Giheung kalguksu restaurant for two right at opening: Jangwongap

As the weather turned cooler, I started craving hot broth. Turns out there's a great shabu kalguksu (noodle soup) place near my friend's place in Gomae-dong, close to Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung — so we went right away.

Gomae-dong near Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung: parking and waiting at Jangwongap Kalguksu

Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch has a big parking lot out front, but according to my friend — who's already been here N times — it fills up completely during lunch with nowhere to park. Sure enough, there was a wait at lunchtime. That's how you know it's a hot spot in Gomae-dong.

Apparently Jangwongap Kalguksu has a 60-year history?! No wonder it tastes so good.

Thanks to our open run, we got in without any waiting. Yay, lucky us~

Even if you do have to wait, it's still nice because there are plenty of snacks to enjoy while waiting! The rice-pot corn snacks and misugaru (roasted grain powder drink) here are amazing.

There are chairs too, so you can sit and snack while waiting. Even the wait could be fun.

Seeing the huge interior after our open run, I was like — wait, there's a wait even with a place this big?? Surprised me.

What two people ordered: chadol minari ssam shabu kalguksu in spicy broth

Every table has a T-order tablet, so ordering was easy. We went with the signature chadol minari ssam shabu kalguksu (beef brisket and minari wrap shabu noodle soup) in spicy broth. We also got the Jochiwon peach bibim mandu (mixed dumplings), limited to the first 10 tables a day! Just the two of us, and we ate extremely well.

Each table has neatly arranged cups and sauce dishes. The water was ice-cold too.

And get this — the perilla oil kkakdugi fried rice is free! 100% perilla oil, well-ripened kkakdugi (radish kimchi), and domestic seaweed flakes — how could that combo not be delicious.

It's great to bring a baby too — the menu works for babies, and there are this many baby chairs available.

You can refill things you run out of at the self-serve corner, so the place is generous that way too.

You can feel the pride in the food too — the detailed descriptions made me feel like I was eating something fancy while I ate.

How to eat the chadol minari wraps with sesame oil dip

The combo of beef and minari in Jangwongap Kalguksu's chadol minari ssam is just so good. And the sesame oil with salt dipping sauce is incredible too.

Reading through the numbered steps and eating exactly as instructed — it was honey-sweet delicious.

When the shabu pot full of mushrooms and minari started boiling, we added the beef to cook — and it was even more delicious than I'd hoped.

Ordering the shabu comes with kimchi, kalguksu noodles, minari, and sesame oil dip all served together at once — it felt like being treated to a full spread.

There wasn't a huge amount of meat, but we still got incredibly full — and honestly the real MVP here was the minari and sesame oil dip!

Jochiwon peach bibim mandu, limited to 10 tables a day

The Jochiwon peach bibim mandu, available to only 10 tables a day, was great to eat alongside the shabu.

I think it's because there's peach in the sauce — it made for a sweet, tangy, spicy bibim mandu sauce that was just perfect. And the dumplings were nice and crispy too.

Once the chadol minari shabu started boiling, the smell alone was enough to get my appetite going...

Mixing salt into the sesame oil dip, scooping out the shabu minari and mushrooms to taste first — wow, fragrant even with the fresh minari, my lost appetite totally came back!

Kalguksu noodles cooked by the sand timer

Once you finish the shabu, they add the kalguksu noodles and flip a sand timer — you get to enjoy different noodle textures depending on the time.

Whether cooked 5 minutes or 10 minutes, each has its own charm, so the noodles were delicious either way. Dipping them in the minari sesame oil sauce was also honey-sweet good.

We kept eating the kimchi in between too — it went so well with the kalguksu that my hand just kept reaching for more, and more!

Finishing with perilla oil kkakdugi fried rice for two

Couldn't skip the kkakdugi fried rice, so we ordered two servings. The portion per serving wasn't huge, so ordering one per person works out fine.

Ta-da! The fried rice is self-cooked, but since they scoop out all the leftover shabu broth for you, all you have to do is add it and stir-fry.

Top it with kimchi and it just keeps going in even when you're full. It's the kind of taste where you say you're full but can't stop — you know what I mean?

The two of us cleaned the whole plate. Can you tell how good it was from that alone?

What to grab on the way out: puffed rice snacks and misugaru

There's a phone charging station at the counter, so you can ask to charge your phone if you're in a pinch.

Even if you don't have to wait, make sure to grab the rice-pot corn snacks and misugaru on your way out! The misugaru genuinely tastes like the one my grandmother used to mix with water and ice when I was little.

It was so good I even did the satisfaction survey quiz on the way out. Thanks to my friend, I discovered this Gomae-dong gem — next time we're out for a family trip to Lotte Outlet Yongin Giheung, I'll definitely stop by here for lunch.

Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch: hours and location

• Hours: 10:30–21:00 (break time 16:00–17:00)
• Address: 90 Gomae-ro, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor
• Parking: Large lot in front of the restaurant