Sokcho makguksu restaurant where pollack bibim beats deulmemak: Topgol

Makguksu is one of Sokcho's signature foods! I'd always been curious about this place since I heard they make a perilla oil buckwheat makguksu you can only get here, so after a walk around Sokcho Beach nearby, I stopped in. Haha.

Where is Sokcho Topgol Makguksu Main Branch, and when is it open?

12 Haeoreum-ro 188beon-gil, 1F, Sokcho-si, Gangwon-do, South Korea Mon–Sun 09:30–22:00 Last order 21:30

It's really right in front of Sokcho Beach, so accessibility was excellent.

Parking at Sokcho Beach and how long the wait was

You can park at the public parking lot, but since it was the weekend, it was a bit tough to find a spot ㅠㅠ The lot itself is very spacious though!

I went at an off-peak time so there was no wait, but during peak hours there's definitely going to be one!! Even at a really off time it was completely full..

What we ordered, the self-serve bar and coming with a baby

I made sure to order the deulmemak, said to be Topgol Makguksu's signature dish.

They even have a self-serve bar for extra side dishes and a microwave for warming up baby food — such a thoughtful touch. ㅠㅠ There's a baby menu too!

The basic side dishes. Both the fresh vegetable salad and the young radish kimchi were cool and refreshing.

On one side there's perilla oil, vinegar, mustard, and sugar set out so you can season to taste.

The food came out fast, whoosh!

Everything looked so neat and pretty that I kept taking photos, haha.

The suyuk (boiled pork) was the best dish of the meal

Personally, Sokcho Topgol Makguksu's suyuk is seriously good! The meat was tender with real, proper meat aroma — genuinely delicious.

Pollack sashimi bibim makguksu: the best of the noodle bowls

And among the noodle dishes, the pollack sashimi bibim makguksu was the tastiest by far. Enough to make me wonder — is this why it's called the holy land of deulmemak?! The seasoning sauce was truly excellent. Just the right amount of spice, plenty of umami, and great eaten together with the raw pollack — so good!

Perilla seed seafood buckwheat kalguksu: thick, creamy and nutty

Perilla seafood buckwheat kalguksu! The vegetable-and-seafood-based broth has a really thick amount of perilla seed in it. It's genuinely soooo nutty and thiiick, giving it a healthy feel that made me like it even more.

Deulmemak (perilla oil buckwheat noodles): a love-it-or-leave-it bowl

The perilla oil buckwheat makguksu!! This seems to be the dish they push hardest here, and since I've been really into deulmemak lately, I had high expectations, but it felt a little plain. ㅠㅠ The noodles themselves were good so I enjoyed it for the noodle texture, but it was a bit too mild for me — I'd recommend it to people who enjoy a clean, light noodle flavor! Not that it's bad, just that it might be a love-it-or-leave-it kind of dish.

So there you have it — my visit to Topgol Makguksu, close to Sokcho Beach. The buckwheat noodles themselves were so good that every dish ended up tasting great. The suyuk especially was fantastic, so I'd really recommend ordering at least a solo suyuk portion!