Hwaseong Korean restaurant for lake-view naengmyeon: Naengmyeon Gajun

A ₩7,900 naengmyeon restaurant by Dongtan Lake Park

Today I’m sharing my visit to a restaurant by Dongtan Lake Park with a great view and kindly priced naengmyeon! It’s Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch. My boyfriend loves naengmyeon so much that we go around looking for good spots, and I was curious about this one because the price was so affordable. A naengmyeon restaurant that’s hard to find with prices like these these days! Let me get right into our weekend lunch visit!

Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch is on the second floor of the Luna Gallery building right in front of Dongtan Lake Park. We parked in Luna Gallery’s underground lot, took the elevator up, and found it immediately! Can you see it? “₩7,900 until Korea’s economy improves!” These days, it’s no joke when even a single-bowl meal costs over ₩10,000, so this is such a generous price! Truly kindly priced naengmyeon. Oh, and parking support is available in 30-minute and 1-hour units; one hour was plenty for us after lunch!

The restaurant was spacious, and I noticed one wall lined with liquor bottles and various items—maybe the owner is a fan of drinks! We visited around 11:30 a.m. on a weekend, and there were already two tables occupied. Solo diners kept coming in after that, too.

Dongtan Lake Park views from the window seats

Nooo, is this view for real?! It’s seriously incredible! A Dongtan naengmyeon restaurant looking right over the lake park—what a find! Maybe because it’s a restaurant with a view, guests were heading for the window seats first. The window tables even had their side dishes already set out! That must show how popular those seats are, right? It’s a Dongtan naengmyeon restaurant where you can have both value and a view.

The basic side dishes were seasoned shredded radish and pickled radish. I picked up some stir-fried fish cake from the self-service bar, too. It was a little salty, so I thought it would be perfectly seasoned with rice. The radish sides were crisp and tasted as though they had been made fresh.

Ordering mul naengmyeon, bibim naengmyeon, and dumplings

There were so many options beyond mul naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles in broth) and bibim naengmyeon (spicy mixed cold noodles), including braised short ribs, dumplings, yukgaejang, and galbitang. I thought it would be easy to find a meal to suit different tastes. Since it was hot, we both craved naengmyeon, so we ordered mul naengmyeon, bibim naengmyeon, and dumplings.

Ta-da—our food arrived! The mul naengmyeon comes with a little bibim seasoning mixed in, but it wasn’t spicy. You can choose a spicy bibim sauce when ordering, but we asked for it without that sauce. I ordered spicy bibim naengmyeon, and it honestly wasn’t spicy at all—easy enough even for someone who can’t handle heat! If you love spicy food, it may be worth asking whether they can make it hotter!

Icy mul naengmyeon and chewy bibim naengmyeon

Ahh, isn’t mul naengmyeon with tiny ice crystals always delicious?! I was also a little surprised that, despite the truly affordable price, the portion was comparable to a regular restaurant’s! The noodles were cooked just right, and it was a generous bowl that made for a satisfying meal. Even the after-meal naengmyeon at barbecue restaurants is expensive these days, so Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch is such a great-value Dongtan naengmyeon spot in this era of high prices.

It felt like they make both the bibim sauce and broth themselves, because rather than the artificial flavor I’m used to, it had a wholesome taste. Wrapping a bundle of noodles in pickled radish gives such a nice tangy combination! The noodles were nicely chewy and the portion was big, so I just kept digging in. The naengmyeon was so good that it made me curious about the braised short ribs, too! Oh, and if you want both braised short ribs and naengmyeon, you can order a set menu.

Half octopus and half webfoot-octopus dumplings available

The dumplings we ordered as a side were half nakji mandu (octopus dumplings) and half jjukkumi mandu (webfoot-octopus dumplings). That combination wasn’t on the menu, but I asked whether we could order half and half, and they said yes! The wrappers were pleasantly chewy and the dumplings were just the right size, so families visiting with children might enjoy this combination, too.

This Dongtan Lake Park naengmyeon restaurant also has a kids’ menu of beef-bone-broth tteok mandu-guk (rice-cake dumpling soup)! Keep Naengmyeon Gajun Dongtan Main Branch in mind.