Iksan Chinese restaurant sharing octopus platter jjajang: Hwangbihong

I went back to Hwangbihong, an Iksan Busong-dong spot known for jjamppong that's also great for jjajang! Hwangbihong only delivers within Busong-dong and isn't on any delivery app, so it's a hidden Chinese restaurant you have to seek out yourself. It's near Onmart in Busong-dong, so it's the kind of place I stop by before grocery runs — and since it was the weekend, I was craving Chinese food again, so off I went!

Hwangbihong hours and how to find it in Busong-dong, Iksan

Hwangbihong is located at 43 Busong-ro 6-gil, Iksan-si, Jeonbuk, South Korea (황비홍중화요리), and is open 11:00–20:00, every day of the year. Takeout, delivery, and group dining are all available.

There's a cute cat hanging around outside the shop that greeted me on the way in and out haha

Chive noodles kneaded every morning and 24-hour bone broth

Walking in, you see signs that make it clear they take pride in their ingredients haha. They use handmade noodles kneaded fresh every morning with chives mixed in, which gives the noodles great flavor and felt like they'd thought about health too, which I liked.

There was a huge pot, and apparently the jjamppong broth is made by simmering Korean beef bones for 24 hours for deep flavor. Every single thing here is made with care haha.

There was also a notice saying they do CESCO pest control once a month, so it's a clean Busong-dong Chinese restaurant that cares about hygiene as much as the food.

Banchan from the self-serve corner at Hwangbihong

The self-serve corner was well organized too, giving off a clean impression haha. Banchan (side dishes) are self-serve, with the standard Chinese restaurant sides ready to grab whenever you like!

Since it's known for jjamppong in Busong-dong, they had all kinds of jjamppong on the menu.

What we ordered: jaengban jjajang, mini tangsuyuk and rice

That day we ordered jaengban jjajang, mini tangsuyuk, and added an extra bowl of rice haha.

Doesn't it look delicious just looking at it? haha

The mini tangsuyuk, crispy outside and juicy inside, came out first haha.

The meat in the mini tangsuyuk was tender and the batter itself was crispy — personally I thought the fried coating was tasty enough that it was good even without dipping it in the sauce haha.

How much baby octopus is in Hwangbihong's green chive-noodle jaengban jjajang?

Right after, the jaengban jjajang arrived! Hwangbihong makes their hand-pulled jjajang with easy-to-digest chive noodles, so the noodles are thin and green haha. I usually don't digest noodle dishes well, but there was none of that here — it's a Chinese restaurant I can eat at without any worries!

Hwangbihong, the Busong-dong jaengban jjajang spot that doesn't skimp on seafood and meat!

The portion of jaengban jjajang was really generous — two adults and a kid ate together and still had plenty. It looked like a lot from the moment it arrived, and there was enough noodles too, making it great for sharing among several people.

At Hwangbihong, the Busong-dong jaengban jjajang spot, the octopus just kept appearing, making the dish feel more and more generous the more we ate.

The noodles are on the thin side, so the jjajang sauce blended into them really well, and chewy baby octopus kept showing up with every bite, which I loved. At first I figured there'd only be a few pieces of octopus in there, but every time I stirred through the noodles another one appeared — there was actually quite a lot of it.

Finishing up: rice mixed into the leftover jjajang sauce

I was really full, but the jjajang sauce was so good I couldn't just leave it. In the end I ordered a bowl of rice and mixed it into the leftover sauce. 😂 Since the noodles are thin, the jjajang sauce soaks into them nicely, and octopus kept turning up as we ate, which made for good texture too. Even though the portion was big enough to fill us up completely, the sauce was so good we ended up mixing rice into it anyway haha.

It's a jaengban jjajang with a generous portion and plenty of octopus, great for eating with several people. The noodles are thin and the sauce is delicious, so even though we were really full, we still ended up mixing rice into the leftover sauce haha. If you're looking for a jaengban jjajang that's both generous and tasty, this is a good place to visit with family and eat well. Next time I come back, I think I'll order the jaengban jjajang again :)