Yangcheon Korean restaurant for shared dinners: Haengbokhan Udon

While my friend and I were deciding what to have for dinner, we went to Haengbokhan Udon Gage Sinjeongnegeori Station Branch (행복한우동가게 신정네거리역점), where it is easy to pick a bit of everything :) Takeout and delivery are available, along with parking, high chairs, and Wi-Fi, so that may be helpful to know before you visit!

A friendly atmosphere and a varied menu

As soon as I walked in, the large menu posters on the wall caught my eye. With the wooden ceiling, bamboo blinds, and vintage-style posters, it had a friendly feel that was a little different from restaurants these days—an easy place to settle in for a meal, haha.

Kimchi and danmuji (yellow pickled radish) were set out on one side, so we could take as much as we wanted.

Going by the name alone, I expected an udon specialty shop, but the menu was more varied than I thought, with pork cutlet, rice bowls, bibim mandu, and memil soba. It would be fine for a quick meal alone, but I also recommend coming with a friend, ordering the dishes you each want, and adding a side to share.

Three dishes we shared between two

We ordered three dishes—bibim mandu, cheese donkatsu, and spicy pork rice bowl—and shared them generously between the two of us, haha. Each of us chose one dish we wanted, then we shared the bibim mandu too, and it was so much nicer than having just one thing.

The warm broth served alongside had fried tofu and scallions in it, and little sips of it throughout the meal went really well.

Bibim mandu was ideal for sharing as a side

First, the bibim mandu! The large bowl was generously filled with dumplings, bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, and other vegetables.

After mixing everything well with the sauce, the dumplings and vegetables together were delicious!

The dumplings alone could have felt a little rich, but paired with crisp vegetables and the spicy-tangy sauce, they tasted fresh and I kept reaching for more, haha. There was plenty for two people to share as a side, so it would be a good addition to a main dish.

Cheese donkatsu with a thick, long cheese pull

The cheese donkatsu came already cut, and the cross-section showed a thick layer of cheese inside! With meat and cheese tucked inside the crisp coating, even one piece felt quite satisfying, haha.

I also liked that the sauce came separately, so we could dip to taste. Cabbage, corn, and jalapeños came on the side too, perfect for having a little of between bites of cheese donkatsu!

When I lifted a piece, the cheese inside stretched out sooooo long—and that is part of the fun of eating cheese donkatsu, right? Haha. There was no skimping on the cheese, so it stretched with every piece. Eaten warm, the nutty, soft cheese and crisp cutlet were such a good match, haha.

A generously filled spicy pork rice bowl

For a rice dish, we ordered the spicy pork rice bowl. It came in a large bowl with plenty of rice and spicy pork, topped with seaweed flakes and sesame seeds, so it looked satisfying from the start.

The spicy pork also had onions and vegetables in it, making it good to place a piece on top of the white rice. Going from the spicy, tangy, crunchy bibim mandu to a bite of rich cheese donkatsu, then having the spicy pork rice bowl in between, meant we could enjoy lots of different flavors without getting tired of any of them, haha.

A generous spread when you cannot choose just one menu item

With bibim mandu + cheese donkatsu + spicy pork rice bowl laid out for two, it was seriously such a generous spread, haha. Trying all three together, each one had a different feel, and the combination was pretty great too. None of the portions were small, so by the end we were really full, haha.

It had the feel of a neighborhood restaurant I would think of when I wanted an easy dinner without feeling burdened by the price, so it seems like a nice place to stop when you are debating what to eat around Sinjeongnegeori :) This time, we tried dishes other than udon, but there were so many choices that it was a comfortable place to come for dinner with a friend. Next time, I want to try the udon or memil soba too~ haha.