Jecheon Chinese restaurant, mild tray jjajang for kids: Nangman

I went on a trip to Jecheon for my kid's summer vacation. After a beautiful walk around Uirimji Lake, our first stop on day one, we got so hungry that I immediately searched for good restaurants near Uirimji. This turned out to be a pretty famous Chinese restaurant in Jecheon, close enough to the lake to eat before or after exploring it. Let me introduce it right now!

Nangman Jjajang location, hours and parking

• 📍Location: 2-41 Uirimdae-ro 48-gil, Jecheon-si, next to Mosan-dong Somang Church
• 🕖Hours: Daily 10:00–19:30 (break time 16:00–17:00)
• 🅿️Parking: 15 free spots in front of the restaurant, free parking also available at Uirimji parking lot 3 minutes away
• 📌Open year-round
• 📌Accepts high oil price relief vouchers

A Jecheon restaurant worth a stop on a Uirimji Lake trip

Nangman Jjajang is about a 5-minute drive from Uirimji, so it's a good spot to eat before or after exploring the lake. My kid's favorite food is jjajangmyeon (noodles in black bean sauce), and that day she said she wanted some, so I searched for good restaurants near Uirimji and found this place, haha.

They have such a spacious private parking lot, so there's no parking stress at all — very convenient.

We visited a bit after the lunch rush, so we got seated right away with no wait. Just note that there could be a wait during peak times.

This Jecheon restaurant, Nangman Jjajang, had a clean, comfortable, casual vibe. Tables inside were spaced out generously, making it comfortable to eat, and overall it felt well-kept — a satisfying first impression!

Being close to a tourist spot like Uirimji, the atmosphere suited family visits well, and there really were a lot of families there.

Self-serve corner with kids' bowls and utensils

This Uirimji-area restaurant, Nangman Jjajang, has a self-serve corner like this. You can grab more side dishes here if you need them, and small plates, wet wipes, kids' dishware, scissors and tongs are all available for you to help yourself to!

Smoky tray jjajang made mild enough for a child

The tray jjajang came out first. It's usually spicy, but I asked if it could be made mild, and they said yes, so my kid and I could enjoy it together.

Wow… doesn't the tray jjajang just look so appetizing? Haha. It's glossy and shiny, making my mouth water, and it comes served on top of perilla leaves — oh, I felt like jjajang and perilla leaves would go really well together, so I was excited even before taking a bite.

The ingredients were really fresh. Seeing the generously chunked-up fillings, I could tell the owner was being generous. The sauce is stir-fried into the noodles more richly than regular jjajangmyeon, so with the first bite, after the sweet, rich jjajang flavor there was this smoky wok-fired aroma coming through that was really charming, haha.

Thanks to the perilla leaves and that smoky flavor, I never got tired of it and ate it all with real enjoyment. Since the noodles are house-made, they're wonderfully springy and chewy yet soft, and the jjajang sauce is delicious.

Ansim cream tangsuyuk: nutty, sweet sauce over tenderloin

Ansim cream tangsuyuk (tenderloin sweet and sour pork with cream sauce) is introduced as Nangman Jjajang's signature dish — and did you know that this is the first cream tangsuyuk ever developed in Korea, and Nangman Jjajang is the place that created it? Haha. Jecheon's official tourism information even introduces this restaurant as the birthplace of Korea's first cream tangsuyuk.

Instead of the typical sweet and tangy brown sauce, it's topped generously with a white cream sauce, so the look is clearly different from the start, right? At first I wondered if fried pork with cream sauce would be too heavy, but nope? It wasn't heavy at all — the sauce was nutty with a slight tang, and genuinely delicious.

Since they use domestic fresh tenderloin, it's really tender with no gamey smell at all, and so tasty. The batter is crispy yet chewy, and the combo of fried batter, meat, and sauce is just amazing, haha.

What tray jjajang and cream tangsuyuk taste like together

A bite of the slightly salty, smoky jjajang followed by a bite of the sweet, crispy tangsuyuk — the combination is just amazing… 👍🏻 Alternating between the nutty, soft tangsuyuk and the smoky tray jjajang, they felt like they filled in each other's gaps, haha.

If you're looking for somewhere to eat near Uirimji Lake in Jecheon, Nangman Jjajang is a Jecheon restaurant worth a visit at least once. Rather than the usual Chinese restaurant menu, they have special dishes you can only get here. Since it's close to Uirimji, it's an easy addition to a Jecheon trip itinerary, so if you're looking for a Jecheon restaurant, a restaurant near Uirimji, or a Jecheon Chinese restaurant, try the cream tangsuyuk and tray jjajang together at Nangman Jjajang. You'll discover another kind of charm. :)