Hwaseong Chinese restaurant: cockle jjamppong at Bultina

Among the good jjamppong spots around Dongtan Namgwangjang, Bultina Kkomak Jjamppong (불티나꼬막짬뽕) is somewhere I find myself going whenever I want a spicy bowl loaded with cockles. I visited again on a weekend after a long time, and yep—the cockle jjamppong was still great, and jajangmyeon plus fried dumplings made for such a filling meal.

Bultina Kkomak Jjamppong location and visitor information

It is right in Dongtan Namgwangjang, so it is easy to stop by when you are eating nearby. The large Bultina Kkomak Jjamppong sign is visible right out front too, so it is not hard to find.

I came on a weekend for the first time in a while, and customers were still coming in steadily. The interior is spacious and neat. There are plenty of light wood-tone tables, plus long seating along the wall, so it looked comfortable for anything from dining alone to a family meal.

Each table has a tablet, so you can look through the menu and order straight from your seat. There is also a self-service bar off to one side.

It was convenient to take extra side dishes, such as onion and danmuji (pickled yellow radish), only as much as we needed.

Cockle jjamppong menu and spice levels

Cockle jjamppong is ₩11,000, cockle jjamppong with rice is ₩11,000, jajangmyeon (noodles in black bean sauce) is ₩8,000, and children's jajangmyeon is ₩4,000. Tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour fried pork) starts at ₩17,000 for a small, and fried dumplings are ₩6,000. You can choose the spice level for the cockle jjamppong. We went with level 2 (pretty spicy!).

A spicy jjamppong with cockles that keep coming

Of course, the star was the cockle jjamppong! Chives sat on top of the red broth, and when you dug in, it was not just a matter of finding one or two cockles.

The cockles were large and plump, which made picking them out one by one fun. There was also plenty of meat, onion, cabbage, and other toppings, so it definitely felt different from jjamppong that is mostly noodles. More than anything, the broth here is delicious.

It is spicy and warming, but it is not just heat for heat's sake. Maybe because of the cockles and all the other ingredients, the broth has a really rich, deep flavor. Even after such a long time, one spoonful made me think, ah right, this is that flavor haha. The toppings keep appearing even after you have eaten quite a bit, so one bowl leaves you pretty full.

Jajangmyeon that paired well with spicy jjamppong

We ordered jajangmyeon too. There was a generous layer of glossy black bean sauce, and once mixed well, it clung richly to the noodles. Rather than being aggressively sweet, it had that familiar, easy-to-eat jajang flavor. A bite of spicy cockle jjamppong followed by a bite of jajangmyeon was a great combination.

Fried dumplings from the photo-review event

We also joined the receipt-review event listed on the table. If you write a photo review that includes a photo of a main dish, you can receive either six fried dumplings or a drink.

Naturally, we chose the fried dumplings haha. Six nicely golden dumplings arrived, and they did not feel like a throwaway freebie—they were fried crisp and tasted better than expected. The outside was crunchy, and there was a fairly generous amount of filling inside. It had been a while since I had eaten fried dumplings, and they were so good.

Bultina Kkomak Jjamppong Dongtan Namgwangjang Branch was a welcome weekend revisit after a long time. True to its name, it had lots of cockles, and the spicy yet deep broth was what stayed with me. It has an appeal that differs from ordinary seafood jjamppong, making it somewhere I return to when I crave jjamppong in Dongtan Namgwangjang. The jajangmyeon was reliably tasty too, and the review event means two people can add fried dumplings to share. If you like cockles and jjamppong with rich broth, this is a Dongtan Namgwangjang jjamppong spot I would recommend.