Ulsan Korean restaurant for dumpling soup near Ulsan University

There are actually quite a few longtime local favorites near Ulsan University, you know? A friend had recommended one place to me ages ago, saying it was delicious, so I visited once before. I remembered enjoying it way more than I expected, so this time I came back for a second visit with my husband! It’s Jeontong Sigol Chueotang Ulsan Mugeo Branch. This time, rather than just having loach soup, we properly ordered dumpling soup with kalguksu and spicy pork stir-fry too. Long story short, the two of us ate until we were absolutely stuffed hahaha.

A Ulsan University favorite I discovered through a friend’s recommendation

Jeontong Sigol Chueotang felt much more like a local Korean restaurant that has held its place in the neighborhood for years than a sleek, flashy new restaurant. Even though we visited on a weekday evening, there were quite a lot of customers!

Maybe because it’s close to the Ulsan University dorms, there were students dining alone, people stopping by after work for dinner, and families too. I felt this on my first visit as well, but it seems to have a pretty solid group of regulars 👍🏻

There were so many customers that I only snapped a quick interior photo through a crack in the door, haha. The decor itself isn’t particularly flashy, so this time I’ll focus more on the food I actually tried than the atmosphere :D

Jeontong Sigol Chueotang menu and parking

The menu and prices were as shown on the board above when I visited! That day, we ordered loach soup, dumpling soup with kalguksu, and spicy pork stir-fry. We ordered three dishes for two people, so we were already destined to be full hahaha.

Parking was possible if there was an open space in front of the restaurant. There isn’t a large dedicated parking lot, so if you’re visiting by car, it may be a good idea to check whether front-of-store parking is available first!

The essential order: loach soup

With a name like Jeontong Sigol Chueotang, we started with the chueotang (Korean loach soup), of course. The steaming bowl is good as it is, but you can add ground sansho pepper and a spicy Cheongyang chili-and-garlic seasoning to suit your taste 😋

I love the aroma of sansho and like my food spicy, so I added a bit of everything! It was so satisfying with rice 🍚🍚 I remembered enjoying the loach soup when I first came on my friend’s recommendation, and I was just as happy with it on my second visit ^^b

Dumpling soup with kalguksu that unexpectedly suited my taste

But there was one dish that really surprised me on this visit: the dumpling soup with kalguksu (knife-cut noodles). It comes with kalguksu and boiled dumplings together, and I really loved the broth here.

I’ve always liked the warm, savory flavor of tteokguk-style broth. From the very first bite, it was exactly my kind of thing, so I kept reaching for the soup. Seriously, the broth is the real deal 👍🏻 One spoonful of warm broth and it felt like everything settled right down inside me~~ I’d have some noodles, eat a boiled dumpling, then take another spoonful of broth, and before I knew it, I just kept eating. Ahh..

Spicy pork stir-fry served with ramen noodles

Another dish at Jeontong Sigol Chueotang that felt like a special treat was the donduruchigi (spicy pork stir-fry). It has spicy stir-fried pork with onions, and unusually, it comes with ramen noodles too.

The pork was sliced thin, with a nice balance of lean meat and fat, so it was great with the seasoning. Especially with the ramen noodles coated in that spicy sauce, it was totally the kind of dish that makes you demolish your rice. Loach soup, then spicy pork, then back to that dumpling-soup broth, hehe.

My husband and I really ate until we burst 🤣 Looking at the photos again, I have no idea how the two of us finished all of this, hehe.

What to know when visiting with a baby and stroller

Kongtteok came along this time too, and something unexpected happened. We brought the stroller without thinking much of it, but it turned out the restaurant has chair tables where you take your shoes off before entering. In that moment, I thought, “Uh… what do we do with our stroller?ㅠㅠ”

But the staff member kindly said it could be cleaned later and let us bring the stroller inside.. 🥹🙏🏻🙏🏻 They also saw that we had a baby with us and guided us to an inner room, so we were able to eat really comfortably.

Thanks to them, Kongtteok made it in safely too hahaha. Still, this was a kindness the staff showed us during our visit, so I recommend contacting the restaurant in advance if you plan to bring a stroller.

• Visited with a 6-month-old baby.
• The restaurant has chair tables where you remove your shoes.
• Thanks to the staff’s consideration, we could bring the stroller inside.
• We ate comfortably in an inner room.
• If bringing a stroller, I recommend asking before visiting.

A filling meal I remembered enough to return for

I went for loach soup, fell for the dumpling soup with kalguksu broth, and left stuffed after adding the spicy pork stir-fry too hahaha. I first learned about this place through a friend’s recommendation, and this was my second visit. Rather than a restaurant with a flashy atmosphere, it felt like the kind of local Korean restaurant near Ulsan University that comes to mind when you want a truly filling meal.

Even next time, I think I’ll order the loach soup as a given and get the dumpling soup with kalguksu again too. I’m still thinking about that broth.. slurp.

If you’re looking for Korean food or a good spot for a solo meal near Ulsan University, keep Jeontong Sigol Chueotang in mind :D