Sinchon Chinese restaurant, all 3 dim sum compared: Cheonghwaweon

What is Cheonghwaweon near Sinchon Station like?

Cheonghwaweon (청화원) is a Chinese restaurant on Myeongmul-gil in Sinchon, right next to the busy busking street. I'd passed it in Sinchon many times, and I always thought the name was "Taiwanese Beef Noodles", but it's actually Cheonghwaweon, haha.

On weekends the busking in Sinchon never stops. A swing dance festival was going on that day, so I watched for a bit and then dropped into Cheonghwaweon for lunch.

You can't miss the big green Taiwanese beef noodle sign.

Cheonghwaweon menu and prices

Cheonghwaweon has a wide menu of noodles, dim sum and main dishes, and most prices are ₩10,000 or less. There's a menu board outside too, so choosing was easy.

• Noodles: beef knife-cut noodles (udosakmyeon), yuballdosak noodles, stir-fried beef noodles
• Dim sum: xiaolongbao, shumai, crystal chive dumplings
• Dishes: mala tofu, tomato and egg stir-fry, cumin beef, cream shrimp, yuringi (fried chicken in sauce), guobaorou (crispy sweet-and-sour pork) and more

The prices are so easy on the wallet that I wanted to add a side dish too. I'm a dim sum lover, but dim sum has gotten so expensive lately that I hadn't been eating it much. These prices feel like a blessing!

Today I came to take down some dim sum. I ordered beef knife-cut noodles and all three kinds of dim sum.

Atmosphere and waiting at Cheonghwaweon

Cheonghwaweon looks like a good spot for eating solo in Sinchon, and I saw plenty of couples too.

The interior has a Hong Kong? Taiwan? vibe, very exotic and pretty. Maybe that's why there were so many foreign guests too. It felt like a local favorite.

There's no break time, so I went at an awkward 3pm, and amazingly the seats filled up completely while I was eating. I bet there's always a wait at lunch.

The free side dishes are zha cai (pickled mustard stem) and stir-fried peanuts. The cabbage zha cai isn't harsh and tastes good.

The three dim sum and the knife-cut noodles arrived. The table is totally packed. The noodles came out faster than the dim sum.

The yuballdosak noodles are an unusual dish and I wanted to try them, but I love beef knife-cut noodles so much that I just went with those. Next time I'd like to try the yuballdosak noodles too :) For now, dim sum first while it's hot.

Cheonghwaweon xiaolongbao

The xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) are packed with juice, not greasy, and with no off smell. It's exactly the taste you know, and it's good.

Put a dumpling on your spoon, poke it with chopsticks to let a little of the juice out, and slurp it all together. Delicious.

You get 6 xiaolongbao, so it's good for sharing. (I'd already eaten one!) Dim sum is so pricey these days, but Cheonghwaweon really feels like great value.

Are Cheonghwaweon's crystal dumplings just chive dumplings?

The crystal dumplings (susujeongdal-mandu) have a very thin, chewy, translucent wrapper packed with chives and meat. I almost skipped them, thinking they were just chive dumplings, but reviews said to order them, so I did.

It's like a deluxe version of a regular chive dumpling. The translucent wrapper is really chewy, so people who like rice paper and the like will probably enjoy it.

Why Cheonghwaweon's shumai is my favorite

The shumai is packed with shrimp and meat, and the flying fish roe on top pops nicely and goes well with it.

There are three photos of just the shumai, and not only because it's my favorite. At first it was so good I kept eating, and only once I was a bit full did I have the room to take photos, hahaha.

Bite in and it's this full inside.

Which of the three dim sum should you pick?

Here's how I'd recommend Cheonghwaweon's three dim sum.

• First-time dim sum eaters and meat lovers = xiaolongbao
• Fans of a springy bite who like shrimp and meat = shumai
• Steamed dumpling people = crystal dumplings

Personally, I liked them in the order shumai > xiaolongbao > crystal dumplings. It's purely personal taste, so take it as a reference only.

Cheonghwaweon beef knife-cut noodles: are they spicy?

The beef knife-cut noodles are a noodle soup with thick knife-cut noodles and lots of meat on top. They're not spicy, so even people who can't handle heat can eat them. I absolutely love thick knife-cut noodles. If you like sujebi (hand-torn dough soup) or thick noodles, you'll probably be satisfied.

Ever since I fell for them at another knife-cut noodle place, I order beef noodles fairly often.

There's lots of meat, and an unusual topping that looks like dried cabbage greens (ugeoji?) is in there too. Scooping it up with the broth makes it feel much more refreshing.

Slurping the thick noodles is very decent and tasty. As a soup dish, it especially comes to mind in winter. It isn't spicy, so even spice-wimps can have it.

Is Cheonghwaweon near Sinchon Station worth returning to?

The dim sum portions are generous and no main dish goes over ₩10,000, so I recommend Cheonghwaweon as a Sinchon spot with really great value. There were also palate-cleansing candies before paying, and I had a peppermint candy for the first time in ages. Next time I want to come back for the yuballdosak noodles and more dim sum.