Paju Chinese restaurant with a self-serve dessert corner: Dolpanseok

Found this place while looking for somewhere to eat with friends in Paju! That day it was me, Sooni, and Jabong heading out toward Simhaksan in Paju~

Dolpanseok Jjamppong Paju Simhaksan Branch is all about jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) and jajajang (black bean sauce noodles) that keep sizzling away on a hot stone plate. I'd heard about it from friends a lot and was curious — spoiler: the three of us cleaned our plates pretty thoroughly.

The small touches we noticed as soon as we sat down

The moment we sat down we read through the instructions for how to best enjoy the stone-plate jjamppong and jajajang, and looking around the restaurant we could feel the owner's careful attention everywhere. First things first at a Chinese restaurant — will you survive wearing light-colored clothes?! There were aprons ready off to the side, so we could get set up for the meal with total peace of mind~

Large stone-plate jajangmyeon + dontichitang set at spice level 2

You can order the stone-plate jjamppong and stone-plate jajajang as individual dishes in different sizes, or go for the set menu, which is ₩2,000 cheaper. We deliberated for ages between jajajang and jjamppong and ended up going with the large stone-plate jajajang + dontichitang SET! At Dolpanseok Jjamppong, a well-known spot near Simhaksan in Paju, you can pick your spice level — we went with level 2, a bit spicy~

Pa kimchi (green onion kimchi) at a Chinese restaurant?

Before the food arrived we checked out the basic side dishes, and got an unexpected wow moment right there — pa kimchi (green onion kimchi)!

Wait, is pa kimchi allowed to be this good at a Chinese restaurant? Jabong, a self-proclaimed pa kimchi killer, was shocked, and Sooni and Toyam both said the kimchi was delicious about three times each..! I grabbed one bite and it was so good my chopsticks kept going back. Turns out you could get more pa kimchi from the self-serve bar without holding back.

So of course we ended up going back for more. But politely, only as much as we could actually finish~~~~!!

The self-serve corner had rice, danmuji (pickled radish), onion, and pa kimchi all neatly and generously stocked.

Stone-plate jajangmyeon, sizzling right on the stone

And finally, the long-awaited stone-plate jajajang arrived! But this was not your usual jajangmyeon visual. It kept bubbling away, sizzling on the stone plate as it came out, with serious presence the moment it hit the table. This, I thought, is exactly why it's called stone-plate jajajang.

We scooped some onto a plate, sprinkled on the red pepper flakes that came with it, and took a bite! Lifting up a big forkful of noodles, the jajajang sauce clung to them quite thickly. Since it stays hot on the stone the whole time, you also get to enjoy it warm for much longer, which I loved.

And scattered throughout, squid and shrimp! Plus a generous amount of quail eggs, so you can just keep picking without holding back haha. It's a bit different from the jajangmyeon you'd typically picture at a Chinese restaurant, so if you're after something a little different, this Paju Chinese restaurant near Simhaksan is worth a stop.

What is dontichitang? Sweet crispy chicken plus pork cutlet sweet and sour pork

Included in the set was dontichitang. Just from the name you might wonder what on earth it is....? Turns out it's a combo of sweet fried chicken and tonkatsu-style sweet and sour pork.

Dip the crispy fried pork deep into the sweet and sour sauce and it tastes different from the sweet and sour pork you know. Super crispy. The sweet fried chicken had a soft, sweet glaze, and eating it alongside the jajajang and dontichitang gave us such a variety of flavors that our mouths were in total bliss....!!

One bite of jajajang, one bite of pa kimchi, some dontichitang, a quail egg from the jajajang, picking up squid and shrimp — by the time we'd done all that, my phone battery was running low, so I asked if I could charge it, and they thoughtfully lent me a portable battery like this.

The dessert corner: yogurt, mix coffee and gangjeong on the way out

I thought we were done once we were full, but there was a dessert corner ready and waiting! Oh my god... it's not over until you actually step out the door.

Yogurt drinks, mix coffee, and even gangjeong (sweet rice snack) for a light bite~ How could you not eat this stuff if it's right there? Toyam said she was craving mix coffee for the first time in ages and hit the coffee button, Jabong picked the yogurt drink! Sooni found the dessert corner late after going to the restroom and her eyes went wide. There's a reason this place is a well-known spot near Simhaksan in Paju. Another round of admiration for the thoughtful touches~

Our verdict after sharing the set between three

That day I went with Toyam and Sooni, the three of us sharing the stone-plate jajajang and dontichitang together, and sharing multiple items from the set menu was way more fun than just ordering one dish each. What stuck with me most was the stone-plate jajajang sizzling away and the sweet-and-salty pa.kim.chi!! If you're looking for a Chinese restaurant with a twist near Simhaksan, this one's worth keeping in mind.

It's great for visiting with friends and ordering a few dishes to share, and with such a varied menu it wouldn't be a bad pick for a family meal in Paju or a date-night spot in Paju either. If you're curious about sizzling stone-plate jajajang near Simhaksan in Paju, definitely stop by~!

How to get there and opening hours

• Address: 8-38 Dolgoji-gil, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor
• Sunday 11:00–21:00 (break time 16:00–17:00) / last order 20:00
• Monday 11:00–21:00 / last order 20:00
• Closed every Tuesday
• Wed, Thu, Fri 11:00–21:00 / last order 20:00
• Saturday 11:00–21:00 (break time 16:00–17:00) / last order 20:00