Seoul Top 5 Spicy Naengmyeon: GidaeBong Naengmyeon (before relocation)

When I’m craving spicy food, I think naengmyeon is always on the list.. Even though I’m actually pretty bad with spicy food, there are times when it’s hard to resist the heat. For me, that’s exactly what spicy naengmyeon is.

Among the famous spicy naengmyeon spots, I visited GidaeBong Naengmyeon, which is ranked among the top 5 in Seoul.

I visited last year, so this was before the store moved. As of January 1, 2023, it relocated from across Changsin Elementary School to the building of Hwanghak Cheonggye E-Mart, so please keep that in mind if you plan to visit.

GidaeBong Naengmyeon is a naengmyeon restaurant with a 60-year tradition and can be called the origin of spicy naengmyeon.

As is usually the case with places that serve spicy naengmyeon, being able to adjust the heat level is really nice. GidaeBong Naengmyeon has something unusual: under the mild flavor, there is a white flavor. I think that’s probably because more families with children visit than you might expect.

With the move, GidaeBong Naengmyeon’s prices also went up by 1,000 won each.

As befitting one of Seoul’s top 5 naengmyeon restaurants, it has appeared on TV many times. The fact that they keep filming there, not just appearing once, probably means it’s that delicious!!

On the table were vinegar and mustard, which are essential for naengmyeon, as well as soy sauce for dipping the dumplings that can help ease the spiciness.

For reference, at GidaeBong Naengmyeon, a famous spicy naengmyeon spot, each person must order one menu item.

The spicy naengmyeon we ordered arrived. I wanted to try the very spicy version, but I thought my stomach might hurt, so I ordered the original flavor. Since the original flavor is still spicy naengmyeon, I figured maybe at first there was only this original spicy naengmyeon.

As expected of one of Seoul’s top 5 spicy naengmyeon restaurants, GidaeBong Naengmyeon’s original flavor was spicy enough to feel the heat, but compared with the kind of spiciness that comes to mind when people think of spicy naengmyeon, it didn’t seem all that intensely hot. So I wonder if I might have been fine ordering the spicy version.

Still, it was nice that I could feel the spiciness, so it wasn’t bad. The noodles felt more like milmyeon than the chewy texture usually associated with naengmyeon, but I think I preferred the softer texture.