[Seoul - Myeongdong] Ranju Kalmyeon - Fresh knife cut noodles, Chinese food

Ranju Kalmyeon (란주칼면) is one of my favorite places to eat in Myeongdong.

It's not overly touristy and isn't a chain, which is a pretty big feat for Myungdong.

It got pretty popular recently because it was featured on a few food shows. 

It is a Chinese restaurant that serves knife cut noodles (kalmyeon) that are made fresh daily in house.

The meals start off with side dishes - peanuts, fried garlic pieces, Chinese pickled vegetables, and kimchi (since it's Korea). I really like the Chinese pickled vegetables and the peanuts.

We got 깐풍기 (24,000KRW) to start off, it's deep fried chicken covered in sweet and spicy garlic sauce. It was really hot when we got it. The chicken was nice and crispy, too.

We also got the 새우볶음밥 (7000KRW), the shrimp fried rice, it comes with a side of jjajangmyun, the knife cut noodles covered in the black bean sauce.

We also ordered the 해물(seafood) jjajangmyun 6500KRW. It's the noodles listed in on the top left corner of the menu. There's also a pork option, if you don't like seafood (it's octopus and shrimp).

Look at that noodle pull! Seriously, unlike at a lot of the other Chinese restaurants in Korea that serve jjajangmyun, Ranju Kalmyeon makes its own noodles throughout the day and cuts them. The wide noodles are the best, seriously. They are chewy and are great for maximizing flavor.

Full menu: (Click to enlarge)

There is English, but some of the descriptions leave a lot to be desired, but luckily there are pictures, too. However, if you do not eat pork, you might need to be a little careful here.

Location: From Myeongdong Station exit 5, walk straight to the big intersection, then turn right. It'll be there right after you walk past the Starbucks.

From Euljiro-1-ga station, exit 6, walk straight. You'll keep walking straight for quite a bit, but eventually you'll be across from the Shinsegye Department Store and see the restaurant.

It's across from Shinsegye department store.

There's a weird little alley, next door. If you put the name 란주칼면 into Naver Maps, it'll bring you to this alley, but there's no entrance there, so make sure you go to the door on the main road.

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