Chuncheon buckwheat restaurant with warm sujebi: Hyeondae Memil

Mak guksu (cold buckwheat noodles) is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Chuncheon. There are so many mak guksu and buckwheat restaurants in town that it's actually hard to decide where to go. This time, instead of the usual cold noodles, I wanted to try something a bit different, so I visited Hyeondae Memil (현대메밀).

What I ordered this time was buckwheat sujebi and sous vide beef tenderloin. Buckwheat usually makes me think of cold mak guksu first, so the fact that they had a warm buckwheat sujebi caught my attention. I decided to add the sous vide tenderloin too, for a heartier meal.

The menu ordered this visit: buckwheat sujebi and sous vide beef tenderloin. I liked that you could enjoy a warm buckwheat dish along with pork loin, not just mak guksu.

What does the warm buckwheat sujebi at Hyeondae Memil taste like?

The first dish to arrive was Hyeondae Memil's buckwheat sujebi. It's a dish where you eat hand-torn dough with a distinct buckwheat character in a warm broth — it seemed especially fitting for cool weather or a day when you crave something warm.

I usually eat buckwheat dishes cold, like mak guksu, so having it with warm broth had a different kind of appeal. The sujebi (hand-torn dough) felt soft yet had a pleasant chewiness, and spooning it up with the broth felt easy on the stomach.

What I liked most was that the flavor wasn't overly strong or seasoned — it's a style you can eat without any burden. Between the broth and the sujebi, one bowl alone is already quite filling.

If you like mak guksu but the weather isn't making you crave something cold, or if you just want to try a slightly different buckwheat dish, the buckwheat sujebi is worth choosing.

Especially in Chuncheon, buckwheat dishes tend to mean mak guksu first and foremost, so being able to enjoy buckwheat in this warm sujebi form felt refreshingly different.

Is the sous vide pork tenderloin worth adding to the buckwheat sujebi?

Along with the buckwheat sujebi, I ordered Hyeondae Memil's sous vide beef tenderloin. Texture matters a lot for boiled/steamed meat dishes like this — if it's too dry or tough, you barely take a few bites before losing interest. But the tenderloin I had this time stood out for how soft it was overall.

Being cooked sous vide, the tenderloin came out moist and tender, and it balanced really well when eaten alongside the buckwheat sujebi.

Alternating between the warm broth and sujebi and bites of the tenderloin made the meal feel much more satisfying than sticking with just one dish. The tenderloin filled in nicely wherever the sujebi alone might have felt a bit lacking.

Personally, I was more satisfied ordering the two together rather than having each separately. If you're visiting with someone, pairing one buckwheat dish with the sous vide tenderloin to share seems like a good setup.

Since you get both meat and buckwheat, it's also a solid combination if you want a filling, substantial meal.

A change from mak guksu in Chuncheon

Search for buckwheat food in Chuncheon and you'll naturally end up looking for mak guksu first. Since it's the city's signature dish, both travelers and locals reach for it often.

But if you want something other than the same mak guksu every time, a warm option like Hyeondae Memil's buckwheat sujebi can be a great alternative.

Personally, the combination of warm, chewy buckwheat sujebi and soft sous vide tenderloin was the most memorable part of this visit.

You can still enjoy buckwheat on days when cold mak guksu feels like too much, and adding the tenderloin makes the meal quite substantial. It also seemed like a good option for groups with a mix of kids and adults, since there's more menu variety to choose from.

When you're craving a buckwheat dish in Chuncheon

Chuncheon has many famous mak guksu restaurants, but there's more variety in buckwheat dishes than you might expect. Visiting Hyeondae Memil reminded me that you can enjoy buckwheat in different ways beyond mak guksu, like the warm buckwheat sujebi.

Especially as the weather turns cooler, there are days you crave warm broth more than cold mak guksu — and the buckwheat sujebi suits those days well.

Order the soft sous vide beef tenderloin alongside it, and you get to enjoy both buckwheat and meat at once, making for a much richer meal.

If you're looking for mak guksu in Chuncheon or want to try a buckwheat dish a bit different from your usual order, the combination of buckwheat sujebi and sous vide beef tenderloin at Hyeondae Memil is worth choosing.