Yeosu Sunshimwon Open-Run Waitlist Tips and Menu Review

Hello! Today’s post is an open-run review of Yeosu Sunshimwon, which I visited with a friend during our Yeosu trip. Honestly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that we planned the trip partly to go here. We wanted to do the morning open-run, so we even booked accommodation nearby. I’ll share more about that accommodation separately because the parking, room condition, location, and distance from Sunshimwon were all so convenient.

Sunshimwon is located near Yi Sun-sin Square in Yeosu. Parking is not available at the restaurant, so the best option seems to be using the nearby Yi Sun-sin Square public parking lot and walking over. The listed business hours are 11:00 to 20:00, with break time from 15:00 to 17:00. Last order is listed as 14:30 and 19:30. However, even though break time and last order times are written, the waiting list filled up so quickly that those times did not really matter in practice. We were also told that additional orders after the first order would be difficult.

What we ordered: seafood iron-plate jjajang for one, jjambbong, and medium tangsuyuk.

We could not give up any of the three, so we decided to order everything and pack the leftover tangsuyuk if needed. The iron-plate jjajang and tangsuyuk seemed to be the most popular, and we ordered jjambbong partly as a hangover-style soup option. In the end, though, both my friend and I thought the jjambbong was the tastiest.

Looking back, Sunshimwon was seriously delicious. With this amount of food, I think it would be enough for four women or three men to share.

The basic side dishes were pickled radish, onion, chunjang, and gat-kimchi. Maybe because this was Yeosu, I saw gat-kimchi often at restaurants, but it still felt interesting to see it served at a Chinese restaurant.

The tangsuyuk came out first, and even after it arrived, it kept making a sizzling sound for quite a while. It had that old-school Chinese restaurant feeling. The crispy tangsuyuk with a ketchup-based sauce was simple, classic, and tasty. Since we planned to eat some and pack the rest, we asked for the sauce separately. If you order without asking, the sauce comes poured over it, so keep that in mind.

The dishes came out quickly. Next was the stone-plate jjajang. It was a one-person portion of jjajangmyeon, but it had a generous amount of seafood, and the sizzling sound from the stone plate was amazing. Mix it as soon as it arrives so it does not stick to the bottom. Take your photo quickly and start mixing right away. I missed the timing while taking photos, so some of it stuck to the bottom.

Once you hear that sizzling sound, it is hard to resist. Listening to it again makes me want to eat it all over again. There was plenty of seafood, so it was fun to eat, and the portion was not small for one person. My friend and I do not eat huge amounts, so even while assuming we would leave some tangsuyuk, we still had a little jjambbong and jjajangmyeon left.

The jjambbong was the dish I did not expect much from, but it ended up being my favorite. The broth was not greasy or oily; it had a clean, light taste. We ordered it because we thought we would want soup if we were eating jjajang and tangsuyuk, but it was so good that both my friend and I ranked it first out of the three. If you are visiting for a hangover meal, definitely get the jjambbong.

Here are my waitlist and open-run tips. My trip was from Sunday to Monday, so I decided to visit the very popular Sunshimwon on Monday for lunch. Since I had already decided to do an open-run, I chose accommodation about a 30-second walk from Sunshimwon. If you want to open-run here, even on a Monday it is competitive, so I really recommend following this plan. Remote waiting becomes available after 11:00, but before the restaurant opens, you can visit in person and write your name on the waiting list. If you only join the remote waitlist after it opens at 11:00, there is a high chance the in-person pre-opening waitlist will already be full, making lunch difficult. If you want to eat right when the restaurant opens, you need to be within the first six teams because the reviewer noted six 4-person tables. The best plan is to stay near Sunshimwon, wake up around 10:00, go to the restaurant to write your name on the waiting list, return to your accommodation to wash up and get ready, then go back out around 11:00. That way, you can eat as soon as it opens. I went at 10:30 and was around ninth, so I had to wait for one seating rotation and entered a little after 12:00. Even the in-person waitlist looked like that at 10:30, so I recommend getting within the first six teams if possible. While we were eating, they stopped accepting more waiting because ingredients had run out; I think it was before 1:00. In my opinion, even on a weekday, it may be difficult to get in for lunch through remote waiting, so it is better to open-run and join the pre-opening waitlist in person. There was no good waiting space nearby. The bank right in front seemed to be designated as a heat-wave shelter, and some people waited there, but it felt a little awkward. So the best combination seems to be nearby accommodation, in-person waitlist registration, and eating during the first seating. The accommodation I used had tables, chairs, and luggage storage on the first floor, so my friend and I sat there comfortably until the Catch Table alert came. Also, if you are thinking of visiting Bokchun Restaurant nearby, the same accommodation would probably be convenient. We also debated between Sunshimwon and Bokchun Restaurant before choosing Sunshimwon. Have a great Yeosu trip, and make a note to order the jjambbong.