Gimcheon noodle house with icy mul-makguksu and warm broth: Daeun

Daeun Makguksu location and parking — 10 minutes from Gumi by car

Daeun Makguksu is a makguksu restaurant located at 48-2 Hanji 1-gil, Apo-eup, Gimcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, 1st floor, in front of Deogil Hanmaeum Apartment. Hours are 11:00-20:00, closed every other Monday.

On a scorching summer day, craving something cold, I visited this Gimcheon favorite, Daeun Makguksu. Even though I went well after the weekday lunch rush, there were still quite a few customers! Even though it's technically Gimcheon, since it's in Apo it's only about 10 minutes by car from Gumi, so it's easy to get to. It's in a quiet spot too, so parking was plentiful and easy.

Besides us, there were older diners eating too, and lots of families.

Hot broth and house-made noodles — what Daeun Makguksu is known for

Daeun Makguksu is a makguksu place, but they also offer hot broth separately. To get the hot broth, you just use a stainless steel cup from the sterilizer! A makguksu place that gives you hot broth too — that's such a rare find haha.

All the noodles are apparently hand-made fresh every morning, and the broth is made fresh daily using chicken and seafood, giving it a deep, clean flavor, they say. For the perilla oil makguksu, they only use perilla oil pressed directly at the local oil mill. The perilla aroma was so strong I got really curious about the perilla oil makguksu.

What we ordered and the prices

• Mul-makguksu (cold water noodles) ₩9,500
• Deulgireum-makguksu (perilla oil noodles) ₩9,500 × 2
• Yeontan-dwaeji-bulgogi (charcoal grilled pork) ₩9,000

There's even a self bar, so you can help yourself to more side dishes if you need them! Yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), radish kimchi, and cheongyang chili peppers.

It was so hot that day that we ended up with mul-makguksu and deulgireum-makguksu, but now I'm curious about the kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) too! Apparently Daeun Makguksu's kalguksu uses house-made noodles as well, using a different noodle made with healthy turmeric. Turmeric is said to help blood circulation, reduce inflammation, and boost immunity — a natural health ingredient!

The atmosphere — spacious tables, kiosks, baby chairs

Daeun Makguksu's space was bigger than I expected, and the tables were spacious too! And even though it was a hot summer day, the air conditioning was huge and the place was nice and cool.

There were baby chairs too.

The tables were nice and roomy, and each table had its own kiosk, which made ordering convenient.

I got curious about the samgye-suyuk (boiled chicken) too haha. Water is self-serve!

Radish and tangy yeolmu kimchi to go with the makguksu.

Even in the scorching heat of summer, you have to try the hot broth. Savory and so delicious.

Wet wipes, utensils, and tissues are all set out next to the table! Ready to eat!

Mul-makguksu ₩9,500 — icy shavings floating on top, a huge portion

They brought out the mul-makguksu first, and I was so surprised — it came in such a huge bowl that at first I thought they'd given us the large portion by mistake. The portion size itself was massive! I wonder how big the actual large size is? Makguksu with ice shavings floating right on top!

Since this place is known for its hot broth, the cold makguksu broth was, of course, delicious and refreshing too! Knowing that they make fresh broth every morning made it taste even more special haha.

Yeontan-dwaeji-bulgogi ₩9,000 — served with shredded scallions

Charcoal-grilled pork bulgogi for just 9,000 won! It doesn't just come as plain bulgogi — they give you shredded scallions with it, and eating them together with the meat felt clean and went so well together.

Deulgireum-makguksu ₩9,500 — the nutty aroma hits first

The moment the deulgireum-makguksu arrived, the smell of freshly pressed perilla oil from the mill was so incredibly nutty.

The deulgireum-makguksu had perilla oil, sesame seeds, and dried seaweed flakes all working together for a fully nutty flavor. If I'd only tried the mul-makguksu, I would have missed out.

The noodles were super chewy and bouncy, and the buckwheat aroma was savory and good! You could see the buckwheat specks embedded right in the noodles. It was so hot that day that I felt so glad I'd ordered the mul-makguksu too — it was that refreshing haha.

After enjoying a few bites as is, I drizzled on some mustard and it turned into a whole different flavor of buckwheat makguksu haha.

There were cheongyang chilis too, so I grabbed some — genuinely sharp and spicy, so good... it paired really well with the makguksu!

And the charcoal-grilled pork, clean with no gamey smell at all! Full of smoky char flavor that went great with the buckwheat noodles, and since eating just noodles alone can feel lacking, having the meat alongside meant getting some protein in too haha.

The AC was so cold that by the time we finished eating, I actually felt chilly 🪭🪭

There were so many other menu items I got curious about too haha. I'll definitely come back to eat again. On a hot day, with a cool interior and clean-tasting food, I recommend this place for deulgireum-makguksu and mul-makguksu.