TRY EVERY JEONGUK ODAE JJAMBBONG

Jeonguk Odae Jjambbong is a list purporting to designate the best (“odae = Big Five”) jjambbong restaurants in Korea (“jeonguk = nationwide”).  The list was made circa 2011 by a local food blogger, who had toured the country in search of jjambbong and kept rankings of his experiences – however, I was unable to find the original post, so I have zero information about his methodology.  In any case, the list somehow went viral and became quite a national issue, or so secondary sources say – in fact, it was so controversial that the blogger initially deleted the post and eventually shut down the blog because he was receiving so much hate mail.  GMTD had launched in 2010, but I can’t recall anything about it at the time.  I was introduced to the concept upon visiting a franchise branch of Gyodong Banjeom near home (see 11.356 Haemul Wang Jjambbong), then another branch near work (see 12.017 Gogi Wang Jjambbong), though the food from one didn’t resemble that of the other in the least – tellingly, both restaurants have since closed their doors – all the restaurants have themselves complained about the pressure of living up to the hype, dealing with disappointed customers.

1. 1. Yeongbinru (Pyeongtaek) (50 km from home)
   2. Donghaewon (Gongju) (130 km)
   3. Bokseongru (Gunsan) (200 km)
   4. Gyodong Banjeom (Gangneung) (200 km)
   5. Jinheung Banjeom (Daegu) (280 km)

Each jjambbong was graded on GMTD’s 4-point scale, applied to the dish’s 3 primary components: broth, noodles, toppings.  The final score is the average of the 3 subscores.

Bokseongru

(복성루)

Ranking: 1

Final score: 3.5

Wait time: 40 minutes

Cost: 12,000

Location: Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do

Established: circa 1975

Date visited: 2025 December 29

Accompanied by: W, DJ, IZ

BROTH.  Rich in taste, oily in texture.  Subscore: 3.0

NOODLES.  Pleasantly thick.  Al dente.  Subscore: 3.5

TOPPINGS.  Loads of pork and seafood, including shrimp + squid + mussels + clams.  Subscore: 4.0

CONCLUSION.  The first jjambbong in the series that at least looked like some effort had been put into the preparation.  Worth the travel/cost/wait: not really.  Final score: 3.5

Yeongbinru

(영빈루)

Ranking: 2

Final score: 3.2

Wait time: 0 minutes

Cost: 8,000

Location: Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do

Established: 1970

Date visited: 2025 March 19

Accompanied by: MtG

BROTH.  Light in texture, not oily, clean pork flavor, very well balanced.  Subscore: 3.5

NOODLES.  Standard.  Cooked to al dente.  Subscore: 3.5

TOPPINGS.  Plenty of sliced pork with bits of squid.  Skimpy on the vegetables, minimal onions.  Subscore: 3.0

CONCLUSION.  Far from the best bowl of jjambbong that I’ve had in my life (see samseon version below), but solid.  Not a bad deal for only 8,000 won.  Worth the travel/cost/wait: not really.   Final score: 3.2

Donghaewon

(동해원)

Ranking: 3

Final score: 2.5

Wait time: 65 minutes

Cost: 10,000

Location: Gongju, Chuncheongnam-do

Established: 1973

Date visited: 2025 December 26

Accompanied by: W, DJ, IZ

BROTH.  Very light in taste and texture, somewhat vegetal (probably the cabbage).  Subscore: 2.0

NOODLES.  Pleasantly thick.  Al dente.  Subscore: 3.5

TOPPINGS.  Mostly white cabbage + onions + scallions.  Small bits of pork and squid.  Subscore: 2.0

CONCLUSION.  Would’ve been disappointing in any context, fell severely short of the hype.  Not worth traveling 1 km.  Not worth waiting 1 minute.  Way overpriced at 10,000 won.  Worth the travel/cost/wait: absolutely not.  Final score: 2.5

 

Gyodong Banjeom

(교동반점)

TBC

 

Jinheung Banjeom

(진흥반점)

TBC