12.137

22 (Sat) May 2021

Bong Piyang Pyeongyang Naeng Myeon – Sun Myeon

3.5

at Byeokje Galbi

-Bangi, Songpa, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

Long story short: the plan had been to get a bowl of mul naeng myeon at Bong Piyang, but W misinterpreted something that I said and got really upset and demanded that I buy dinner at Byeokje Galbi instead as a show of contrition.

Whereas the two restaurants are under the same ownership, Byeokje specializes in grilled meats while serving the same MNM as Bong Piyang.

For the first time, I tried the sun myeon variation, which comes with 100% buckwheat noodles – i.e., “pure (sun) noodles (myeon).”   At 17,000 won – is buckwheat expensive? – it is likely the most expensive MNM in the world.

I couldn’t tell any difference between the sun myeon (see my bowl above) and the regular noodles (see DJ’s bowl below), whether in appearance or taste or texture, despite numerous side-by-side comparisons.  I asked the server if possibly a mistake had been made, and I been given regular noodles.  She explained that sun myeon came with sliced scallions, pointing to the sliced scallions in my bowl, so no mistake.  W shot me a warning look, so I resisted the bait.  The server went on to say that, without sliced scallions, only experts could differentiate.  W shot me a warning look, so I resisted the bait (see SSPYSP).  In any case, if the difference is so subtle, I don’t really see the point.

Beyond the noodles, the MNM was just fine, as always (see most recently 12.091 Pyeongyang Naeng Myeon).

We also had galbi, the contrition part of the meal.

I am already plotting my revenge, to be served cold, like MNM.

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