Changwon gukbap restaurant, extra-large bowls: Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap

Pork gukbap (soybean paste pork bone soup) — the ultimate soul food for men! I didn't really like it at first, but eating it together so often, it's become one of the dishes I actually crave now haha. Let me introduce "Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap," a go-to spot in Bukmyeon, Changwon.

Where is Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap, and what are the hours and parking?

• Address: 897 Cheonju-ro, Bukmyeon, Uichang-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 09:10–20:50
• Parking: dedicated lot for the restaurant

Exterior, dining room and parking at Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap

This is the exterior of Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap, a well-known Bukmyeon, Changwon spot. It's been running in the same location for 10 years and is famous among locals — I visited with my husband, a huge gukbap lover, and we were both looking forward to it.

🅿️ There's a big dedicated parking lot right in front of the restaurant, so parking is easy.

Inside there are about 20 wooden tables, plenty big enough for four people. I went for an early dinner so it was pretty quiet, but past 6pm it filled up fast with what looked like locals, in groups and with families.

There's a self-serve bar on one side where you can grab extra side dishes if you run out. They keep the thin wheat noodles well stocked too — you can really feel the owner's generosity there!

On your way out you can grab iced coffee or hot coffee, whichever you prefer — go ahead and have a cup before you leave~

Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap menu and prices

Here's the menu board at Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap in Bukmyeon, Changwon.

• Pork gukbap ₩10,000
• Lean pork gukbap ₩10,000
• Sundae gukbap (meat + sundae) ₩10,000
• All-sundae gukbap ₩10,000
• Offal gukbap ₩10,000
• Mixed gukbap (meat + sundae + offal) ₩10,000
• Large size +₩1,000
• Suyuk baekban ₩13,000 / large ₩15,000
• Tasting sundae ₩13,000
• Tasting suyuk ₩13,000
• Sundae plate ₩9,000
• Suyuk large ₩35,000 / small ₩30,000
• Dumplings ₩6,000

They also have alcohol and drinks available~ Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap specializes in gukbap, so you can pick pork or sundae gukbap to your taste, and add suyuk (boiled pork) as a side.

📍 Receipt review event — get a free drink. There's a review event running right now, so give it a try~

What the couple ordered at Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap

• Lean pork gukbap (large) ₩11,000
• Suyuk baekban ₩13,000
• Dumplings ₩6,000

Honest review: extra-large lean pork gukbap, suyuk baekban and dumplings

Once we ordered, the side dishes came out first — really appetizing-looking kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and kimchi, dried radish strips, seasoning sauces, chives, thin noodles, gangdoenjang (spicy soybean paste dip), and lettuce wraps — the basics were all done really well.

Ta-da, all our ordered menu items arrived🤍 With gukbap, suyuk baekban, and dumplings, the table was completely full — this was honestly enough food for three people.

Extra-large lean pork gukbap

I ordered a large lean pork gukbap to share with my husband, and the milky broth looked seriously delicious, well-simmered.

It's barely seasoned, so you adjust it to your taste with salted shrimp, chili paste, or chives. I've been trying to eat lighter on salt these days, so I just added the chive salad, and it was just right.

The power of the large size... The moment I saw it, I wondered how we'd ever finish it all, they packed it so full! The key with gukbap is no gamy smell, and this really had none — eating it hot felt genuinely restorative.

Eating it with the crisp, well-fermented kkakdugi, my chopsticks wouldn't stop, and since there was so much lean pork, we even made wraps with gangdoenjang on top — and still had some left over.

Suyuk baekban (boiled pork with rice)

My husband wanted both gukbap and suyuk, so he ordered the baekban set — turns out the regular gukbap already has quite a lot of lean pork in it too~ He's someone who seasons with salted shrimp, and after one bite he let out a real "kyah" of satisfaction haha.

The suyuk that comes with it is really generous too — the fat-to-meat ratio was just right, moist and tender, great in wraps and paired perfectly with the bossam kimchi (kimchi for wrapped pork).

We were genuinely full, but I couldn't resist the noodles, so I dunked them in the hot broth and ate them up quickly~

8 large dumplings for 6,000 won

We were hungry and got a little greedy, ordering dumplings too — I truly didn't expect 8 big dumplings to show up. They were steamed just right, moist, and the meat filling was packed with juices — dipped in vinegar soy sauce, they were so good. If you're looking for a good restaurant in Bukmyeon, Changwon, give 'Myeongin Dwaeji Gukbap' a try :)