Locals’ Favorite Soba (cold buckwheat noodle) Restaurants in Jeonju

Cold soba (buckwheat noodle) is one of the best thing for surviving the summer heat. Sipping the sweet and salty cold broth is a small but satisfying consolation if you’re worn out by the heat and humidity. This week I’ll introduce the locals’ favorite soba restaurants in Jeonju.

Taepyungjip

Taepyungjip is a soba restaurant featured in various television foodie shows. The venue is located near both the express bus terminal and the intercity bus terminal, one reason why the place is so popular.

During lunchtime in summer, it’s likely that you’ll have to wait to be seated. That’s why I visited Taepyungjip at 3PM. Even then the venue was still crowded.

Taepyungjip specializes in soba and ‘kongguksu’ (noodle in cold soybean soup) dishes. I ordered soba ‘gobpaegi’ (‘double the quantity’), which is 8,000 won. If you’re a big eater, don’t forget to say ‘gobpaegi’ when ordering!

It took only five minutes for my soba to arrive. The side dishes were kimchi, radish kimchi, and pickled radish. The noodle and the broth are served separately.

You may pour all the cold broth into the noodle bowl from the beginning. Or instead you may dip a mouthfull of noodle into the broth each time you eat. I ate half of the noodle with the latter method and the remaining half with the former method. The cold broth had a thin coat of ice. Also, ‘gobpaegi’ is a huge dish. Keep that in mind.

Taepyungjip

Address: Jogyungdanro 3-6, Deokjingu, Jeonju

Opening hours: May-September 11:00-20:00 (closed on Mondays); October-April and Saturdays 11:00-17:00 (closed on Mondays)

Main dishes: soba (7,000 won), kongguksu (7,000 won)

Jinmijip

I also visited Jinmijip (Geumamdong branch). Jinmijip is 44 year old restaurant specializing in soba and kongguksu. I visited with my friends and ordered three dishes: cold soba, bibim soba (soba with sliced vegetables and spicy sauce on top, without the broth), and kongguksu. Also on the menu are onsoba (soba with warm broth), taengcho soba (hot pepper soba, warm broth), maemil mandu (buckwheat dumpling), and donkatsu (pork cutlet). I’ll comeback here in winter for the warm soba.

Side dishes are: kimchi, pickled radish, pickled garlic, and fresh green chili peppers. Jinmijip also serves the broth and noodle separately for soba. The dish was adequately salty and sweet, a very popular flavor.

I also tried bibim soba for the first time here, and I really liked it. The chewy noodle, spicy sauce, and crunchy sliced vegetables went very well together. Since Jinmijip has a range of dishes on its menu, it’ll cater to different needs!

Jinmijip

Address (headquarter): Jeonjuchundongro 40, Wansangu, Jeonju

Address (Geumamdong branch): Gwonsamdeukro 202, Deokjingu, Jeonju

Opening hours (headquarter): 10:00-21:00 (summer); 10:00-20:00 (winter)

Opening hours (Geumamdong branch): 09:00-20:30 (summer); 09:00-15:00 (winter), closed on Mondays

Main dishes: soba (7,000 won), kongguksu (7,000 won)

Seoul Soba

The visited ‘Seoul Soba’ the last. The restaurant is located near the trendy and hipster-ish Gaekridan-gil Street and the ‘Street of Wedding’. Opened in 1955, Seoul Soba has been serving one of the best soba in town for 64 years.

Don’t even worry about making choices. There’s only one dish on the menu: ‘soba’.

The sides are: kimchi, pickled radish, and wasabi.

Soba broth is usually made with katsuobushi (bonito fish flakes). However, Seoul Soba makes its soba broth with only the dried anchovies from Yeosu and Tongyoung and dried sea tangle from Gijang. That’s the secret to the sweet and salty broth full of flavor. Probably that’s also why Seoul Soba has many loyal customers, including me.

Also, don’t forget that Seoul Soba is only open from March to October. So from November to February, the venue is closed. If you want to taste a soba dish like nowhere else, visit Seoul Soba before October!

Seoul Soba

Address: Jeolla Gamyoung 3-gil 17-2, Wansangu, Jeonju

Opening hours: 10:30-21:00 (March-October only)

Main dishes: soba (8,000 won), sari [extra noodle] (3,000 won)