16.356 Mul Jjajang Myeon

Cycle 16 – Item 356

POST 5,835

27 (Sat) December 2025

Mul Jjajang Myeon

1.0

at Binhaewon

-Jangmi, Gunsan, Jeollabuk, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

Winter Holiday Roadtrip 2025, Day 2 of 4

In lieu of an overseas destination for our annual winter trip, we’re staying local.  Gongju + Buyeo + Gunsan.  For me, it’s all about jjambbong.  W’s motives are historical.

SIGHTSEEING

Baekje Cultural Land

Are these the tools found in an excavation, or those used to do the excavation?
Stabila is German company founded in 1889 – these spirit levels have bar codes, so probably produced sometime in 1970s or later.

The theme park includes a museum, with fancy installations that look nice but offer little/no historical information about what the display is showing, what time period it represents, etc.

Very high tech.
What does this diorama represent, what approximate time period?
Who are these characters?

The park also includes a sprawling outdoor compound with replica buildings throughout Baekje’s history.

Entrance to Sabi Palace.

Jumak is a Korean restaurant.  Offers a small selection of items, mostly Korean, though nothing that would invoke images of ancient Baekje (whatever that would be),

Too cold to sit outside, but this would be nice in warmer weather.

IZ had dropped the key to the motorized bike carriage that we’d rented, so I sat down for a snack while the others looked for it.  (Eventually, I joined the search and found it.)

Eomuk Udong (3.0): just now realizing the incongruity of eating Japanese noodles.

From 18 BCE to 475 CE, the first capital of Baekje was Wiryeseong (Fort Wirye), which is believed to have been located somewhere around Songpa-gu in Seoul.

A scaled down representation of the fort.

Pungnaptosong, in Songpa’s Pungnap-dong (directly north of the Olympic Park), is the remains of an earthen wall surrounding an ovular area of about 3.5 km in circumference – many believe that this could be Wiryeseong.  Clearly, more research and excavation is warranted.

Untold numbers of historical sites and artifacts must’ve been built over or even destroyed in Korea’s haste to modernize over the past century.

Whereas Wiryeseong was populated for nearly 500 years, and technology/architecture/culture/society in the 1st century would’ve been utterly different than in the 5th century, the display doesn’t indicate what time period this replica is supposed to represent – probably earlier than later.

Modern-day Wirye is not really a technical geographical designation but a loose region comprising parts of 3 cities: Seoul + Seongnam + Hanam.  (We live in the Seongnam part.)

Wiryeseong Palace – the displays also don’t explain what sources were consulted to recreate the designs of the structures.

By sheer coincidence, our roadtrip has taken us on the same path as the history of Baekje’s capitals: starting from home in Wirye (Wiryeseong: 18 BCE – 475 CE), then Gongju (Ungjin: 475 – 538 CE), and finally Buyeo (Sabi: 538 – 660 CE).  Very very cool.

LUNCH

Jangwon Mak Guksu is a Korean restaurant.  Offers only 2 dishes: their eponymous noodles dish, and pyeonyuk.  Local landmark.

Located 345 m from Gudeurae Dock, one stop from the infamous Nakhwaam cliff, where 3,000 court ladies of Baekje are supposed to have thrown themselves into the Baekma River upon the fall of the kingdom in 660 CE.
The restaurant was once the house of the dock master.
Buckwheat dough.
Noodle press.
One of the dining rooms, what would’ve been a bedroom when this was a home.
“HOW TO: wrap the meat in the noodles.”
Pyeonyuk (3.5): despite the absence of fat, the meat was luxuriously tender.
Lin Soju
Mak Guksu (4.0)

The mak guksu was revelatory.  Tangy broth, at once familiar yet unique, rich and deep.  Bitter noodles, playfully chewy.  Perhaps the best mak guksu in my experience.

Spoiler alert: this was the best meal of the 4-day trip.

SIGHTSEEING

Buyeo National Museum

Visitors gathering in the central lobby for a light show about the Burner of Baekje.
Intriguing 360-degree projection across the ceiling of the domed lobby, even if the show didn’t provide any useful information – it was produced to delight little kids with fancy effects.

The Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje is a national treasure.  Found very recently in 1993, perfectly intact, during the excavation of an ancient temple site in Buyeo. Likely produced in the 6th century CE, influenced by the artistry of the Han dynasty, with uniquely Korean design elements.

The new display, which takes up nearly the entire 3rd floor of the museum, opened earlier this month.

If the Tomb of King Muryeong is Korea’s Ark of the Covenant, the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje is the Holy Grail.

ACCOMMODATION

For the final 2 nights, we’re staying at Mansion Bridge Hotel in Gunsan.

Located 86 m from Gunsan Bus Terminal.
An actual motel (“motor hotel”), with the parking space situated directly below the unit – drawback: luggage needs to be carried up the stairs.

Given the dearth of family accommodations in Gunsan generally, and the late booking, our options were limited.

The Premium Suite features 2 queen beds (and the biggest TV that I’ve ever seen) on one level…
…and a separate living space on the upper level, plus an outdoor balcony with a “jacuzzi” (actually just a bathtub, no jets) – according to W, these kinds of hotel rooms are often booked for hosting parties, which would explain the layout.

DINNER

Binhaewon is a Korean-Chinese restaurant.  Typical menu.  One of the so-called “Gunsan Samdae (Big Three) Jjambbong” (but not in the national Big Five).  Founded 1952 (according to some accounts).

Located on the north tip of Gunsan’s jjambbong street.

The plan had been to have dinner at Bokseongru, one of the Big Five, one of my objectives for the trip, but I discovered that it closes every day at 16:00.  So we went with Binhaewon, a legend in its own right.

The building is a a registered cultural landmark, featured in many famous movies (or so I’m told).

My first exposure to the restaurant was in the Netflix series Jjajangmyeon Rhapsody, which covers the Gunsan jjambbong scene.  In addition to flashes of the interior in several scenes, the owner/chef is briefly interviewed and shown making jjambbong.  However, while the food at other famous restaurants is prominently featured being enjoyed by the host and other participants, the food at Binhaewon is never eaten (on screen).

The rooms were quite unremarkable.

And now I know why: the food was awful.  The current Naver rating is a pathetic 3.68.  Poor quality ingredients, sloppily prepared, mushy textures, bland flavors.  We left most of it untouched.

Gunsan Samseon Jjambbong (2.0): ample seafood, yet the broth was flavorless, indicating a weak base stock.
Japtang Bap (1.5): mostly mushrooms, particularly wood ear.

Mul Jjajang Myeon is a Korean-Chinese dish.  Noodles with seafood and vegetables, smothered in a thick whitish sauce – despite the name of the dish, it is not a noodle soup, and the sauce does not contain jjajang i.e. chunjang (black bean paste).  Originated in Jeollabuk-do, where it remains popular; not widely available, or even well known, outside the region.

The naming of mul jjajang is perhaps the ultimate example of how lazy/ignorant/uncreative operators of Korean-Chinese restaurants are.

One alternate theory holds that “jjajang” simply means “fried sauce,”so any fried sauce qualifies, even if it doesn’t involve chunjang.

So gross.  True to the “mul” in the name, the sauce tasted like tap water.  Couldn’t get past the first bite.  Nobody else bothered to try.

It’s basically ul myeon (see generally 12.359 Ul Myeon).

Spoiler alert: this was the worst meal of the 4-day trip (I wonder if the servers are used to seeing piles of untouched food).

Instant BAN.

(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See HANSIK)

(See BOOZE)

One thought on “16.356 Mul Jjajang Myeon”

Leave a Reply