Bongpyeong Ongsimi Memil Kalguksu 봉평 옹심이 메밀 칼국수

Barley rice arrives as soon as you order, meant to be mixed at the table with radish salad, young-radish kimchi, gochujang and sesame oil while the noodles cook. Instead of water, warm buckwheat tea is self-serve. Near Gongdeok Station, lunch brings a queue, and the kitchen takes an afternoon break. The house bowl, ongsimi memil kalguksu, holds chewy potato dumplings and buckwheat-blended knife-cut noodles in a broth thickened by potato starch, and pepper added halfway through shifts its aroma. Bibim makguksu goes the other way, with cold buckwheat noodles in a sweet-tart sauce topped with young-radish kimchi, so one hot and one cold bowl split between two covers both temperatures. The buckwheat crepe roll (jeonbyeong) is large, with a spicy filling and a toasted surface.