Myeongdong Gyoja
×Kalguksu
명동교자 × 칼국수
Why you must eat itThick hand-cut noodles simmered in a cloudy chicken broth. What lands the moment you sit is not ordinary kimchi but a fiercely garlicky cabbage kimchi, both hot and sweet. The noodles are thick and chewy, and the broth hides minced pork and wonton-like dumplings. From the pot on the table you spoon in as much hot garlic paste as you like, tuning the bowl toward yourself. Each slurp lifts the smell of chicken stock and garlic. It eats like a closing bowl, yet in Myeongdong it is the one to start with.
Myeongdong Gyoja, founded in 1966, keeps its main shop in a Myeongdong lane and is a kalguksu institution, listed in the Michelin Bib Gourmand. The menu is almost only kalguksu, mandu (dumplings), cold bibim noodles and steamed dumplings, so there is nothing to puzzle over. Lunch draws a queue, but turnover is quick. It runs from around 10:30am into the evening; hours and closing days can change, so confirm on the spot. Sharing a table is normal — tourists and locals slurp noodles at the same one.
- Nearest
- Metro L4 Myeongdong Stn, Exit 8
- Hours
- 10:30-21:00
- Price
- ₩11,000