Yongin Giheung kalguksu with two kids and a noodle timer: Jangwongap

There's a very large parking lot right in front of the restaurant :)

There's a really famous kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) restaurant in Sejong — Jangwongap Kalguksu, the one where an opening-time line is practically mandatory — and now you can taste it in Yongin too :) The same vibe, the same service, the same taste as the flagship, all transplanted here to become a beloved kalguksu spot in Giheung-gu, Yongin. Here's my honest review.

Is the retro candy at Jangwongap Sanghoe really free to take?

Inside Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch there's a shop called Jangwongap Sanghoe, where you can eat as much old-fashioned candy as you like after your meal. The rice-pot puffed corn snacks smell and taste like they were just popped.

Do you know about Jangwongap Sanghoe?!

After the meal, you get to enjoy these tasty old-school snacks — the kind your hand just keeps reaching for, as much as you want.

No need to feel self-conscious, eat as much as you like. They really don't mind at all. The rice-pot puffed corn tastes and smells like it was just fried up.

Weekday noon at Jangwongap Kalguksu: atmosphere and wait time

Jangwongap Kalguksu Yongin Giheung Branch is a very spacious, comfortable restaurant. My family arrived around noon on a weekday, right at lunch hour, and the place filled up with customers in no time.

Enjoy hot kalguksu that still feels refreshing — Jangwongap Kalguksu

If we'd arrived even a bit later we'd have hit the waiting list — before the meal we nearly filled up on misugaru (roasted grain powder drink) from Jangwongap Sanghoe just to curb the hunger, haha.

The restaurant is spacious enough to seat groups, and there are plenty of high chairs, so it's a great spot for families too.

What's on the self-serve bar?

The Jangwongap Kalguksu self-serve bar has everything you need while eating: chili paste, wasabi, broth, kids' tableware and plates. There's also Uiseong garlic kimchi and takeout containers.

The especially tasty Uiseong garlic kimchi is set out so you can eat as much as you want. Kimchi is such a perfect match for kalguksu it's practically another star menu item at any noodle shop, and since this one is made with Uiseong garlic, the flavor's guaranteed. I just kept reaching for more, haha.

Kalguksu calls for pajeon (scallion pancake) — the pajeon at Jangwongap Kalguksu is genuinely famous too?! It's a seafood pancake, thin and crispy. The portion is generous enough that you might have leftovers — if so, just use the takeout containers at the self-serve bar.

Is Jangwongap Kalguksu Giheung good with young kids?

Jangwongap Kalguksu provides baby rice, and a bundle of savory mini lunchbox gim comes out too. Thanks to that, you don't have to stick to the plain white broth just because you're with kids.

A place with real thoughtfulness for kids — Jangwongap Kalguksu

Honestly, when you go with kids, even if you're craving the spicy red kalguksu, you end up ordering the white broth instead, right?! But at Jangwongap Kalguksu you can set that worry aside a little, because they provide baby rice :)

On top of the baby rice, savory mini lunchbox gim comes in a bundle. Usually the most you get is two pieces, but here they give you five in a bundle. I wondered if it's because I had two sons with me, and they even added a note saying to ask anytime if we wanted more.

I got a little moved reading the note, which was written with such a mother's touch.

Brisket and minari wrap shabu kalguksu for two, plus whole-shrimp seafood pancake

Today's order was Jangwongap Kalguksu's signature dish, brisket minari wrap shabu kalguksu for two, plus a whole-shrimp seafood pancake packed edge to edge. The menu at Jangwongap Kalguksu is simple — and being simple is exactly why it's so delicious.

The table came out completely full. The noodles, boasting what could be called an omakase of kalguksu noodles, were piled up generously too.

Wrapping the premium wagyu brisket shabu with minari (water dropwort) fills your mouth with fragrance.

The kalguksu broth is loaded with minari too, and chewing the mushrooms together with the noodles makes you forget what ordinary kalguksu even tastes like.

The Uiseong garlic kimchi comes out in an earthenware jar — if you run low, definitely get more from the self-serve bar! The seafood pancake looks exactly like the photo, piled so high with seafood that the plate is basically just there for support.

There's so much shrimp, and the squid is grilled to a delicious finish too, which really raised my satisfaction. It's genuinely a huge seafood pancake! Highly recommend sharing it bite by bite. Since my kid might want some too, I asked them to leave out the chili — if you're going with adults only, keep the chili in and enjoy it as is :)

As the delicious smell wafts up, it starts to boil. I gently lift out the premium wagyu brisket.

It's delicious wrapped in raw minari, and just as delicious wrapped in minari that's been cooked in the broth — but I recommend dunking it deep into the sesame oil sauce made from freshly pressed oil at a mill.

That nutty aroma really warms up your appetite.

Noodles at 6, 7, 8 minutes: tasting every stage with a timer

The real star of Jangwongap Kalguksu is the "noodle master." Boil for 6 minutes and it's incredibly chewy, 7 minutes springy, 8 minutes bouncy, 9 minutes fluffy, 10 minutes soft — the texture changes with time, so a timer is essential.

My 4-year-old, my youngest, loves touching things with his hands — he touched the noodle strands and said, "Wow, it's like cheese~"

And indeed, the noodles stretch smoothly and moistly. They pull out long without breaking, and even once cooked, they stay wonderfully chewy.

Jangwongap Kalguksu's noodle omakase really does require a timer.

• Boil 6 minutes and it's incredibly chewy
• Boil 7 minutes and it's springy
• Boil 8 minutes and it's bouncy
• Boil 9 minutes and it's fluffy
• Boil 10 minutes and it's soft

If you're wondering whether that's really true, try timing it yourself :) I started eating after flipping at the 5-minute mark, and the first bite versus the last bite were completely different. The noodles don't just go mushy — the noodle-ness stays intact while the softness increases. I think that's exactly why Jangwongap Kalguksu is so famous.

Ending with the free perilla oil fried rice

Jangwongap Kalguksu's perilla oil fried rice is provided for free. It's fried with 100% perilla seeds and bite-sized kkakdugi (radish kimchi), then mixed with domestic gim flakes.

I already like fried rice in general, but Jangwongap Kalguksu's version is fried with 100% perilla seeds and neatly sized kkakdugi. You mix it with domestic gim flakes as you eat.

The first bite is delicious, and the second and third bites are even better, so in the end I scraped the bowl clean, haha.

We had leftover pajeon so it went home with us. It's the kind of flavor you keep thinking about back at your lodging — I microwaved it for about 30 seconds, and while the crispiness was gone, the taste was still just as good.

Leave a receipt review, get a bag of old-school snacks

If you enjoyed the old-school candy at Jangwongap Sanghoe, try leaving a receipt review — you can get a bag of delicious traditional snacks.

Eat well and leave a review :)

I got the chocolate-flavored old-school candy.

We enjoyed them as snacks with the kids at an amusement park.

How the white broth tastes compared with the red broth

After always enjoying the spicy red broth at the flagship location, I tried the white broth for the first time — it was clean, deep, and let the fragrant taste of minari come through even more clearly. And needless to say, with the noodles you get to enjoy chewiness and softness across different time intervals, which really won me over completely. Thanks to all the kind staff, it was a truly delicious meal.