Paju Chinese restaurant: chili flakes turn stone jjajang Sichuan-style

I heard there was a special Chinese restaurant near Simhaksan in Paju, so I went to check it out. The place I visited this time is Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch. Even the name felt a bit different from your average Chinese restaurant — they serve jjajangmyeon and jjamppong on hot stone plates, so you can enjoy the food warm all the way to the last bite, which was pretty impressive.

Where is Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch, and when is it open?

Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch is located at 8-38 Dolgotji-gil, 1F, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. It's open from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, with last order at 8:00 PM. There's a break time from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and it's closed every Tuesday, so it's good to keep that in mind before visiting.

The Simhaksan area in Paju has a lot of good restaurants and cafés, making it a nice spot for family outings or dates on the weekend. Even though Dolpanseok hasn't been open long, there were quite a few customers when I visited.

The menu and that "medium size is OK for 4 people" line

Dolpanseok's signature menu is apparently the samgyetang-style seafood nurungji soup. Besides that, there's a range of single dishes like jjajangmyeon and jjamppong, plus various set menus, making it easy to order according to your group size.

Inside the restaurant, there was also an interesting country-of-origin display, which was nice since you could check where all the ingredients came from at a glance.

And there was one line that really caught my eye.

Medium-large size OK for 4 people

At first I wondered if that was really possible, but once we actually ordered, I understood why they wrote it. The portions were seriously generous. Plus, rice refills are unlimited, so anyone with a big appetite would be especially happy here.

Ordering is done through the tablet at the table. It was nice being able to browse the menu at your own pace and comfortably order single dishes or sets.

The self-serve corner, green onion kimchi included

The self-serve corner at Dolpanseok had pickled radish, onion, black bean sauce, green onion kimchi, and rice. I personally love green onion kimchi with jjajangmyeon, and pairing it with the noodles worked really well, better than I expected. The pickled radish was also sliced thin, which went nicely with the Chinese food.

Who can resist green onion kimchi with jjajangmyeon? And the pickled radish was thinly sliced, just the way I like it.

Stone-plate jjamppong with nurungji under the noodles

The jjajangmyeon and jjamppong we ordered came out on large stone plates. Unlike a regular bowl, the thick stone plate holds heat for a long time, so you can enjoy the food warm almost until the very last bite — that seems to be this place's biggest feature. We started with the jjamppong.

It felt a bit closer to a dry-style jjamppong with less broth than the usual soupy version. It had shrimp, squid, and other seafood in it, which gave it a nice chewy texture, and eating the seafood together with the noodles gave it good flavor. But as we kept eating the jjamppong, there was one more fun surprise.

There was nurungji (scorched rice) layered underneath the noodles. At first I thought it was just regular jjamppong, but after finishing the noodles, you could eat the nurungji underneath, so it felt like enjoying both noodles and rice in one dish. The portion was so generous it was seriously filling.

Stone-plate jjajangmyeon loaded with seafood and quail eggs

Dolpanseok's jjajangmyeon was also more generous than expected. The jjajang sauce was loaded with seafood, quail eggs, and various vegetables. Since it's served on a stone plate, the jjajangmyeon stayed warm throughout the meal, which I really liked.

Green onion kimchi and chili flakes for a Sichuan-jjajang taste

I also tried the jjajangmyeon with the green onion kimchi from the self-serve corner. The sweet, savory taste of the jjajangmyeon and the sharp bite of the green onion kimchi went together better than I expected. I personally really liked this combo.

Adding a bit of the spicy chili flakes prepared at the table gives it a whole different flavor. With the spiciness added to the basic jjajangmyeon, it starts to taste like Sichuan jjajang, so if you like spicy food, it's worth trying.

The jjajangmyeon also had nurungji layered underneath the noodles, so at the end I ate the jjajang sauce together with the nurungji. Between the noodles and the nurungji, I was genuinely stuffed. That's when I really understood why they'd written 'medium-large size OK for 4 people' at the restaurant.

Is Dolpanseok Jjamppong in Paju worth a visit?

Overall, what stuck with me most about Dolpanseok was the stone-plate presentation and the generous portions, both quite different from a typical Chinese restaurant. It seems like a solid option if you're looking for somewhere to eat with family near Simhaksan in Paju, or a Paju date spot to pair with a visit to the Simhaksan café street.

Thanks to the hot stone plate, the food doesn't cool down easily, and with seafood and nurungji packed into both the jjajangmyeon and jjamppong, it made for a really filling meal. If you want to try Chinese food that's a little different from usual around Simhaksan, Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch is worth a visit.