Restaurants in my tiny town

Here is a list of my favourite places to eat in my local area. Although Changnyeong is small they are not short of eateries. I enjoy eating and it’s great when I find new places to try!

Restaurants in Gyeseong on Gyeong-Ri (street)

This restaurant is in Gyeseong,on Gyeseong -ri, Changnyeong. It is a Korean Chinese fusion Restaurant. It has a small menu but all of the items are absolutely delicious. There is a choice of Japchae-bap (잡채밥) , Jajang-myeon (자장면; 짜장면) and Jambong (잠 봉). My favourite is the Japchae-bap. Japchae is sweet stir fried noodles with vegetables and beef. It is great value for money as it is only 6,000 won and if you would like an even bigger portion you just say “gop-becki” and you will get a very large amount of Japchae-bap for only 500 won more.

Upo Restaurant is also in Gyeseong on Gyeseong-ri, Changnyeong. This restaurant serves a variety of galbi and bulgogi meals. Our favourite is bulgogi jungle (불고기 전골). Bulgogi jungle is a stew with delicious beef and vegetables in it. This restaurant is also great value, each meal costing around 7,000 won with a drink.

Restaurants in Okcheon

Okcheon Ssambap Restaurant -Ssambap (쌈밥) refers to a rice dish served with vegetables, leaves, various small side dishes and condiments such as gochujang (chilli pepper paste) or ssamjang (a mixture of soybean paste and gochujang) to wrap them together. I love Ssambap it’s just interesting to try so many different sides. This restaurant in Okcheon is very nice as it is in a great location and the staff are very friendly too. This dish cost 8,000 won each with a drink.

Okcheon Mountain Restaurant- This is more like a small cafe than a restaurant. It sells the usually dishes that can be made easily. Bibimbap, ramen (noodles), Kimchi pajeon (Pancakes). David and I have been here after long hikes on Hwang mountain. The food we order is always lovely and INCREDIBLY cheap. Even though the food is priced very low the man who owns it always tries to give us a discount. He is very nice!

Restaurants in Yeong-san

Kimbap Chun Gook restaurants are everywhere in the Changnyeong area and throughout Korea. They are Korea’s version of fast food restaurants. They have a variety of basic traditional Korean foods including healthy and not so healthy foods. I like these restaurants because the menus are gigantic. Visiting this kind of restaurant can be daunting at first but I think Chun Gook’s are a great introduction to Korean food. Maybe with a little trial and error it won’t take you long to find your favourite Korean dish. My favourite Kimbap Chun Gook’s are in Yeongsan next to the bus station and on Jeong- Ro in down town Changnyeong. These are very cheap places to eat.

Bun Sik Chun Guk- This is an independent Chun-Guk. The menu is very similar to a regular Chun-Guk but it doesn’t sell kimbap. This doesn’t really matter as the rest of the menu is really good. I absolutely love this place. The owners are extremely nice and the Cham-Chi Jigae (tuna soup) is the most delicious around! This is a cheap place to eat.

Restaurants in Down Town Changnyeong on Jeong-Ro (Street)

Chun Cheon Dak Galbi (닭갈비)- This restaurant is located on Jeong-Ro down town Changnyeong. Chun Cheon dak galbi is a chicken based dish. It is cooked on a stone grill oven over a flame. It consists of cabbage, onions, hot peppers, rice cakes, noodles in spicy hot sauce. When we eat here we order extra rice cakes with cheese inside. This makes an already delicious meal even more delicious. This meal costs around 7,000 won per person.

Italian Restaurant- This restaurant is located on Jeong-Ro. It has a reasonable sized menu with a variety of pasta based dishes as well as pizza. This Italian definitely has a Korean twist and it works really well. It is a great place to go when you are missing home foods. This restaurant is a little expensive compared to other restaurants in Changnyeong but it is still good value for money, each meal cost around 15,000 won.

New York Coffee- is located on Jeong-Ro. This is your usual pretty Korean coffee shop that sell delicious chocolaty snacks for very low-cost. My favourite are the chocolate truffles for 500 won!

Nae Myeong and Donkas- is located just off Jeong-Ro opposite Chicago Pizza. I guess this restaurant is similar to a Chun-Guk. The menu has very similar items such but it specialises in nae-myeong (대 명) and donkas (돈가스). It looked independently ran and the owners are extremely friendly and nice. Each meals cost around 6,000 won.

Chicago Pizza- is located in down town Jeong- Ro. It sells delicious pizzas although the hawaiian pizza did come with cherries instead of pineapple!

Halim Chicken- is located on a side street off Jeong Ro and Market Alley. This eatery sells a variety of deep fried goodies, from chicken to cheese sticks as well as burgers to spaghetti. It also sells cheap drinks hot and cold. We really like it here because it is a family run establishment and the man is really friendly.

Restaurants in Down Town Changnyeong on Myeong-Deok Ro (Street)

Hwang-san Galbi Restaurant- is located on Myeong-Deok- Ro, down town Changnyeong. This is a Korean barque restaurant. It serves a variety of meats for reasonable prices. We ordered daeji gogi (대지고기). We chose this one as the owner said it contained little fat. He was right, this pork was delicious and very good value for money at 8,000 won each. A variety of sides also came with our order, it had the best salad ever. I think the owner got a bit tired of replenishing our dish!

Jin Gook Myeong Gook is also located on Myeong-Deok Ro, down town Changnyeong. This restaurant has a good amount of food to choose from but it specialises in pig spine soup (해장국) . Hae Jang Gook is said to be great to cure a hangover. I have not eaten it with a hangover but I can see how it would help.It usually consists of dried Napa cabbage, congealed ox blood (similar to blood pudding), and vegetables in a hearty beef broth. It may sound a little strange but it is extremely delicious.

Doughnut Shop-is located on Upo 2 Ro Junction and Myeong-deok Ro, down town Changnyeong. This is a Korean doughnut shop that sells a variety of doughnuts, cookies, smoothies, coffees and amazing milkshakes.

Cup Cake Shop- is also located on Myeong-Deok Ro, down town Changnyeong (towards Upo 2 Ro junction). This little shop wouldn’t look out of place in a big city. It is a quirky little cafe that sells the usual variety of hot and cold drinks. It’s main appeal is its cupcakes. It sells a huge selection of delicious sugary cakes. They are a little pricey as each one cost around 4,000 won upwards but they are a good size and very pretty!

Restaurants in Down Town Changnyeong Si Jang-Gil (Market Alley)

Hanwoo Meat Buffet-David and I found an all you can eat MEAT Buffet Restaurant. It is located in down town Changnyeong off Market Alley next to an Asia Mart. It costs 12,000 won per head and you help yourself to a variety of meats and side dishes. You cook the meat yourself and you can have as much as you like. It is great value for money!

Buck Wheat Noddles (막국수)- This restaurant is located on Changnyeong Market Alley. Buckwheat is a thin brown noodle made from buckwheat flour. I think Buckwheat noodles originate from Japan and are called soba. Soba are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. This type of noodle is meant to have a lot more nutritional value and health benefits than regular white noodles and rice. This restaurant has a good menu and it is reasonable priced because the portion sizes are very generous.

SHABU SHABU (샤브샤브)- is also a Japanese dish. Our favourite restaurant that serves Shabu can be found where the market street intersects Hwawangsan 1 ro. Shabu Shabu consist of thinly sliced meat that you cook in a soup. The soup contains vegetables and potatoes. This dish also comes with udong noodles and fried rice, as well as the usual side dishes. Shabu Shabu is always slightly more expensive than other restaurants but that is because there are many courses to the meal and the meat is always good quality. Depending on how much meat you want, this restaurant chargers around 22,000 won for two people.

SAMGYETANG (삼계탕)- This restaurant is easy to find, go up Hwawangsan 1 ro and it is on the left. A whole stuffed chicken with ginseng, jujubes, pine nuts, chestnuts, garlic, and sticky rice. This is an extremely delicious soup. This meal is most popular in the summer as it is meant to encourage your body to stay at a comfortable temperature. I prefer to eat this dish in the spring or autumn as I can’t handle sweating whilst eating hot soup!!! The price of this dish varies from around 6-10, 000 won.

Restaurants in Muan

Kimbap Nara in Muan- This is very similar to a Kimbap Chun Gook. This menus is almost identical and the food is just as delicious. I really like this particular restaurant because they sell donkas kimbap. This is a pork cutlet wrapped in rice and your choice of additional filling tuna, cheese, kimchi, or vegetables. I really like them and this type of kimbap is not available in Changnyeong so Kimbap Nara gets extra brownie points!

Restaurants in Miryang

Onigini and Gyudong- is not in my tiny little town but I thought I would include it any-ways. Miryang is the next town. It is a very new restaurant and I am EXTREMELY happy that we discovered it. It is a Korean Japanese fusion restaurant . It sells gorgeous meals such as, triangle kim-baps with a generous portion of meat, udong noddles, a variety of meat top rices. All of the dishes have different flavours that make them unique for Korea. David and I love it so much because it re-minds us of being on holiday in Japan. This is definitely going to be our new favourite. The prices in this restaurant are very reasonable, each meal varies from around 3,000 won- 8,000 won.