Paju restaurant for a rainy-day mild mandu hot pot with parents

Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu, Paju Publishing Complex/Heyri Village/Unjeong/Ilsan main branch

1F, B-dong, 129 Jimok-ro, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Hours 11:00 - 21:00 Break time 14:30 - 17:00 Last order 20:00

• A great spot for a meal with parents or kids, or gatherings with friends and family
• A 100-seat restaurant that easily handles company dinners and group meetups

A while back, on a rainy day, I found myself craving something warm and brothy. Days like that always make me think of hot soup first. As it happened, I had plans to eat with my parents, and after mulling over where to go, I ended up back at Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu after a while. It's a place I visit regularly, so I confidently introduced my parents to this mandu hot pot spot — here's my honest review!

Location and parking on Jimok-ro, Paju

Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu sits on Jimok-ro in Paju, an area packed with popular spots like Dirty Trunk, Baldong Donuts, and Brick Rouge café.

There's a large parking lot right in front, so you don't need to worry about parking at all.

On this recent visit I noticed a waiting room that wasn't there on my first visit — proof, once again, of just how popular this place has become.

Is there still a wait on a rainy weekday?

This place is usually busy, so I was a little worried about waiting again. Since it was a weekday and raining, I thought maybe it'd be a bit quieter — but when I got there, sure enough, there were still plenty of people.

Still, we managed to get seated without a long wait, and we were even given a table by a full window with a lush, green plant view — felt like a lucky day.

The menu at Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu

Since mandu (dumplings) are the star here, there's a wide range of mandu dishes, plus Pyeongyang mul makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles in broth), bibim makguksu (spicy mixed buckwheat noodles), and various side dishes to round things out.

After looking things over, we ordered the Pyeongyang mandu hot pot (mild) for two and the mung bean pancake.

There's also a little booklet on the table showing you how to enjoy Bubyeokjeong's food the best way — definitely worth a look before you dig in 😉

Fun to watch: the dumplings being made

One thing I personally love about coming to Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu is watching the dumplings being made.

You can see the whole process through a big glass window, and every time we visit, the kids go into full watch-mode, fascinated. It's a treat to watch the dumplings being hand-shaped before the food even arrives. Places where you can actually watch mandu being made from scratch are rare these days, so my parents also stood there watching for quite a while.

The self-service corner

The self-service corner has kids' dishware, basic side dishes, broth, and even takeout containers, all free to use.

Mung bean pancake ₩10,000

We also ordered the mung bean pancake alongside the mandu hot pot. It was my first time trying it — freshly fried to order, the outside was crisp and it had a slight kick of spice that kept it from feeling greasy.

Mandu hot pot for 2, ₩28,000

Beautifully shaped dumplings came out along with knife noodles and vegetables — bean sprouts, napa cabbage, bok choy, and a variety of mushrooms — really colorful and generous 👍

A mandu hot pot generous enough to surprise my parents

The mandu hot pot isn't cooked with everything thrown in from the start. Once the broth starts boiling, the vegetables and beef shank go in first, and the mandu — which come pre-cooked once — are added briefly before eating, almost like a mandu shabu-shabu.

Just seeing those huge dumplings sitting in the pot felt satisfying. They really were bigger than expected, and with all the vegetables and beef shank, the two-person serving felt like a ton of food — honestly enough for three adults. The dumplings were packed full of filling, and eating them with the vegetables gave a great texture that paired perfectly with the hot broth.

At first I thought, 'two servings should be just right,' but once we started eating, it turned out to be way more than expected. And because it was so good, we kept reaching for more — that was the real problem! We were pretty full, but kept eating anyway!

Finishing with knife noodle sarigi

No matter how full you are, you have to finish with noodles! Once you've worked through most of the mandu and vegetables, you can add knife noodles to the remaining broth and cook them up — the broth is so good that it soaks right into the chewy noodles, a perfect combination. That warm yet refreshing broth really settled the stomach, and it felt especially fitting on a rainy day.

The dessert zone at Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu

After the meal, you really have to stop by the dessert zone! There's an assortment of old-school snacks and misugaru (roasted grain powder drink).

With so many nostalgic snacks on hand, it turned into a bit of a trip down memory lane with my parents,

and then the cool, sweet, nutty misugaru! It's so good that I always end up having two cups, minimum.

To sum up

That's my review of Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu. We ordered two servings since it comes with big dumplings and knife noodles you can add in, and the portion turned out to be huge. If you're craving warm broth on a rainy day, or looking for somewhere to take your parents for a meal, why not try this mandu spot in Paju — Bubyeokjeong Pyeongyang Mandu? I left well fed once again!