Cumin lamb on a brazier at Sinchon Chinese restaurant Cheonghwaweon

Cheonghwaweon is always busy thanks to its great location in Sinchon. I'd been once before for the dim sum set, and this time I came back curious about the hand-cut noodles I missed and a few other dishes.

What's on Cheonghwaweon's menu, and why the youbo noodles won

The Sichuan-style beef knife-cut noodles were tempting too, but I decided to try the hand-cut noodles I hadn't had before. There's a wide range of rice and noodle dishes — beef fried rice, shrimp fried rice, fish-fragrant eggplant rice bowl, and more. Plus suancai fish dishes, mala beef soup, refreshing cold salads, cucumber salad, Sichuan-style chicken salad.

I just found out that rice refills are free here. I'd read reviews raving about how good the cumin lamb is, and since I'm a huge fan of mala skewers, there was no way I could skip it, haha. So I ordered cumin beef... I mean lamb, plus a free rice refill, hand-cut noodles, and guobaorou.

There's also the stir-fried peanuts and pickled mustard greens (jazai) that come as basic side dishes.

The dishes arrived one by one. I usually like mala spices anyway, so I tried all three together, and since each had a different flavor, the combination worked really well.

Cumin lamb served on a brazier that keeps it hot to the last bite

Cheonghwaweon's cumin lamb comes out on a blazing brazier. I tried the cumin lamb first, and honestly — if you love cumin, this is a must-order, haha. It's not that spicy or salty.

I also loved that it came on a burning brazier and stayed hot until I finished it. The brazier looks small but the heat is seriously strong, haha — I kept wondering how long it would keep burning, and amazingly it started dying down right around the time I finished eating! I worried the lamb might have a gamey smell, but thanks to the cumin sauce I didn't notice any at all. The lamb wasn't too chewy either, and it paired well with the vegetables mixed in, including what looked like garlic scapes.

This is total beer-pairing food. The cumin has a pretty strong distinctive aroma, so it went perfectly with rice too.

Youbo knife-cut noodles: thick strands that soak up the sauce

Next up was the hand-cut noodles. Even from photos you can tell the noodles are different from typical Chinese restaurant noodles. It's more of a mixed-noodle dish, which seems like it'd be great for summer.

Meat, peppers, and scallions are piled on top, and once you mix it well with the sauce, you get noodles that are a bit spicy but also nutty and savory. Since they're knife-cut noodles, some parts have real thickness, so there's a nice chewy bite too.

Even though they're thick, the sauce soaks in well. Eaten alone, you might get a little tired of it toward the end, so I'd recommend pairing it with something spicier. Also, the portion is pretty generous, so the noodles just keep coming! Very satisfying if you're a real noodle lover, haha.

How good is the guobaorou at Cheonghwaweon?

Couldn't skip the guobaorou (sweet and sour pork) either. I think this was my first time ordering it here, but there were so many reviews about it that I had to try it.

The crispy fried meat is coated in a sweet and sour sauce. The batter isn't too thick and has a nice chewy texture. Thanks to the sweet and sour sauce, it's not greasy at all, haha.

Guobaorou really is best eaten right when it comes out. If you like a crispy, crunchy texture, definitely order it.

Final verdict on the three-dish combination

Crunch, crunch. Ordering all three dishes together made for a pretty generous spread. The cumin lamb has bold spice and rich meat flavor, the hand-cut noodles stand out for their chewy texture and slightly spicy sauce, and the guobaorou is crispy and sweet-tart — picking off a piece while eating the main noodle dish is pure bliss. None of the three overlapped much in flavor, so the combination worked well.

Cheonghwaweon isn't the usual Korean-Chinese food like jjajangmyeon or jjamppong — it leans toward genuinely mainland Chinese dishes, which makes trying something new here fun. If you love mala spices, I strongly recommend the cumin lamb, and the beef knife-cut noodles and dim sum I've had before are both above average, so those are safe picks too. It's a great spot to visit in Sinchon when you're craving something closer to authentic Chinese food instead of the usual Korean-Chinese standards.