, near Independence Hall, and the large private lot in front made parking easy. I read that "Omi" in the name means enjoying and tasting five flavors, with the hope that guests will enjoy a variety of tastes. If you're looking for a good restaurant near Independence Hall, I recommend Omi Omi!

Is the dining room roomy enough for a group?

The dining room is really big! The interior is clean, with neat square tables. It looks like a great place for groups too~ We just picked a comfortable spot and sat down.

Menu and prices: what we ordered

Omi Omi's signature dishes are dumpling hot pot and kudzu naengmyeon (cold noodles), and we ordered the ₩15,000 dumpling hot pot for 3 people. They sell both hot and cold dishes, so it's a good place to visit in winter and summer alike!

The gopchang (beef intestine) dumpling hot pot looked tasty too, but since it was our first visit we went with the basic one. You need to order at least 2 servings, and you can choose spicy or mild broth. Lots of customers were getting takeout, which says something about the dumplings. Dumpling hot pot ₩15,000 × 3 people, order placed!

The Omi Omi user guide: unlimited noodle refills and dessert naengmyeon

Before the food came out I read the Omi Omi user guide, and it says ramen and sujebi (hand-torn dough flakes) refills are unlimited with the hot pot!! And dessert mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth) is included too... I was so touched. I was hungry that day, and I vowed to eat hard, hahahahaha.

The table had chili powder, pepper, vinegar, and a mustard soy sauce for dipping the mandu. Side dishes were white kimchi, napa cabbage kimchi, macaroni salad, pickled radish, and pickled chili peppers.

Steamed mandu while the hot pot boils: how do the shiitake and fern dumplings taste?

When you order the dumpling hot pot for 3, you don't just get the hot pot, a tray of steamed mandu comes with it too, haha. The table was packed, and you can snack on hot mandu while the hot pot boils.

The steamed mandu came in two kinds, meat and kimchi. With the 3-person order, that's one of each per person, 2 mandu each. They looked moist and appetizing, with a real handmade feel! And they were seriously big.

They said the mandu contain shiitake and fern, and that made them distinctive. The meat mandu was good, but the Omi Omi kimchi mandu was even better!! I'm convinced this is a real mandu place~

What goes into Omi Omi's dumpling hot pot?

The hot pot is loaded with all kinds of solid ingredients: shrimp, mushrooms, crown daisy, napa cabbage, kabocha squash, shabu-shabu beef, bok choy, and of course mandu~ It looks colorful and pretty.

Time to bring it to a bubbling boil! The staff explained that the mandu should be eaten last~ I love glass noodles, and a big pile comes included by default. If you run short on any add-ins, you can order more.

I scooped some into my small plate and went back several times. With meat, vegetables and even shrimp in it, the broth tastes richer. Veggies and meat together, yum~ The evenings are getting chilly now, and the hot pot felt like it was melting my body.

Tearing in the sujebi yourself is half the fun

Ramen and sujebi refills are unlimited at Omi Omi!! There was too much food for ramen too, so I went in planning to have only sujebi, and it seems they make the dough themselves~ It comes set out in neat, pretty squares.

Disposable gloves are provided too, so you put them on and tear the dough into the pot yourself~ There's fun in making it this way, hahahahaha.

I ate 2 steamed mandu, and there were mandu in the hot pot too, so I had 3 in total. They're so big that this alone fills you up. Even if you're full, I really recommend adding the sujebi, please!! It's chewy and soft, and goes well with the rich broth.

Finishing with dessert mul naengmyeon

After the hot pot, Omi Omi even gave us dessert mul naengmyeon~ It's truly a restaurant that gives without holding back. The naengmyeon came topped with plenty of icy slush, and it was a cool, clean way to finish, haha. Cheonan mandu spot, Independence Hall mandu spot, yum again today~