Sam Won Gak

Got Jjajang bap and Jjang bbong to go and wow I wasn’t expecting much but both were superb. I’ve had both dishes many times across dozens of restaurants and honestly this was by far the best I’ve had. It got to the point where I stopped ordering my favorite noodle dish (Jjajang myun) because every single time was a disappointment.
I’ve finally found a place that got the sauce down. I havent tried the noodle yet so I can’t comment on that. Still isn’t as good as the ones I’ve had in Korea but this is definitely the closest I’ve tried here. Will be coming back whenever I’m in the area!

I was super craving Jjam bbong, spicy seafood noodle soup, to help with my allergies and my sleepiness. Man chun hong is my typical spot on Buford hwy for this, but I was in Swanee, which is very rare but pretty exciting when it comes to eating Asian food.
I’ve been to Sam won gak only once and remembered hearing that their jjam bbong was comparable to the ones in Korea from my former boss that loved Korean/​Chinese food. This was his favorite spot so it couldn’t have been bad. Also, they got an A on their health inspection! Just to give you extra reassurance.
Store is quite small, a square room separated by a wall divider that maybe seats 12 to 15 tables. There’s no lights or glitz about this place but food alone seems to carry the weight.
They give you danmooji and onion with the black bean sauce, which all Korean/​Chinese places give you as a side, but on top of it, they give you radish kimchi, which I enjoyed. My friend got to pork ttang su yuk, which is basically Korean style sweet and sour pork. Pork was super good and crispy, which is kind of uncommon but I would prefer it. I guess rice doesn’t come with it, so we had ask in addition.
My dish, jjam bbong (extra spicy with seafood) was super gooood! And yes, my former boss was right, it really did taste like the ones in Korea. Not sure what they put in, but it reminded me of the days when I would be eating this with my grandparents. Granted, my grandparents would order this and I would order the black bean sauce noodles, ja jang myun. Nevertheless, it warmed my heart and my tummy =)
Despite my motive, I was more tired afterwards, eating a heavy meal. But I was super content. Whenever I’m in the area, I would definitely stop by!

Sam Won Gak is a Korean-​Chinese noodle restaurant located in the Assi shopping plaza on Old Peachtree Rd. in Suwanee. If facing the Assi storefront, the restaurant is on the left side of the complex. Look for «Chinese Restaurant» in small text or refer to my storefront photo (
). The restaurant specializes in jajangmyeon (noodles with black soybean paste), jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup), japchae (sweet potato noodles), and Chinese fried chicken and beef entrees.
This is a simple, casual, and affordable restaurant. There aren’t a whole lot of dishes on the menu. The noodle dishes are under $ 10 each and the meat dishes are about $ 12 – 14 each. Portion sizes are generous. Don’t expect any elaborate spreads of banchan (side dishes) here. It’s almost like a Korean fast food or snack restaurant. Customers often drop in to place/​pick up take-​out orders.
The English descriptions on the menu aren’t very good. For example, japchae noodles can be found under the «Rice» section of the menu. This is because the japchae is served with rice. Descriptions for some items look exactly the same, when in reality, the dishes are different. In these instances, you’ll want to ask your server what the differences are. Note the ladies that work here speak limited English. To make sure you get what you want, you may consider pulling up some pictures on your phone and showing them.
The fried beef and fried chicken are popular dishes. Each order consists of a plate of appetizing, crispy, boneless, bite-​sized pieces of meat, drenched in a savory sauce. These dishes are typically shared. They’re not healthy for you, but they are satisfying.
The jajangmyeon is located under the «Noodles» section of the menu. Sam Won Gak makes a decent jajangmyeon. They refer to the black soybean paste as «brown Peking sauce.» It’s thick and salty. The sauce pairs perfectly with the noodles, which are thick and made of wheat flour. You mix the sauce and noodles together. You can get various meats and vegetables cooked with your jajangmyeon. These include beef, cucumber, onions, and bell pepper. The jajangmyeon is tasty and can easily make you feel stuffed and bloated (in a good way).
The japchae is A-​OK. If you order it with vegetables and beef, it’s a relatively healthy dish. The pieces of beef are soft and tender. The veggies are fresh and include onion, scallion, cabbage, lettuce, cloud ear fungus (my favorite), and shredded carrots. The noodles themselves are translucent and slippery. Japchae orders come with a large portion of white rice (as if you needed more starch) and a small bowl of egg drop soup.
Banchan is limited and includes raw onion, yellow daikon, and red spicy pickled daikon. If ordering jajangmyeon, a side of extra sauce and a pair of scissors is included. The extra sauce really isn’t needed unless you want to elevate your blood pressure. The scissors can be used to cut the long strands of noodles in order to make them easier to eat.
I haven’t tried the jjampong here, but I’ve seen it and it looks pretty good and comforting.
Service is fine. The Korean ladies who work here are nice.
To-​go orders and leftovers are packaged in Styrofoam boxes which are then wrapped in clear plastic bags to prevent sauce leakage.

Difficult to find. The store name is in korean and I was circling the parking lot looking for some english to hint the store’s location. Took a few phone calls to figure it out. Its located on the left side of the plaza right next to the t-​mobile store. and there are tiny letters on the side that say its a chinese restaurant.
its a fusion restaurant. Chinese/​korean. I ordered the jajangmeyon plate to share with a friend and sweet and sour pork. The pork is alright. It was doused in the sweet corn starch sauce. I’d def prefer less of it. Nothing special. But, I’d highly recommend the jajangmeyon here. Its the best i’ve had in suwanee/​duluth area. Overall, this place is good. portions are huge. I’d come back.

This place is hard to find, especially if you can’t read Korean. Their sign is unrecognizable and it just says «chinese restaurant» vertically, next to the big Korean characters, in small print… But when you do find it, you’ll be coming back. I’m really addicted to their ja ja myung. Galicky and smokey, I’m watering just thinking about it. Also it’s only like a $ 1 – 2 difference from the ja ja myung at Assi but quality and quantity is way better. Kapongi (?) fried chicken with garlic sauce looks intimidating with the hot chilis but it’s not that spicy unless you bite into one. I like the taste of golden buddah’s kapongi better but their chicken is just batter and bone and Sam won gak’s version is meatier. Mongolian beef was not too sweet and salty and a good balance of onions and beef ratio. However, I did not like their sweet and sour pork. It was different from the other ones I had, I guess bc I’ve only had the chinese and american versions. They had the sauce and the fried pork was seperately, I guess to keep it from going soggy but if I’m eating it immediately after it’s cooked, I don’t mind a dish like that to be a little soggy, when the sauce coats with the fried pork. It felt like I ordered pork nuggets with a side of too sour dipping sauce. The vegetables in the sauce was pickled so that made the already sour sauce even more tart. It might be just preference because I see a lot of Koreans order it.
Other than that, I like the overall foods here, worth a try.

I had almost forgotten about this little Korean-​Chinese restaurant next to Assi in Suwanee. But when a friend of mine suggested we grab some «jjajangmyun» (noodles with black bean sauce) in Suwanee, I vaguely recalled Sam Won Gak. I had eaten there a handful of times in the past few years for some decent jjajangmyun, but it had probably been almost 2 years since I had last been there. So it was *almost* like my first time when I went recently.
There were probably two or three tables of customers when my friend and I arrived around 7:30 pm on a Tuesday evening. We sat down and glanced at the menu, but I knew I wanted the jjajangmyun. I was also in the mood for some «tangsooyuk» (sweet & sour pork), which I always like to have with my jjajangmyun. However, my friend wanted something else, so we agreed on the «ganpoongki» (fried chicken with garlic sauce). We decided to share both dishes.
After about 10 minutes or so, our food was ready and served!
* Ganpoongki ($ 11.95) — This was served a few minutes before the jjajangmyun. Although I haven’t had this garlic fried chicken dish in quite a while, it’s one of my favorite things to get at a Korean-​Chinese restaurant (other than the usual jjajangmyun and tangsooyuk). It was my first time trying it at Sam Won Gak, but it was awesome! The portion was huge — more than enough for the two of us (since we shared a jjajangmyun)! I loved that it was served hot, the (boneless) fried chicken pieces were a little crispy, and the garlic sauce on it was so good! I really enjoyed it more than I expected to. We also got a bowl of white rice to share but only ended up eating a little.
* Jjajangmyun ($ 4.95) — At such a low price, I haven’t seen any other place in Georgia (yet!) with a better value for jjajangmyun! Not only is the price right, the portion is enough for one person. Unlike the way many Korean-​Chinese restaurants serve jjajangmyun nowadays with the noodles served in one big bowl and the sauce in a separate bowl, Sam Won Gak serves the noodles with the sauce on top of it already, so it’s ready to mix. To our surprise, our server gave us scissors to cut the noodles up so it’s easier to mix and eat without us having to ask. In addition, she also gave us an extra bowl because she had correctly assumed were going to share it. Nice! The jjajangmyun itself was pretty simple (not as much pieces of beef it in as I would have liked), but it was good and satisfied my craving for the noodle dish.
Overall, Sam Won Gak gets 3.5 stars for their budget-​friendly jjajangmyun and delicious ganpoongki. Although our server did her job, she wasn’t particularly friendly and didn’t really check up on us, but I guess she really didn’t need to. She had provided everything that we needed right from the start. Since the ganpoongki was such a large portion, I had to take leftovers home, so the only thing other than the check that we had to request was a to-​go box. I’m sure I will return to Sam Won Gak time and time again, but for whatever reason, my next visit probably won’t be for another few months or so.
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Went here to eat because I was in the area and never tried this place with a worker. It was a big of a let down.
Ordered:
1) jang pong: Broth tasted like they put instant noodle soup. Uhh. don’t know what to say or have a nice words.
2) Tang su yuk: Was a very clear miss. The pork tasted like it’s been frozen a bit to long. Also the sauce was way to sweet and didn’t have the sour taste or smell to it.
3) Jjang myun: Tasted like it was the bottle jjang from Super H mart that i used to buy .
The place was pretty empty. Didn’t eat much of it and just left. Won’t be coming back here for sure. Sort of felt like my money was taken from me by a robber. Ended up going to Assi afterwords and just picking something up quick.

Hands down best Korean Chinese restaurant in Atlanta. I love their jajangmyun. I choose two kind of jajangmyun here every time I come here. One regular and another called Peking special sauce jajangmyun. Regular one is lot cheaper than Peking special but they are both awesome. I do like there tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour pork, Chinese Korean version) also. Portion is good, price is ok.

Location & Atmosphere: The restaurant is located on the left as you drive into the Assi Plaza with plenty of parking. The interior is small with minimal décor.
Food: They serve Korean/​Chinese infused foods– the type of food commonly referred to as «Chinese food» in S. Korea. Sam Won Gak is a common pick-​up dinner fare with my family when we are too busy to cook or go out to eat because the portions are large and the prices are relatively cheap. When I personally make trips to this restaurant, it’s because of either their ja jang myeon or jam bong. Ja jang myeon is noodle in a black soybean sauce with vegetables and beef, and jam bong is noodle in a seafood broth. The former is sweet and salty while the latter is spicy. Both dishes are very good. My family really enjoys their kam poon gi, which is fried chicken in spicy and sweet sauce, and tang soo yook, which is either fried beef or pork in sweet and sour sauce. However, if you order the fried items, I suggest you eat them fast because they can get soggy in the sauces.
Service: The service is very minimal. They come by to take your order, fill your water, and to give you your check. Also, it is likely that your server will not be a native English speaker so be aware that you may have to point at the menu to order your food.
Recommendation: I would recommend this place for casual dining with friends or family. Try their ja jang myeon or jam bong.

I am totally obsessed with the ja jang myun (specifically #9) at Sam Won Gak. It’s sweet, garlicky, and not too salty. In fact, this is the best ja jang myun I’ve had within the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Sam Won Gak identifies itself as a Chinese restaurant, but all the entrees are served with complimentary Korean banchan (kimchi, pickled radishes, onions). Everything I’ve tried here is really delicious. The house tofu is similar to Cantonese style tofu dishes. The sweet and sour pork and the sweet and sour chicken are perfectly fried; their flavor reminds me of duck sauce. The portions are family size, so order accordingly.
Sam Won Gak is located in the Assi shopping plaza. Look for the restaurant that is labeled with Korean characters and «Chinese restaurant.»

I’ve tried their ja jang myun and jam bong… both are decent.
The restaurant is clean and pretty small. Overall it is a small hole in the wall place with decent korean food.