Jjukkumi restaurant with baby chair, self-serve bar in Gapyeong

Two-line summary

• Plenty of parking right out front and fully stocked baby chairs make this a really convenient stop with a young baby during a Gapyeong trip.
• The combo of smoky, tender griddled jjukkumi (spicy octopus) and thick old-school pork cutlet is great, and the varied self-serve bar with unlimited refills of tteokbokki and jjolmyeon is a big plus.

Our first meal on a 3-day, 2-night Gapyeong trip

My mother-in-law, my wife, and our energetic 15-month-old baby all headed out together for a 3-day, 2-night trip to Gapyeong. For our first lunch, we picked Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi (팔당직화불쭈꾸미) in Seorak-myeon, Gapyeong.

The combination of spicy, tender jjukkumi (octopus) and crispy, thick pork cutlet was great. Thanks to a salad bar that rivals a buffet, we left very satisfied.

What about parking and the restaurant's atmosphere?

When you're lugging a young baby and a mountain of gear, nothing is more of a chore than a parking lot far from the restaurant.

Luckily, this place has plenty of dedicated parking right in front, so we could park comfortably and walk straight in. Even on a weekend visit, parking doesn't seem like something to worry much about. The interior was also quite spacious and open, making it a great layout for families.

While we were eating, we actually saw an extended family of seven or more come in to dine. The adults can enjoy the spicy jjukkumi while the kids eat the non-spicy pork cutlet — an ideal menu combination for eating out together as a family.

Griddled jjukkumi for two: smoky and tender

My mother-in-law and I ordered the griddled jjukkumi for two, while my wife, who can't handle spicy food well, ordered the handmade sirloin pork cutlet.

The jjukkumi came out piled high on the griddle with a strong smoky char that really stirred up the appetite. I seem to love that smoky flavor more and more as I get older — am I turning into a middle-aged uncle already?

The octopus wasn't chewy at all — it was very tender and soft, which was satisfying. I'm also not great with spicy food, but the heat here was pleasant rather than harsh, so I could really enjoy it.

Right as the spice starts to build, a bite of the soft steamed egg (gyeranjjim) that comes as a side neutralizes the heat perfectly — the pairing is fantastic.

Mixing rice into the leftover sauce to make it into something like fried rice once you've eaten most of the jjukkumi is a step no Korean can resist. Honestly, I didn't even realize they had a separate fried rice menu item — I just went ahead and stirred my own bowl of rice into it.

Handmade sirloin pork cutlet with old-school vibes

The pork cutlet my wife ordered had a nostalgic look straight out of old-school Western-style Korean diners. The combination of thick meat, freshly fried crispy coating, and a generous drizzle of sauce on top was excellent.

I cut off a piece with the fork and knife to steal a bite, and it was clean and savory with no greasy off-flavor, which made my wife very happy. I tried a few pieces myself too, and it was quite good. The plate was well-rounded too, with rice, cabbage salad, macaroni salad, and pickled radish.

What's on the self-serve bar

The biggest draw of Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi is its varied salad bar.

Usually at a jjukkumi restaurant, the self-serve bar is just kimchi, lettuce wraps, and garlic. Here, beyond the basics, they set out fried mandu, fries, sundae (Korean blood sausage), tteokbokki, stir-fried fish cake, jjolmyeon (chewy cold noodles), and other snack-food favorites that both kids and adults love, laid out buffet-style.

It was perfect for someone like me with a kid's palate. The sweet and tangy jjolmyeon in particular was so good that I refilled it twice even before starting on the jjukkumi and finished every bit.

Eating jjolmyeon reminded me of my mom mixing it up for us in a big metal bowl when I was little — now I want to have that again sometime soon.

Is it okay to bring a 15-month-old?

The baby chair — a must-check item whenever we go out to eat with our baby — was neatly set up here too. We sat our daughter in the baby chair and fed her the baby food we'd brought along. In the past she would have sat still and eaten obediently, but now that she's leveled up to 15 months, she couldn't stay still for a second.

They say it gets harder to feed a baby calmly at restaurants as they grow, and it's true. In the end we practically inhaled our food, then finished the meal with our now-familiar routine of walking the baby around inside and outside the restaurant to look around.

If you're looking for a meal in Seorak-myeon during a Gapyeong trip that the whole family can enjoy, I'd recommend Paldang Jikhwa Bul Jjukkumi.