Apgujeong Cold Noodle Must-Visit Hanheung Myeonok: Hoe Naengmyeon, Dumplings

Specialty Hamheung Naengmyeon Restaurant

Hanheung Myeonok

When the weather gets hot, your body starts to feel hot as well, so it seems natural to look for cool food rather than hot dishes. One summer food people end up seeking out is naengmyeon. IHO Plastic Surgery is located in Apgujeong, and when people think of Apgujeong naengmyeon, Hanheung Myeonok is the place that comes to mind.

As its name suggests, Hanheung Myeonok is a place where hoe naengmyeon, a Hamheung-style bibim naengmyeon, is especially delicious. Of course, the basic mul naengmyeon and bibim naengmyeon are also good, but the hoe served in the hoe naengmyeon has a much better texture than at other naengmyeon places, so when you visit Hanheung Myeonok, you end up ordering the hoe naengmyeon.

Naengmyeon is said to have originated in North Korea. So when people talk about a great naengmyeon restaurant, it often seems to have a North Korean name.

The Hamheung naengmyeon place in Apgujeong introduced today seems to align with that idea as well.

Even though they are both naengmyeon, the flavors of Pyongyang naengmyeon and Hamheung naengmyeon are different, so it seems each person has the type they prefer more. Pyongyang naengmyeon is the flavor most of us are familiar with, but once you get hooked on Hamheung naengmyeon, you reportedly end up looking only for Hamheung naengmyeon.

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After placing an order at Hanheung Myeonok, side dishes that go well with naengmyeon are served.

We also ordered dumplings, the perfect pairing for naengmyeon.

The dumplings at this Apgujeong cold noodle favorite, Hanheung Myeonok, are handmade, so we couldn’t help but order them. Eating both naengmyeon and dumplings can feel a bit much, but here you can also order half a serving of dumplings, so you can enjoy dumplings together with hoe naengmyeon.

The price is also not such that the half portion is much more expensive; handmade dumplings are 10,000 won and half a portion of dumplings is 5,000 won, so ordering the half portion is fine too. The half portion comes with 3 dumplings, which was perfect since we visited as a group of 3.

They are said to be handmade dumplings, and they were really so beautifully shaped. You’d think they raise beautiful children too.

As expected of handmade dumplings, the filling is substantial, so even one dumpling leaves you satisfied.

The biggest reason to come to Hanheung Myeonok is, of course, the naengmyeon!!

As a specialty Hamheung naengmyeon restaurant, most people order the hoe naengmyeon. The sliced fish on top of the hoe naengmyeon is skate.

One thing that makes you realize how wise our ancestors were is that, in the past, they probably couldn’t know the nutritional content of food precisely, yet they ate naengmyeon as a summer food. The buckwheat used in naengmyeon has a cooling nature, so it is considered a cold food. That is why eating naengmyeon is said to lower body heat, reduce inflammation, and make bowel movements easier.

In the hot summer, your body temperature rises and you feel even hotter, so eating buckwheat naengmyeon like this helps lower the heat, which is probably why naengmyeon comes to mind when you think of summer.

It is also fascinating that the toppings on naengmyeon—cucumber and pear—are watery ingredients that help with hydration in the summer.

To enjoy Hanheung Myeonok’s hoe naengmyeon properly, I cut the buckwheat noodles into bite-sized pieces. The skate on top of the hoe naengmyeon was too much for scissors to handle, but since the skate was not tough at all and was chewy and tender, there was no need to cut it.

When you order hoe naengmyeon elsewhere, the skate can be tough or hard, so you end up eating only the buckwheat noodles and leaving the fish behind. But with Hanheung Myeonok’s hoe naengmyeon, that doesn’t happen, and you can enjoy the fish and naengmyeon together.

Because the sauce on the naengmyeon is red, it looks like it might be spicy, but it is not very spicy. It is the kind of Hamheung naengmyeon that leaves you with a refreshing feeling after eating.

It is not an especially intense flavor, but Hanheung Myeonok lets you enjoy delicious hoe naengmyeon!!

You can feel why it has remained so consistently popular with people, both while eating and even after finishing the meal.