Kids' meal with ₩1,000 rice at Bongpyeong buckwheat festival: Migayeon

This is Bongpyeong Memil Migayeon, a Pyeongchang, Gangwon restaurant I stopped by when the Bongpyeong buckwheat flower festival kicked off. Plain, nutty buckwheat noodles are the dish you absolutely have to eat when you visit Pyeongchang.

Location and hours of Bongpyeong Memil Migayeon

• Address: 108 Gipung-ro, Bongpyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–17:00 (closed every Wednesday)
• Parking: There's a parking lot beside the building, and you can park on the roadside if it's full.

I parked near the Bongpyeong traditional market and walked over — it's about a 7-minute walk.

How long is the wait during festival season?

I arrived around 12:30pm and was shocked at how many people were waiting. Once you go in and enter your waiting number, you get a KakaoTalk message showing how many groups are ahead and the estimated time. We had 20 groups ahead and it took about 35 minutes.

When you arrive, put your name on the waitlist first while someone else parks! Even with a lot of people waiting, there was plenty of seating so we could wait comfortably. The owner's sense to set up enough waiting chairs was great.

Turns out the owner is a certified Korean food master and has even received a presidential award. There are medals all over the restaurant and lots of photos of celebrities who've visited. I guess it makes sense — this is the tastiest makguksu (buckwheat noodle) place in Bongpyeong, which is famous for buckwheat, so of course famous people come by!

The atmosphere and ingredient sourcing

The restaurant is very spacious and clean! There were no 2-seat tables, only 4-seat ones, and there were plenty more tables in the inner room.

Whoa... I was surprised looking at the origin labels! Everything is sourced domestically! The raw beef, boiled pork, bibimbap, noodles — all of it is Korean-sourced. Proudly displaying the origins like that really showed how confident they are in their food.

There's also a write-up about the owner's research into buckwheat, and since this seems to be a place a lot of families travel to, there were plenty of baby chairs ready.

Every table had kelp vinegar ready, and they told us to add half a spoonful once the noodles arrive to boost the savory flavor. The thing I care about most when visiting a restaurant is hygiene — and this place passed with individually wrapped chopsticks! They even brought out kids' chopsticks in advance, which was really touching.

The menu

The signature dishes are the idaepal 100% buckwheat raw beef bibim noodles, migamyeon, bibim noodles, bulgogi buckwheat noodles, and raw beef bibimbap, plus a variety of side dishes like buckwheat sprout raw beef, boiled pork, muk (acorn jelly) salad, and buckwheat pancake.

The idaepal buckwheat noodles come with instructions to chew at least 100 times — probably so you fully experience the nutty flavor to the end. I only chewed a few times before swallowing, but it was still packed with nuttiness.

You order on the tablet at the table and they bring the food out to you.

The basic side dishes were fresh kimchi (geotjeori), radish wraps, and pickled peppers! The geotjeori was so good I refilled it once. It's amazing with the buckwheat pancake!

Buckwheat pancake

A thin buckwheat pancake topped with napa cabbage — as soon as it arrived, a nutty smell wafted up.

I rolled it up and dipped it in soy sauce, and it was truly mild and clean-tasting — the peak of buckwheat pancakes.

Wrapping it in geotjeori made a great combo — my husband wanted to eat the whole thing, and I had to stop him, saying we should save some to wrap with the bibim noodles when they arrived.

Idaepal 100% buckwheat migamyeon

This is a makguksu with no sauce — just buckwheat noodles topped with seaweed flakes and buckwheat sprouts, with a touch of perilla oil.

Eaten plain, it's a bit bland, so I added the cold broth they provide. Our first kid ate it well, but our second, who has more of a kid's palate, said she could taste the bitterness of the buckwheat. It was a refreshing, clean noodle dish, easy to eat.

Idaepal 100% buckwheat raw beef bibim noodles

This is a makguksu piled high with sauce, raw beef, and buckwheat sprouts over buckwheat noodles.

I cut it up with scissors and dug in — the cool raw beef was mild and nutty, and it was such a good combo wrapped in the buckwheat noodles.

Idaepal 100% buckwheat bibim noodles

This is the same as the raw beef bibim noodles but without the beef — and I finished the whole bowl myself!! This was truly my favorite dish.

It was nutty and mild without being overly seasoned, which I really loved. Wrapping it up in the buckwheat pancake was so good — wow, I regretted not saving more pancake for it.

I ate about half of it plain, and once I had half left, I sprinkled on some kelp vinegar! I wish I'd added it from the start! It brought out a rush of savory flavor that really elevated the bibim noodles! Make sure you add it from the beginning!

₩1,000 rice, perfect if you're bringing kids

The rice is ₩1,000, and when you order one, you get rice, seaweed soup, and dried seaweed included. ₩1,000 worth of happiness. A proper menu for kids! Even visiting with kids, there's something they'll love, so it's a great spot to bring them for a meal. My kids wrapped the rice in seaweed and ate it with the soup so happily. (My son's hair has two buckwheat flower hairpins in it... total giveaway that we came from the festival.)

At the entrance, they also sell puffed rice snacks and tofu crackers, not just buckwheat noodles.

Overall thoughts on Bongpyeong Memil Migayeon

As a restaurant representing Bongpyeong, it delivered plain, mild, and nutty buckwheat flavor in full. Every dish was neat and clean, so I think both young people and older folks alike would enjoy it. I noticed the table next to us got containers to pack up their leftovers — the staff's thoughtfulness is no joke. This is a restaurant you absolutely have to visit if you travel to Bongpyeong.