Cold noodle spot in Dalseo, Daegu: beef jeon naengmyeon at Samsol

What should I eat today?

I was shocked that it's suddenly summer again, with daytime temps climbing past 30 degrees — total fail on my outfit choice today ㅠ. After a morning of picking up mom's hospital meds and a hair salon run, I was completely wiped out, so I went for a late lunch. Today's spot: Samsol Gamjatang, a gamjatang restaurant in Dalseo, Daegu.

What we ordered at Samsol Gamjatang

At this Sangin-dong, Daegu favorite I picked two things: ugeoji gamjatang and naengmyeon. The restaurant hasn't been open long, but since there's no break time, plenty of people come in for a meal any hour — the place was packed.

The mul naengmyeon — this is genuinely a broth you won't find matched anywhere else in Daegu. It has that dongchimi (radish water kimchi) feel, clear and refreshing, and instead of using a standard commercial broth, they make it themselves. I... I was so moved eating this noodle dish. It's the kind of good I'd want to eat every single day.

Samsol Gamjatang Main Branch: location, hours and parking in Sangin-dong

• Samsol Gamjatang Main Branch
• 205 Sanghwa-ro, Dalseo-gu, Daegu, South Korea
• Hours: 10:00–23:00
• Closed on Chuseok holiday
• Parking: available in front of the restaurant

This Dalseo, Daegu gamjatang spot is great for solo diners too. The cooking is so good that people keep coming back after their first visit.

Self-serve side dish bar and gamjatang prices

At the self-serve bar you'll find freshly made kimchi, well-fermented kkakdugi (radish kimchi), peppers, and onions, all laid out neatly and clean.

Gamjatang (small) is ₩32,000 — plenty for two people to eat their fill. This time I only tried the ugeoji gamjatang and naengmyeon and was already 100 times impressed. So this place is a guaranteed regular spot for me.

They make both the kimchi and the kkakdugi in-house, and the skill of the ajumma working the kitchen at this Dalseo, Daegu gamjatang spot is out of this world. She's got years of experience and it really shows.

Ugeoji bone soup and naengmyeon, 10,000 won each

We planned to split things two ways, so we ordered one naengmyeon and one ugeoji bone soup. At ₩10,000 each, the price felt right. The moment the naengmyeon arrived, I doubted my eyes — this kind of noodle broth is rare to see in Daegu, honestly the best broth I've had.

The portions are huge too. For ₩10,000 you get enough to fill you up completely, and the ugeoji (dried napa cabbage leaves) was cooked so tender.

Since it was hot out, we ordered one hot soup and one cold noodle dish. They had donkatsu (pork cutlet) too, but we skipped it since it takes a while to make. Either way, Samsol Gamjatang is a guaranteed win.

I usually love both gamjatang and ppyeodagwi haejangguk (pork bone hangover soup), but I'd been giving up hot food because of the heat. Then I had a bite at Samsol Gamjatang... if it were closer to home I'd want to come every day. The cooking is legitimately, seriously good.

How much meat is on the pork bones?

Picking the meat off the bones evenly, there's genuinely so much of it. This Sangin-dong, Daegu spot has great value for money, but with a mother's hand like this in the kitchen, I feel like people should be lining up.

Just the meat picked off the bones alone makes the bowl filling. It's no wonder most customers order the ugeoji bone soup — the value is just that good.

Mul naengmyeon with beef jeon: how was the broth?

I would have regretted it forever if I hadn't ordered the naengmyeon. This Sangin-dong, Daegu naengmyeon spot outclasses every famous naengmyeon place people rave about.

It comes topped with beef jeon, and I doubt many people can make a broth this good. Slurping it down... it's completely different from the naengmyeon broth you get elsewhere — a thousand times cleaner, a thousand times more delicate. Wow... this is a place I want to keep going to just for the naengmyeon, one I almost want to keep to myself. Something genuinely rare just showed up.

This is the real deal. The ajumma cooking in the kitchen is honestly moving. Jang Geum herself would cry seeing this.

Would we go back? Verdict on Samsol Gamjatang in Sangin-dong, Daegu

A Sangin-dong favorite with nothing to complain about. I went in with zero expectations and walked out having met the best naengmyeon of my life — Samsol Gamjatang, a gamjatang restaurant in Dalseo, Daegu. I'm planning to go back and try the gamjatang next.

It's been a while since I finished a naengmyeon bowl this clean. This Sangin-dong, Daegu naengmyeon spot made me sad to watch the noodles disappear as I ate them. That dongchimi-broth taste... wow, I really wanted to know the recipe.

The ugeoji bone soup was also excellent. Both the kimchi and kkakdugi are homemade, and you could tell the care that went in. There were tons of delivery orders coming in too.