Gupo Market Chinese restaurant lunch set jjangban jjajang: Hongmigwan

Today I'm introducing a Chinese restaurant inside Gupo Market in Buk-gu, Busan called "Hongmigwan" 🥰 I've been searching for years for a good Chinese restaurant to settle on in Gupo-dong, Busan... and I think I've finally found it! Let's take a look 👇🏻👇🏻

How long is the weekend lunch wait at Hongmigwan in Gupo Market?

Hongmigwan, the Chinese restaurant that's become word-of-mouth famous with both Gupo Market merchants and local residents! When I visited for weekend lunch there was quite a wait — about 4 parties — but it moved fast. If you avoid peak time, I don't think there'd be a wait at all haha

Hongmigwan is supposedly one of Busan's top 3 jjamppong spots. Now that I've been... ah, how good must the jjamppong be? Looking at other tables, the visuals were amazing... ugh, do I need to go again tomorrow? 🤔

Hongmigwan menu and prices

They had a great-value lunch set and lots of Chinese dishes. The prices seemed really reasonable 👍🏻 Tangsuyuk, chili shrimp, yangjangpi, palbochae, gochu japchae, flower buns!!! Yusanseul, seafood nurungjitang, dongpo-yuk — looking at these menus... perfect for a drink or two, right?! 🤤💦💦

For the wait at this famous Chinese restaurant, there's no number registration — you just sit at the waiting bench outside the restaurant. The inside was nicely air-conditioned, which made waiting comfortable, and there were chairs outside too — thank you to the owner for that 😍

Yunijjajang, samseon jjamppong, jjamppong gukbap, bokkeum jjamppong — ah, so this is really famous as a jjamppong spot!!!!

Inside Hongmigwan: atmosphere and seating

The inside of Hongmigwan felt pretty local — down-to-earth, I'd say... It was clean, and the staff cleared tables quickly, which I liked.

Hongmigwan, the famous Chinese restaurant in Gupo Market, apparently uses handmade noodles and seaweed broth. No wonder the noodles were so chewy and delicious... and didn't go soggy!

There were also seats like this facing outside. Looked great for solo dining too 👍🏻

This is the menu board at Hongmigwan, the famous Chinese restaurant in Gupo Market. If you pre-order while waiting, the food comes out right as your table opens up 👍🏻 Kudos to the owner and staff for the thoughtfulness!

Pickled radish and raw onion could be conveniently grabbed from the self-serve bar 🫜🧅

The 23,000 won lunch set: mini tangsuyuk and jjangban jjajang for two

I ordered the lunch set: mini tangsuyuk + jjangban jjajang for two, ₩23,000. As soon as a table opened after the wait, the food came out right away, which I loved — and the jjangban jjajang for two was a massive portion 🥰

The tangsuyuk in the lunch set also came in quite a generous amount?! There were about 10 large chunks of meat. It was so delicious....... Hongmigwan is known as a jjamppong spot, but the jjajang was tasty too!

How does Hongmigwan's jjangban jjajang taste?

Because the noodles are handmade, they didn't get soggy and went down smoothly, chewy and satisfying! The jjajang had plenty of vegetables mixed in and the sauce was sweet and salty — better than I expected 👉🏻👍🏻

Is the mini tangsuyuk worth it?

The tangsuyuk meat was super tender and the sauce was tangy and sweet and delicious, with no off smell whatsoever!!!! Every dish seemed above average, so I have to give this famous Gupo Market Chinese restaurant its due credit

The pickled chili side dish the staff brought out

Since we were piling chili flakes onto our jjajangmyeon, the staff brought out this pickled gochujjangajji (pickled hot peppers), and this little thing was a treasure too... The bittersweet spiciness cut right through the richness, and mixed into the jjajangmyeon, it was quietly a delicacy 🤤

With a great-value lunch set featuring tasty jjangban jjajang and tangsuyuk, I'd definitely love to try the jjamppong at Hongmigwan in Gupo Market next time! Highly recommend ◡̈