Yangju Chinese buffet lunch with kids, ₩16,900 weekdays: Harbin

Whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant with my kid, we always end up ordering just jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), so I never get to try many other dishes. That's frustrating, right? Well, there's a place I go to blow that frustration away — Harbin Chinese Buffet in Yangju!

Where is Harbin Chinese Buffet in Yangju, and when is it open?

• 📍267 Godeok-ro, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• ⏰ Tue–Fri 11:00–21:00 / Sat–Sun 10:40–21:00 / Mon 11:00–21:00
• 🚗 Ample parking in front of the store

This is a place where you can taste small portions of about 40 different Chinese dishes buffet-style, from jjajangmyeon and seafood jjamppong to cream shrimp, chili shrimp, yangjangpi (cold platter with mustard sauce), yusanseul (stir-fried meat and vegetables), and ganpunggi (crispy fried chicken). It's basically heaven for anyone who loves Chinese food and wants to enjoy a wide variety without worrying about the bill! So let's dive into the charm of Harbin, the best-value Chinese buffet in Yangju.

There are waiting seats outside the store, and I went around lunchtime — it was really crowded. I'd visited once before on opening day, and even then it was packed!

How much does Harbin Chinese Buffet cost, and how does prepaying work?

At Harbin, once you enter you prepay for the number of people in your group, and then you can freely help yourself to the food. It's so convenient! Since you pay upfront, you can start eating right away, and the whole flow is smooth with no fuss.

Harbin Chinese Buffet prices

• [Weekday] Adults ₩16,900 / Elementary students ₩8,900 / Preschool (36 months–7 years) ₩6,900
• [Weekend/holiday] Adults ₩18,900 / Elementary students ₩9,900 / Preschool (36 months–7 years) ₩6,900

The value for money is pretty insane, right?!

The food is set up near the entrance, with seating on both sides, so no matter where you sit, you're never far from the food!

What's on the buffet, from white jjamppong to three-sauce sweet and sour pork

Let me introduce some of the dishes!

There's the true basics of Chinese food — jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, and seafood jaengban jjajang (jjajang served on a platter). That day they also had white jjamppong, which was a treat since I don't get to eat it often! The noodles come separately on the side, so you just pour on whatever sauce you like.

The glutinous sweet and sour pork was wonderfully fluffy, and it came with not one but three sauces — lemon, soy sauce, and the classic old-school ketchup sauce. It was so much fun switching between sauces on the same dish!

This place is heaven if you're coming with a grade-schooler haha. You really get to taste all kinds of Chinese dishes. Usually, unless you're in a big group, it's hard to try so many different dishes at a Chinese restaurant, but here even a solo diner can enjoy a wide variety — there were a lot of people eating lunch alone!

Empty tray, new dish: how often Harbin refills the buffet

What you see at first isn't all there is! When a spot on the buffet table empties out, it doesn't just get refilled with the same dish — a completely new type of Chinese dish shows up in its place. Amazing, right?! Even while I was eating, the food kept getting emptied and new dishes kept coming out..; there were so many dishes I didn't even get to try because I was too full haha.

Since there's so much food, even the jjajangmyeon noodles come out in smaller portions, which was great for trying a variety of things! And the jjajangmyeon was so good that I went back for it twice 😎

Everyone's plate, put together according to their own taste haha.

Dry jjamppong spooned over fried rice

This was my first time trying ganjjamppong (dry jjamppong) here — it was packed with generous seafood, and eating it over fried rice with fried eggplant on the side was absolutely delicious! 👍🏻

The favorite dish at Harbin: cream shrimp

And my favorite menu item at Harbin is this cream shrimp! The owner kindly recommended it, saying kids love it and that my kid should try it too. The shrimp were seriously large, and eating them with the vegetables on top was really tasty. At a regular Chinese restaurant, ordering a dish like this cream shrimp alone would cost quite a bit, but here you can enjoy a wide variety of Chinese food without worrying about the price — that's what I loved about it.

Two plates and you're full: is Harbin Chinese Buffet worth it?

I went in fully determined to eat a lot 🤣 but I got so full after just two plates that I couldn't eat any more — which honestly says a lot about how good the value and quality were.

New dishes really do keep coming out one after another, so much so that being too full to try them all felt like a genuine regret haha. Every time a dish runs out, the kitchen immediately makes and refills a new one, so everything you eat is warm and fresh. If you love Chinese food, I really recommend visiting at least once. Harbin Chinese Buffet in Yangju, where you can enjoy endless variety of Chinese dishes, is a fantastic spot for a family meal out!