Dish guide · Noodles and dumplings
Jajangmyeon
짜장면
Noodles in black bean sauce
Korea's favorite Chinese-Korean dish: thick wheat noodles under a glossy black sauce of fermented bean paste, pork and onions. It's savory, slightly sweet and not spicy.
What it is
- The sauce is made from chunjang, a dark fermented soybean paste, stir-fried with diced pork, onions and other vegetables.
- Gan-jajang brings the sauce separately, freshly stir-fried without added starch. Samseon-jajang adds seafood.
- Sweet and sour tangsuyuk and spicy jjamppong are the classic partners on the same menu.
Styles & local versions
Yuni-jajang유니짜장
Jajang made with ground meat, with the vegetables minced finely too instead of cut into chunks, so the sauce is smoother. The name comes from the Korean reading of rouni, a Chinese word for ground meat.
How to eat it
- 1Mix the noodles and sauce thoroughly with chopsticks before you start. Pickled yellow radish and raw onion usually come on the side.
History
- It's a Korean version of zhajiangmian from China's Shandong province, and it took shape in the Chinese quarter of Incheon, where port workers wanted something quick and cheap.
- Gonghwachun in Incheon is often called the first restaurant to sell it under this name, but that's disputed, and sources give different dates. The old building is now the Jajangmyeon Museum, which opened in 2012.
- An Incheon company began adding caramel to the bean paste in 1948, giving the sauce its sweet, dark character.
Allergies and diet
Usually contains
- The sauce usually contains pork, and it may contain seafood in samseon versions.
- A few restaurants offer vegetarian jajang. Ask first.
Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.
🗣️ Allergy card for the staff
Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.
📍 Where to try it
- 🍜
Deokhwajang 덕화장
Korean-Chinese · Dongdaemun, Seoul · Since 1970
A Korean-Chinese restaurant on Jangchung-dong's food street since 1970, the kind of place local offices and Dongguk University alumni have been coming to for decades. Order the house specials, deokhwa-myeon and deokhwa-bap, alongside classic sweet-and-sour pork and black bean noodles.
Try: Deokhwa-myeon, deokhwa-bap (house specials)
Locals' pickNo wait - 🍜
Gaehwa 개화
Korean-Chinese · Nampo & Jagalchi, Busan · Since 1968
A Chinese-Korean family restaurant on Nampo-dong's pork trotter alley, opened in 1968 and now in its third generation. It's known for yuni-jajang, a finely minced black bean sauce with more depth than the usual version, and a shelf of Blue Ribbon stickers.
Try: Yuni-jajang (black bean noodles with minced sauce)
Locals' pick - 🥟
Ogu Banjeom 오구반점
Korean-Chinese · Euljiro, Seoul · Since 1953
A third-generation Chinese-Korean restaurant by Euljiro 3-ga, open since 1953. Thick, crisp fried dumplings are the legend here, best with a bowl of gan-jajangmyeon. An old-fashioned place with plenty of regulars.
Try: Gun-mandu (fried dumplings)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🥟
Sandong Gyoja 산동교자
Korean-Chinese · Myeongdong, Seoul · Since 1978
A small Chinese restaurant run by an ethnic Chinese (hwagyo) couple across from the Chinese Embassy in Myeongdong, open since 1978. Crisp fried dumplings, juicy boiled dumplings, five-spice pork and oyster jjamppong draw long-time office regulars.
Try: Gun-mandu (fried dumplings)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍜
Sinheunggwan 신흥관
Korean-Chinese · Haeundae & Gwangalli, Busan · Since 1954
A Blue Ribbon Korean-Chinese restaurant by Haeundae Market, in business for over 70 years. Regulars come for gan-jajang (black bean noodles with the sauce on the side), sweet and sour tangsuyuk and fried dumplings, and it's an easygoing spot for an afternoon beer.
Try: Gan-jajang (black bean noodles, sauce on the side)
Locals' pick - 🍜
Sinseonggak 신성각
Korean-Chinese · Yeouido & Mapo, Seoul · Since 1981
A Korean-Chinese noodle shop on a hill near Gongdeok, open since 1981 and only at lunchtime. The noodles are hand-pulled, and the gan-jajangmyeon, with a black bean sauce made without sugar, draws a line most days.
Try: Gan-jajangmyeon (noodles with dry black bean sauce)
Locals' pick30-60 min wait - 🥢
Abanggung 아방궁
Korean-Chinese · Gangnam Station & COEX, Seoul
A 24-hour Korean-Chinese restaurant on a second floor in the Gangnam Station food alley, with many private rooms used for office dinners and family meals. Jajangmyeon, seafood jjamppong and sweet-and-sour dishes through the night, plus set courses for groups.
Try: Seafood jjamppong (spicy noodle soup)
Locals' pickNo wait - 🥟
Cheongsan Chinese Restaurant 청산중화요리
Korean-Chinese · Dongdaemun, Seoul
A shabby old neighbourhood Chinese restaurant by Cheonggu Station, loved for prices that seem stuck in the past. The crispy old-style sweet-and-sour pork is the reason people now queue on the stairs.
Try: Jajangmyeon (black-bean noodles)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍜
Deokseongwon (Main) 덕성원 본점
Korean-Chinese · Seogwipo & South Coast, Jeju
A Chinese-Korean restaurant that has served Seogwipo for around 80 years. The order is kkotge-jjamppong: spicy noodle soup with a whole blue crab. Old-fashioned tangsuyuk is a good partner, and there's also a branch in Jungmun.
Try: Kkotge-jjamppong (spicy noodle soup with blue crab)
Short wait - 🥟
Deoksunru 덕순루
Korean-Chinese · Namdaemun & Seoul Station, Seoul
A Chinese-Korean restaurant that has stood in the same Namyeong-dong spot since 1959. Classic jajangmyeon, jjamppong and crisp tangsuyuk at fair prices, plus a garlicky kkanpunggi (sweet-spicy fried chicken) that regulars rate highly.
Try: Jajangmyeon
Locals' pick - 🍜
Dongillu 동일루
Korean-Chinese · Hongdae, Seoul
A small Korean-Chinese restaurant in Mangwon-dong run by an ethnic Chinese (hwagyo) family for over 30 years. Locals come for gan-jjajang, noodles with a dry-fried black bean sauce, and chapssal tangsuyuk, crisp and chewy sweet-and-sour pork in a sticky-rice batter. Korean-Chinese food is its own cuisine, and this is a good place to try it.
Try: Chapssal tangsuyuk (sticky-rice sweet-and-sour pork)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🥟
Eohyangwon 어향원
Korean-Chinese · Hwangnidan-gil & Old Town, Gyeongju
A third-generation Chinese restaurant run by an ethnic Chinese family, a welcome break from Korean food on a Gyeongju trip. Skip the usual order and try the eggplant dumplings and Taiwanese beef noodle soup.
Try: Eggplant dumplings
30-60 min wait - 🥢
Gadam 가담
Korean-Chinese · Gangnam, Seoul
A long-running Chinese restaurant in Apgujeong run by ethnic Chinese (hwagyo) chefs. Families and older regulars fill it for the signature chili sweet-and-sour pork and nanjawanseu meatballs, while office workers come for a lunch set or a bowl of jajangmyeon.
Try: Chili sweet-and-sour pork
Locals' pickShort wait - 🥢
Haenghwachon 행화촌
Korean-Chinese · Myeongdong, Seoul
A Korean-Chinese restaurant run by an ethnic Chinese family on the old Chinatown street in front of the Chinese Embassy in Myeongdong. Office workers fill its two floors at lunch for jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and crisp, spicy lajogi (chili fried chicken).
Try: Jajangmyeon (black bean noodles)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🥢
Hohwa Banjeom 호화반점
Korean-Chinese · Gangnam, Seoul
A decades-old Korean-Chinese restaurant at Apgujeong Rodeo, now in a clean two-floor building with private rooms upstairs. Dry-fried black bean noodles, brisket jjamppong and sticky-rice sweet and sour pork are the standards. Busy with office workers at lunch and families on weekends.
Try: Dry-fried black bean noodles
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍜
Hyodonggak 효동각
Korean-Chinese · Sinchon & Ewha, Seoul
A tiny one-dish restaurant near Yonsei University that opens for about two and a half hours at lunch and serves only jajangmyeon. The black bean sauce is old-style and meatless, made with vegetables and hand-cut noodles, mild rather than sweet. Expect a queue at noon and self-service water and pickles.
Try: Old-style meatless jajangmyeon
30-60 min wait - 🥢
Jusabu 주사부
Korean-Chinese · Itaewon, Seoul
A Samgakji Chinese restaurant led by a chef with about fifty years at the wok. Neighbors come for crisp sweet-and-sour pork, dry-fried jajangmyeon (ganjjajang), chili shrimp and the 'special rice' that won him a TV 'master' title.
Try: Tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🥟
Myeonghwawon 명화원
Korean-Chinese · Itaewon, Seoul
An old Korean-Chinese restaurant at Samgakji, open for just four hours at lunchtime, that people line up for. It is usually named one of Seoul's three great tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork) houses, and its crisp fried dumplings are just as famous. A good stop before or after the War Memorial of Korea.
Try: Tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork)
30-60 min wait - 🥟
Oebaek 외백
Korean-Chinese · Yeouido & Mapo, Seoul
A Chinese-Korean restaurant opened in 1979 by an ethnic Chinese family in the Mapo food alley, now run by the second generation. Everything is made in-house, from glossy jajangmyeon to palbochae (eight-treasure seafood) and crunchy shrimp toast for groups.
Try: Seafood ganjajang (dry-fried black-bean noodles)
Locals' pick - 🍜
Sinseung Banjeom 신승반점
Korean-Chinese · Chinatown & Sinpo, Incheon
Chinatown's busiest jajangmyeon house, known for yuni-jajang and crispy sweet-and-sour pork. Take a waiting number first, then look around the neighborhood while you wait.
Try: Yuni-jajangmyeon
30-60 min wait - 🍜
Taebaekgwan 태백관
Korean-Chinese · Seomyeon & Jeonpo, Busan
A neighborhood Korean-Chinese restaurant in Seomyeon with low prices and big portions. The house special is hwanggung jajang, a big tray of black bean noodles for sharing, and sets pair noodles with old-style tangsuyuk.
Try: Hwanggung jaengban-jajang (black bean noodles on a tray)
Locals' pick 
Wanchai 완차이
Korean-Chinese · Sinchon & Ewha, Seoul
A second-generation Chinese-Korean restaurant in the alleys by Yonsei University. Its signature is spicy stir-fried mussels, and regulars also swear by the gan-jajangmyeon and fluffy tangsuyuk.
Try: Spicy stir-fried mussels
Locals' pickShort wait- 🥟
Yeongsaengdeok 영생덕
Korean-Chinese · Downtown & Seomun Market, Daegu
A dumpling house on Jongno, run by ethnic Chinese owners for about 50 years. Order the crisp fried dumplings with a plate of gan-jajang.
Try: Gun-mandu (fried dumplings)
Locals' pickShort wait
Sources
We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-11-04.