Jingawa Seocho: Artisan Japanese Noodles in Seoul
Lately, because of COVID, we've been doing our team dinners at lunch. Some months we ordered a ton of delivery and laid it all out, and other times we went to our usual spots but ordered things we hadn't tried before. Today was the latter—we went to a place we frequent, but finally ordered the expensive dishes we usually can't afford.
To briefly introduce Jingawa, if you ask Google, it'll tell you it's a place specializing in noodle dishes with about 300 years of tradition, started by a noodle master in Nagasaki. So, if you're hesitant about eating noodles due to radiation concerns in Japan, I'd recommend skipping it. The core ingredient of this restaurant—the noodles—is imported directly from Japan.
It's famous among office workers in this neighborhood (the Seocho/Gyodae area in Seoul) for its unique noodles, which are different from your standard neighborhood udon or soba. For a noodle joint, the prices are quite high, so I've only eaten here on slightly special occasions. Even on those days, I just had noodles and never tried the course meal. Since today was a company lunch, we all went for the course meal without a hint of hesitation.
The most memorable parts were dipping sashimi in konowada (sea cucumber innards) and the sukiyaki. First off, the sashimi is aged and prepared perfectly, making it really easy to eat. Dipping such good sashimi into the konowada creates a completely different flavor. I tried it with the innards and also just with soy sauce, and it's a delicacy that strongly makes you crave a daytime drink.
For the sukiyaki, they first give you a cracked raw egg. You excitedly whisk it up with your chopsticks while waiting for the meat and vegetables to cook. Once the broth suddenly bubbles up and the meat cooks, you fish it out and dip it in the beaten raw egg. Different regions use different ingredients and vary between frying rice or boiling noodles at the end, but true to a place known for its noodles, they add noodles here.
It does have the downside of not fully showcasing the restaurant's main strength—its noodle dishes—but it's still a pretty good course meal. Of course, considering the 40,000 KRW price tag, it might feel a little lacking, but it hits that sweet spot for a special occasion when you don't want the heavy financial burden of going to a high-end hotel restaurant.
Below are photos from a previous visit when I went by myself and stuffed my face with their main noodle dishes. The noodle set meals also have the downside of being quite pricey, but personally, if you want to properly enjoy Jingawa, I recommend the noodle set. Of course, I'll say it again: because the noodles are imported from Japan, I only recommend this if you aren't too worried about radiation, or if you just think, "It'll be fine this one time."
If you get the Sammi Somen (three-flavor noodle) set, the advantage is that you get to taste the best food this place has to offer all in one go, but it leaves you way too full and it's very expensive. I don't know if it's possible for three people to go and just order one Sammi Somen, but someone with a small stomach will get full eating just one of those bowls. Still, maybe because I was starving after a workout, I managed to eat almost all of it. The somen is so soft that it just slides right down your throat without any resistance. It's so smooth you'd almost think they oiled the noodles. I highly recommend the somen here.
As a bonus, the sashimi and sushi set meal:
