Busan Chinese restaurant family lunch: Songjeong Dol Jjamppong

I visited Songjeong Dol Jjamppong with my family from my side and my 5-year-old son while we were traveling in Busan.

We chose it to suit all five appetites—two people in their 60s, two in their 30s, and one 5-year-old (in their 0s? haha)—and in the end, we were totally satisfied haha. If you are looking for a Chinese restaurant around Songjeong, Gijang, or Haeundae that both children and adults will enjoy, this could be a good one to try 👍

What were the wait and parking like at Songjeong Dol Jjamppong?

It is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, with a break from 15:30 to 17:00 and last orders at 20:00. To join the waitlist, enter your number into Catchtable after you enter the restaurant. We were fifth in line at Saturday lunchtime, waited about 17 minutes, and then went straight in.

There is a parking lot in front of the restaurant. We arrived for Saturday lunch and there happened to be exactly one spot free.

The building exterior is below ⬇️

An interior where parents and children can wait comfortably

Waiting room

There is a waiting room inside the restaurant. There are about five tables along both walls combined, with a wide-open space in the middle. There are extra chairs too, so the waiting area is quite roomy and comfortable! Thanks to that, my parents could wait comfortably.

Restaurant seating

Inside, there are around a dozen or so four-person tables haha.

We were seated at the window table at the very back. It was a little awkward for five people, but once we added one more chair, it was perfect haha. Since it was in the corner, nobody was around us, so it felt so comfortable~~!!

Self-service bar

The self-service bar has danmuji (yellow pickled radish), onion, chunjang (black bean paste), and pa-kimchi (green-onion kimchi).

Stone-plate jajangmyeon, stone-plate jjamppong, and crunchy tangsuyuk

Please refer to the menu images in the slide below ⬇️

The five of us—four adults and one child—ordered three dishes: medium nurungji stone-plate jjamppong (for two), medium nurungji stone-plate jajangmyeon (for two), and large crunchy tangsuyuk. We ordered the jjamppong at spice level 1, while the jajangmyeon was made completely non-spicy because we had to share it with the child! Although there were quite a lot of customers, the food came out quickly. Both the jajangmyeon and jjamppong arrive bubbling away on stone plates! Such an exciting sight haha.

Non-spicy stone-plate jajangmyeon to share with a child

It felt especially generous because it was full of ingredients such as shrimp, squid, quail eggs, vegetables, and wood ear mushrooms! It definitely tasted a little different from the jajangmyeon I usually eat at Chinese restaurants. The noodles were thinner (about like pasta?), and there was a good amount of broth, so it felt like an upscale jajang stew. If it had not been for my child, I would have liked to try it one spice level hotter too!

My little one and grandma enjoying it 💕

They have children's utensils too—a fork and spoon!

Stone-plate jjamppong at spice level 1

Even someone like me, who is weak with spicy food, could enjoy spice level 1 jjamppong with a nice warming kick! It was not so spicy that even a spice wimp would be going “haah, haah”! My mother, who likes spicy food, said she wanted it one level hotter.

The style is to blanch the bean sprouts in the residual heat of the stone plate? Eating them that way made them even crunchier. The jjamppong also had a variety of ingredients, including squid and shrimp.

Crunchy tangsuyuk with a texture I had never tried before

The crunchy tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour fried pork) was incredibly crisp, with a texture I had never experienced before! It was completely different from the usual tangsuyuk texture at Chinese restaurants! And the meat was so tender. My mother used to work in food, and she said three times while eating that the meat was extremely tender hahaha. The meat was incredibly soft, while the coating was crunchy just like its name, so the overall texture was so good that I kept eating until I was stuffed!

The image below shows the ratio of batter to meat. It was the most tender-yet-crispy tangsuyuk I have ever eaten haha.

The sauce comes separately, so it will satisfy both dippers and people who pour it on!

After eating some of the noodles, you can scrape up the nurungji (scorched rice) stuck to the bottom and eat it like jajang or jjamppong rice too! It felt like getting two things in one..? haha

The portions were quite large, so we could not even mix in the complimentary bowl of rice, but people with bigger appetites might enjoy mixing it in too!

A meal that satisfied everyone from a 5-year-old to my parents

Since this trip included my family from my side and my 5-year-old child, I was quietly worried about meals! But we were very satisfied with this as our first meal. My parents, my older brother, my 5-year-old, and I all had a delicious meal! If you are looking for a good place to eat in Songjeong, Busan, want warming jajangmyeon and jjamppong, or want to try special, crispy tangsuyuk, give it a visit!