Seoul Noodles: a Dish Best Served Cold at Park Chan-wook’s House

The Koreans are taking over Hong Kong and you know what? I ain’t even mad. 

Everywhere you turn, it’s a Korean BBQ spot this, a pocha haunt that, a gaggle of suave-looking men rocking a two-block haircut with bangs and clean, minimalist semiotic getup that makes you realize just how much of a slob you are in comparison. 

And now, a traditional Korean noodle and rice soup shop. 

Even as I sit perched at the Nood Kinwick countertop overlooking the escalators, deep in reflective thought on what exactly the previous weekend’s 5 AM credit card charges at Bar 42 were for (hint: terrible things), I see a group of 40+ Korean tourists being shuffled through SoHo by a stern yet informative guide. 

Recently, a top dawg and I, both donning our finest suits and craving sustenance before a legendary bacchanalian Zuma night brunch, stopped by the 2024-inaugurated Seoul Noodles on Stanley Street (Central) to confirm whether Korean gastronomic excellence only extended to the meat and booze realm in Hong Kong or if noodles were done justice as well.

Well, I’m here to confirm that the Koreanization of Hong Kong is fully underway and it’s goddamn delicious. So, where you gonna be when the sun falls, brother (or sister)? Hopefully slurping down a hearty bowl of soul-warming (Seoul-warming? Zing) Korean noodles with your ride-or-dies. You can bet I’ll be doing the same. 

Here is why ‘Seoul Noodles’ in Hong Kong absolutely needs to be on your eating radar. 

I’m a Seoul Man

Website, Address, & Details: https://www.instagram.com/seoulnoodles/ 

• Location: 1F, Conwell House, 34-38 Stanley St, Central + countless other locations across Hong Kong.
• Price: $-$$ – Mains range from HK$78 to HK$98. 

First, let me get one administrative point out of the way before we begin. There are roughly seven (count ‘em seven) ‘Seoul Noodles’ locations spread across Hong Kong (primarily Hong Kong Island and Kowloon) – so you aren’t without options when it comes to livin’ that good noodle life. 

It’s a Singapore-originated kal-guksu noodle chain, a product of several Korean celebrity chefs and TV personalities, that has enjoyed a meteoric rise across Asia in 2024. For both Singapore and Hong Kong, it’s the first of its kind. 

Up until 10 minutes ago, I didn’t even know what ‘kal-guksu’ was and I’m guessing there’s a high probability you don’t either. Simply put, kal-guksu is a popular Korean wheat flour noodle dish served in a mammoth-sized bowl with broth – colloquially known as ‘knife noodles’. That’s right, these noodles aren’t spun, pulled, extruded, or tossed in the air like an exuberant Italian pizza maker, they’re cut. 

While kal-guksu is considered a seasonal dish, generally eaten in the summer, I am a bit of a noodle iconoclast and made my pilgrimage during winter. 

However, with a nickname like Big Body and upbringing in one of the coldest states in the U.S., Hong Kong winters are like a New England April for me. Shorts, a bedazzled cat t-shirt, light beer out on the front lawn with the crew while we draw straws to see who is the unlucky soul that needs to hit Market Basket to pick up some Hebrew National franks and more light beer. 

As you can tell, my Korean cuisine Rolodex is relatively one dimensional. I’ve never been to Korea, can name maybe one or two K-Pop groups (I like that one where they dance and sing real good), and have never had plastic surgery. I’ve primarily taken the gastronomic road most traveled in Hong Kong by expats and indulged solely in Korean BBQ and all of its K-accoutrements (i.e. copious amounts of soju and Makgeolli). 

To my credit, I did once go on a Korean thriller binge where I convinced myself that I would subsequently live my life like Park Chan-wook in Old Boy, derangedly plotting revenge against those who had wronged me over the years – served cold and sans incest, of course. 

The point is, I’m no arbiter of Korean gustatorial truth. But I’m working on adding to my understanding of its depths, one spoonful at a time. 

Pale Ale Travel Tip: If you’re curious about what it’s like living in Asia’s World City as an expat, make sure to check out my post breaking down my top pros and cons of living in Hong Kong. 

Easily recognizable by black Hangul and English lettering over an eggshell white backdrop, one that also sits over a multi-color stencil of woodland deer drinking from a river, the tone of your visit is set by a humble thank you for climbing up the single flight of stairs (Stanley Street branch) and earnest promise that staff will do their best to ensure it was worth your while. 

Long wooden tables with individual stools (no benches here), exposed industrial air conditioners, and a wall-to-wall mirror paint a picture of what I can only imagine is on par with a typical ‘kal-guksu’ shop in the “land of the morning calm.”

It’s rustic, it’s cozy, and it’s oddly the antithesis of what I’d picture would serve up a dish typically consumed in summer. However, upon learning that there’s a logical caveat – it usually served on rainy and windy summer days – congruency was restored and I now wonder why I took the time to comment on the initial perceived discordance.

Pale Ale Travel Tip: Craving Japanese noodles instead? I put together a list of my top ramen restaurants in Central that can absolutely compete with the best of them back in Japan. 

Seoul Noodles: Hong Kong’s First Kal-Guksu Restaurant 

Seoul Noodles puts the soul in noodles thanks to a robust menu of springy wheat noodles served six ways to Sunday. Say hello to 12 different mains, with more than half of them being of the noodle variety (most in a piping hot broth) and the other half being of the rice soup variety. 

Starches aren’t lacking here. 

On this recent fateful Saturday, the near noodle and rice soup parity proved to be incredibly fruitful as my dawg and I weren’t synced up intestinally (and gustatorily), he, opting for a fitting porn bone hangover rice (gamja-tang), me, unsurprisingly feeling the heat caused by my ever-tightening suit that was purchased from Marks & Spencer 12 kgs ago and craving a cold noodle (kimchi cold noodle). 

Kimchi Cold Noodle

For someone who was surprisingly sweaty in 19-degree weather, this kimchi cold noodle hit the spot. 

It uses a dongchimi broth, which is a cool and light ‘winter kimchi’ base. Overall, it’s incredibly mild in flavor and requires dumping in your accompanying banchan/side of kimchi that comes with each noodle. 

But as someone who was solely focused on getting something refreshing and texturally sound down his gullet, that’s all I needed. It’s humble but so am I. Some might say that I’m the most humble man in the world. I wouldn’t say that but some people do. /s. 

The wheat noodles were as if you took a chewy bouncy tsukemen noodle, bred it with hand-pulled Lanzhou noodles, injected a little bit of soba flair for good measure, stretched it a tad thinner, and blanched it several times. Easily slurpable, a nice pushback and snap when you bite in, and is slightly nutty. 

Give me these topped with a dash of soy sauce and wasabi and I wouldn’t complain one bit. 

Toss on (and mix in) several refreshing vegetables including cabbage, green onion, and what I suspect is actually soaked onion (thinly sliced translucent onions), and a handful of thinly sliced egg strips (a popular topping on cold Korean noodles), and you have a subtle yet texturally satisfying meal. 

My only complaint (not a real complaint) about the Seoul Noodles menu is that it is lacking in the cold noodle category. I have no idea if that goes against the M.O. of Korean knife noodles but as someone who is a habitual gulper, unable to consume hot liquids like a normal person, I generally prefer a colder noodle and colder broth. 

I’d also be remiss not to mention that the serving was so big it would have been a formidable ‘first lunch’ for one of the stars of My 600-lb Life on TLC. You know, the lunch that comes before it’s time to funnel a gallon of chocolate milk. 

Unfortunately, I have yet to learn how to gustatorily ESP other people, so I can’t provide much commentary on the taste of the pork bone soup consumed by my suited comrade other than by quoting him, “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for in Hong Kong.” 

What I can tell you is that from observation, this hearty, slightly milky soup had a pork bone the size of a triceratops’s leg. I swear I took a photo of it but it appears my fat finger did that thing where it doesn’t actually tap the ‘white circle’ to take a picture. I attribute most of this to my newly acquired potato chip eating while Bumble-swiping habit. 

Other popular mains include Korean chicken noodle soup, clam noodle soup (my next try), bibim noodles (a spicy mixed noodle), bone broth noodles, spicy beef and rice soup (Daegu yukgaejang), Busan pork rice soup, Naju beef rice soup, and Seoul beef soy sauce rice soup. 

I’d love to comment on it all further but as I mentioned above, I’ve been so deep in the KBBQ weeds over the years that my eyes and stomach paid almost zero attention to anything outside of it. 

Pale Ale Travel Tip: If you know this Big Body then you know that Korean BBQ is his absolute favorite activity to do with the dawgz to start a night out on the town. Make sure to check out my post breaking down the best Korean BBQ restaurants in Hong Kong to ensure that your meat fix is well-satiated. 

Haemul Pajeon (Seafood Pancake)

When I say this is a contender for the best haemul paejon (seafood pancake) I’ve eaten in my life, I ain’t playin’ around. It’s a dish that I’ve religiously ordered over the years at Korean BBQ and an indispensable part of a gustatorily arousing Korean meal (in my humble opinion). 

Seoul Noodles’ haemul pajeon clicked on so many levels. Crispy golden brown edges, a tender, juicy seafood-filled interior, and generously layered scallions to draw out further sweetness (and add slight aromatics), had this Big Body ready to start Psy ‘pony riding’ right in the middle of the restaurant.

The only caveat is that its middle section wasn’t as crispy as I’d particularly like it, resulting in a structural behemoth that lacked the integrity needed to seamlessly deliver it to my piehole. 

Mandu (Dumplings)

As someone who once consumed roughly 100 dumplings in a single 12-hour sitting one Chinese New Year, I’m relatively well-versed in dumplings – Chinese dumplings that is. Korean dumplings have eluded me over the years and I’d just like to take this time to apologize to the dumpling community for such neglect.

Having already taken care of my daily probiotics with my kimchi cold noodles order, I opted for the K-BBQ dumplings. The steamed half-moon mandu (Korean dumpling) wrapping was similar to that of gyoza (albeit slightly thicker), minus any sort of pan frying, which made for an enjoyable slightly chewy, doughy bite. 

My only gripe with the dumplings was that it was stuffed with shredded beef, which was just too dense and fibrous for my personal liking. 

There were no real clean bites/snaps with the already chewy casing after biting in, so with slightly dry shredded beef, the mastication (just wanted to use that word) was more laborious than I was ready for. 

That was my fault though and I know deep down I should have ordered the kimchi pork dumplings. 

Hey Seoul Noodle Sister: You Don’t Want to Miss a Single Thing They Do Tonight

You either die an F&B hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a Korean restaurant.

The above quote from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is not meant as a pejorative – rather, a reflection on the reality of Hong Kong’s gastronomic landscape. 

I’m not complaining at all because as you can tell, Korean cuisine is right up my alley in terms of what I prioritize (sprinkled in with some Japanese izakayas and yakitori joints as well). 

Emphatically, Seoul Noodles is a great and what I’m hoping to be a ‘more permanent’ addition to a relatively volatile and unpredictable industry. I know I’ll be working this into a more regular staple in my diet, especially since it’s open until 11 PM. 

If you have any questions about eating or drinking in Hong Kong, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me! Also, I’d love to hear your thoughts on why you think Korean restaurants especially seem to be thriving in an otherwise faltering Hong Kong F&B scene. 

Eat well everyone,

Big Body