Dinner at Jeonju, May 2018

When I searched in Happy Cow for vegetarian restaurants in Jeonju, there were only 3 listings. The most conveniently located restaurant is Garobee Well Being Buffet that walking distance from the bus terminal.

I was planning on having a buffet lunch at Garobee before exploring Jeonju. Unfortunately it was closed on Sunday!

So when Sunday evening comes, I was at a loss of what to have for dinner. And then I remember I came across the Veteran restaurant on the internet.

Veteran Restaurant 베테랑분식

Veteran is a NOT a vegetarian restaurant.

What is famous here is Kalguksu, which is quite unlike what is served in most places.

The noodles are meatless, but it is very likely the broth is made with some fish or meat stock. If you are strict vegetarian, this is not suitable for you. For me, when I travel (especially to countries like Korea and Japan), I would generally settled for meatless food, and relax the restrictions on the sauces and broth as long as there isn't a strong or obvious meaty or fishy taste)

The restaurant has only 5 items on the menu:

1. Kalguksu - soft noodles in an eggy broth - 6500 won
2. Jjol Myeong - bibim style chewy noodles - 6000 won
3. Kong guksu - soft noodles in soy milk broth - 7000 won
4. Soba - Japanese soba noodles in a cold broth - 7000 won
5. Mandu - meat filled dumplings - 5000 won

We ordered a Kalguksu and a Jjol Myeong.

Kalguksu is what this restaurant is famous for. And rightly so!

The soft noodles has a great texture. But the winner is the broth. Generally kalguksu is served in a clear broth. Here, the noodles were served in a soup with eggs in it. It is topped with seaweed flakes and perilla seeds, with chilli powder sprinkled on it. It is a bowl of tasty noodles that has the making of a great comfort food.

It is slightly spicy due to the chilli powder. But I like spicy so I sprinkled more. It is also the first time I tried perilla seeds. It adds an interesting flavour to the noodles.

Jjol Myeong is a type of chewy noodles and it is made bibim style here. This is the most vegetarian safe dish here: it is a bowl of cold chewy noodles served with julienned cucumber, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, gochujang (Korean chilli paste used in bibimbap), half a hard boiled egg and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. It is spicy and tasty. The problem was with the noodles -- they were too chewy, almost like chewing rubber bands... I would much prefer bibim noodles made with guksu noodles instead of jjol myeong.

The portions here are big. A bowl of kalguksu can be shared between two small eaters. Many couples were just sharing a bowl of kalguksu and an order of mandu.

It was a very enjoyable meal of noodles and my partner has only praises for the kalguksu. We came back again two days later and just ordered the kalguksu.

Jjol Myeong. Spicy and tasty but I found the noodles too chewy for my liking. I skipped the bowl of soup that came with it as there was a fishy taste to it.

Kalguksu. Soft noodles in a bowl of eggy broth served with seaweed flakes, perilla seeds and a dash of chilli powder. Mix up everything and tuck in!

Veteran Restaurant

The menu and price on the window. There are pictures of each item inside the restaurant.

Address:
베테랑분식 Veteran
84-10 Gyo-dong Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do,
Business hours: Daily 9am-9.30pm (closed on holidays)




This is the blog entry about the restaurant which I came across:
https://messywitchen.com/dining/south-korea/jeonju/veteran-jeonju-south-korea/

This is an old blog (dated 2014). The prices have since increased and the menu expanded with 2 more items. This is also the blog that introduced me to Grandma's Best.



Grandma's Best Desert Factory

We were stuffed from the 2 bowls of noodles from Veteran's. After walking around the Hanok village for a while, we decided we now have room for desert and we went looking for Grandma's Best (외할머니솜씨 (Oe Halmeoni Somssi).

This restaurant is in a small Hanok that is at edge of the touristy area. It took me a while to find it. It was almost empty when we got in so I thought maybe it wasn't as good it was made out to be. Nevertheless we went ahead and ordered a bowl of Patbingsu to share.

Shortly after we ordered, the restaurant filled up. It was quite well known after all.

And then we tasted the desert. Wow! It was delicious!

Bingsu is shaved milk ice that comes in many different flavours. It was quite a rage in Singapore when it was introduced a few years ago. There are many bingsu outlets in Singapore. I only tried it once or twice and didn't like it that much. Besides they are over priced in Singapore.

Patbingsu is bingsu served with adzuki beans (aka red beans). What I liked about the patbingsu here was the delicious combination of black sesame powder with adzuki beans. The rice cakes were very nice too -- soft and slightly chewy.

We both enjoyed the patbingsu very much and decided it was worth the 7000 won. Of course it is still expensive if you compare it with a bowl of SGD$2 ice kacang (~ 1600 won). But it's just not the same!

It worth giving it a try if you are in Jeonju.

A very tasty combination of adzuki beans and black sesame seed powder on shaved milk ice. The rice cakes were very nice too.

The restaurant is in a small hanok and the signboard is not big -- easily missed if you are not looking for it.

Address:
외할머니솜씨 (Oe Halmeoni Somssi) Grandma’s Best
113-4 Gyo-dong,
Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do