Myeongdong Kyoja Main Store 明洞餃子 (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★☆☆☆

We finally got back to Myeongdong after spending time in Anguk and Insadong. Changdeokgung (昌德宮), a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 was a lot of fun to visit and little nugget was intrigued by the lifestyle of the royal family back in the old days. This was pretty much our last attraction in Seoul. We were now down to the last meal of this trip and all we wanted was something simple in Myeongdong, close to our hotel so we could finish early. 

So, we quickly turned our attention to Myeongdong Kyoja (明洞餃子) Main Store (this wasn't really their main store in the photo. I managed to forget about taking a photo). This is a family-run restaurant that started off in 1966 with a food menu of only four items including their famous dumplings and noodle soup. Yeah, that matched our requirement as a "simple meal".



Myeongdong Kyoja's shot to fame is probably tied to its location in the heart of Myeongdong's shopping district. It's constantly full of tourists and we ended up waiting for about 10 to 15 minutes before finally offered a table at the corner. 

Mandu – Myeongdong Kyoja's steamed dumplings stuffed with pork (from female pig they said), vegetables, leeks and fresh sesame oil. Not bad but were they very different from the ones we tried in Seoul or even Hong Kong before. Not really. As a matter of fact, the ones we had from OPPA Coffee Bar Restaurant in Hong Kong tasted almost exactly the same (if not better). 

Kalguksu – The soft, hand-cut noodles (刀削麵) were served in a warm chicken broth with minced pork and dumplings. 

Little one was complaining about the dumplings which had really thick wrappers and almost no filling inside.

Bibimguksu (Mixed noodles) – Jelloman had the cold noodles, mixed with soy sauce that was both hot and sour, and fresh sesame oil. Average at best, she said. 

This guy wasn't happy with this meal at all. And of course, he wasn't thrilled to be leaving Seoul tomorrow. He loves Seoul and he wants to stay for another week! 💔💔💔

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: ₩₩

Address: 29 Myeongdong 10-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Myeongdong

Tel: +82 02-2776-5348

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 9:00pm daily