Hamgyeong Myeonok Yeongdeungpo Branch

About

Hamhung-style cold noodle and galbi-tang specialist perched on the 10th floor restaurant floor of Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo.

Perched on the tenth-floor dining hall of Lotte Department Store Yeongdeungpo, Hamgyeong Myeonok functions as a reliable refuge for tired shoppers and neighborhood regulars. In stark contrast to the trend-chasing crowds across the street at Times Square, this spacious hall draws an older clientele that values dependable Korean standards. The dining room is unhurried and tidy, welcoming solo diners who slip in for a quick dinner before closing as well as families arriving for weekend lunch. A kettle of piping-hot broth arrives at the table first, setting a restorative tone. The menu splits between comforting broths and northern-style noodles. The Myeongpum Galbitang (premium short rib soup) centers on tender bone-in ribs simmered until the meat easily pulls free to dip into seasoned soy sauce. Unusually, instead of standard somyeon wheat noodles, the kitchen slips chewy, resilient cold-buckwheat noodle strands into the beef broth, providing a distinct, springy bite. For deeper nourishment, the Hanwoo Sagol Boyang Gomtang delivers an opaque ox-bone broth packed with sliced brisket and gelatinous beef tendon, best consumed by dunking a bowl of white rice alongside banchan of radish kimchi. Simpler earthy options, like the cabbage-heavy ugeoji galbitang or rice-cake dumpling soup, also round out the simmered selections. Noodle enthusiasts lean toward cold bowls made with stretchy sweet potato starch noodles. The bibim naengmyeon is coated in a ruby-red dressing made using a ten-hour simmered beef stock base, topped with sliced boiled beef, cucumber, and radish. The hoe naengmyeon amplifies this profile with tender, spicy-tart marinated raw fish, while the mul-bibim version balances that piquant chili seasoning with chilled dongchimi radish water broth. To complete the spread, plump king mandu arrive steaming in thin skins loaded with savory stuffing, offering a mild, juicy counterpoint to the sharper fermented flavors.