Soybean kalguksu restaurant in Gwanpyeong-dong, Daejeon: Yongja 1

One of those days when I was craving flour noodles like crazy!! Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch is already a famous kalguksu spot in Gwanpyeong-dong, and I'd been curious about it forever, so I finally went haha.

Where is Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch, and what are its hours?

Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch is a kalguksu restaurant at 8-1 Gwandeul 1-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon. It's open Monday to Saturday 11:00–20:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00, and last order is 14:30 for lunch and 19:30 for dinner.

• 8-1 Gwandeul 1-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon
• Mon–Sat 11:00–20:00
• Break time 15:00–17:00
• Last order lunch 14:30, dinner 19:30
• Closed every Sunday (closes early if ingredients run out)

The exterior doesn't look like a kalguksu place at all, and I was surprised how clean the interior was too~ We arrived right at the lunch last order time (to dodge the wait, ha) so we rushed to order right at 14:30 and scarfed everything down before break time haha.

Self-serve side dish corner and high chairs at Yongja 1

This is the self-serve corner for extra side dishes. There's kimchi, soy sauce, salt, small plates and utensils, and takeout containers are ready in case there are leftover dumplings to pack up! They thoughtfully have a baby chair too.

Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch menu and prices

The menu at Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch: kalguksu ₩9,000; kalmandu-guk, tteok-mandu-guk and bibim kalguksu each ₩10,000; kong-kalguksu (April–September) ₩10,000; and steamed dumplings ₩9,000.

• Kalguksu ₩9,000
• Kalmandu-guk ₩10,000
• Tteok-mandu-guk ₩10,000
• Bibim kalguksu ₩10,000
• Kong-kalguksu (April–September) ₩10,000
• Steamed dumplings ₩9,000

They apparently cut the noodles fresh in-house and make the dumplings by hand every single morning (my husband asked if they really make them themselves because they were so good haha).

Overall it's clean with a modern interior — doesn't feel like a typical kalguksu place at all..!! There seemed to be a wait at lunchtime, but since it's noodles, people eat fast and leave, so tables turn over quickly~

What two people ordered: soybean kalguksu, dumpling noodle soup and steamed dumplings

The two of us ordered kalmandu-guk, kong-kalguksu and steamed dumplings at Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch. I wanted to try the plain kalguksu, was curious about the bibim kalguksu, and also wanted the kong-kalguksu, so I debated whether we should order three noodle dishes between two people — but then we also needed dumplings..! In the end this is what we settled on (and thank goodness we didn't order three noodle dishes — the portions are seriously huge...!!).

The only side dish is geotjeori (fresh kimchi)

True to a kalguksu place, the side dish is kept simple to just one: geotjeori (fresh spicy cabbage salad) — but honestly that's the most important one, right? This freshly-made geotjeori is the real kicker~ They also give you onion soy sauce for dipping the dumplings, and the food comes out fast!

How is the soybean kalguksu, served only from April to September?

The kong-kalguksu (₩10,000) at Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch is a seasonal, April-to-September-only dish with a pale soybean broth as smooth as milk. I always thought soybean noodles absolutely had to be thin somyeon noodles, but surprisingly the kalguksu-style house-cut noodles worked really well. The noodles are genuinely soft yet chewy and delicious..

I'd been thinking I should have soybean noodles one more time before summer ended, and this was a great choice....! The soybean broth wasn't too thick, just smoothly creamy, and perfect topped with geotjeori. I added a bit of salt and it was nutty and savory — I ate every last drop of the broth.

Kalmandu-guk comes with three dumplings

And then there's the kalmandu-guk! I figured ordering kalmandu-guk with dumplings in it was strictly better than plain kalguksu haha. It comes with a whopping 3 dumplings..seriously.

The rich, meat-based broth reminded me a bit of Myeongdong Kyoja~ It'd probably be even better on a cold day..!! I was worried about overly thick flour noodles being hard to digest, but these are just the right thinness while still chewy from being freshly cut, and they go down easy(?).

Eight steamed dumplings for 9,000 won — the kimchi ones run spicy

And this dumpling powerhouse...the steamed dumplings at Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch looked amazing the second they arrived. The wrapper is super thin but packed full of filling! Honestly they're on the spicy side for kimchi dumplings, but my spice-wimp husband kept saying they were delicious and kept eating them haha.

Eight hefty dumplings come on one plate like this for ₩9,000, which feels like a total bargain..! Any dumplings you can't finish can easily be packed up at the self-serve corner.

Even after eating hard, the tteok-mandu-guk barely seemed to shrink — the portions really are generous~ It's a good thing we didn't order three noodle dishes between the two of us haha. Still, it was tasty enough that we ate as much as we possibly could to the end!

Yongja 1 Gwanpyeong Branch, a Gwanpyeong-dong favorite for kalguksu made with house-cut noodles and dumplings hand-made in-store every day, is a great-value lunch spot near the Daejeon Hyundai Outlet.