Sangdong Chinese restaurant with fried-egg jjajangmyeon: Glory Works

Back at Glory Works again. This is my soul-food restaurant.

Where is Glory Works in Bucheon?

Glory Works is located in the Tteooreugil alley market near Sangdong Station. I've lost count of how many times I've come back. It's famous as a local Sangdong favorite.

What the set menu on the sidewalk sign includes

Here's what the storefront sign says. It's advertising a flashy set menu combo. Garlic tangsuyuk, jjajang, seafood jjamppong, and a drink for ₩33,000, plus a Naver receipt review event running right now. Write a Naver receipt review with a photo and you get 100% guaranteed — 4 pieces of condensed-milk flower bread per receipt. They give it after checking the review, so don't miss it.

An exterior that doesn't look like a Chinese restaurant

Here's the exterior of Glory Works. It has a simple, urban look — honestly, just going off the sign, you'd never guess it's a Chinese restaurant. It's that sleek and boldly designed.

Basic side dishes and table setup at Glory Works

Two basic side dishes: pickled radish and jjacai. Both are solidly decent, nothing surprising but reliable.

A water bottle and cups — served with paper cups. These days a lot of places use disposable paper cups for hygiene reasons.

Here's the basic setup: vinegar, chili powder, and soy sauce, the classic trio, plus a little soy sauce dish.

Country-of-origin label at Glory Works

Here's the origin label board. Rice is domestic, used for the rice. Squid is Chinese and Chilean, used in the jjamppong. Octopus is Vietnamese, also used in jjamppong. Pork is domestic — good to see Korean pork used in the tangsuyuk. Chicken is Brazilian, used in the yurin-gi. Chili powder is Chinese. Beef is American, also used in the jjamppong.

How does the garlic tangsuyuk taste?

Here comes the garlic tangsuyuk. Calling it the signature dish here wouldn't be an exaggeration — the batter is crispy and the meat is thick. Even plain, it's savory and delicious, almost like eating a good piece of fried meat. And knowing from the origin board that it's made with domestic Korean pork gave it a more premium feel, more trustworthy. It's a universal rule that things taste even better once you know it's Korean pork.

This sauce is the real kicker — it's kind of a ketchup base but with garlic mixed in, so the garlic flavor comes through strong. It's like nostalgic yangnyeom chicken sauce but with the garlic dialed up. Anyway, it's delicious. I feel like anything dipped in this would taste good — that versatile. Since it's their own special sauce you can't find anywhere else, it feels extra unique.

The tangsuyuk meets the sauce. There's no better combo than this. The sauce is hot when it first arrives. You can dip (jjik-meok) or pour it all over (bu-meok) — either way works. Being able to enjoy it multiple ways is another strength of this place.

Jjajangmyeon topped with a fried egg

Here comes the jjajangmyeon. I've heard a lot of talk that the jjajangmyeon here is amazing too. There's no ganjjajang, but this jjajangmyeon tastes like the chunjang (black bean paste) was freshly stir-fried, giving it that fresh feel. And the fried egg is cooked about 20% short of fully done — a nice, soft yolk.

This is basically the 'Im Ji-yeon set,' right? In the drama, Im Ji-yeon devours jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk while saying 'Young master died' — that exact set! I wanted a taste of that dopamine rush myself, so I ordered jjajangmyeon with tangsuyuk. Calling it the ultimate dopamine hit isn't an exaggeration. Intense plus intense, a meeting of bold flavors. Ahh.

Rice ready at the self-serve bar, too

The self-serve bar has a water dispenser, rice, pickled radish, and jjacai. Having rice ready to go is another strength of this place. Order jjamppong and you can mix rice into the broth; order jjajangmyeon and you can mix rice with the sauce.

Here's a video.

This fried egg is impossible to resist, ugh.

The garlic tangsuyuk here really tastes best with plain white rice. Kind of like how Choo Sung-hoon eats steak with rice — you've gotta eat it that way. Then it's seriously delicious, haha.