Suseong Lake tendon dinner with kids: spicy kimchi nabe at Ongijeong

I asked my kid to pick tonight's dinner menu, expecting a long deliberation, but the answer came surprisingly fast.

"I want tendon."

So we headed to Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch, a place I hadn't been to in a while. I'd actually already featured Ongijeong on the blog once before, and it's become one of our go-to spots near Suseong Lake since then.

Tendon (tempura rice bowl) itself is a menu that works well with kids and is also easy to bring the older generation along for — I've even come here with my in-laws before. This time, since my kid picked it themselves, I was oddly excited even before we left the house.

Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch: parking and what the restaurant is like

Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch is located at 9 Suseongmot6-gil, 1st floor, Suseong-gu, Daegu, and you can park right in front of the restaurant, which makes things easy from the start.

When eating out with a kid, taste matters, but easy parking quietly matters just as much — so this detail is a real plus.

Step inside and it's clean and pleasant overall. Not overly formal, but casual with a subtle atmosphere — I'd recommend it for family meals and date nights alike!

Best of all, Suseong Lake is close by, so it's easy to head straight there after eating. You can turn lunch or dinner into a lakeside stroll afterward, which makes this a pretty solid pick for anyone looking for a Suseong Lake restaurant to visit with kids.

Ordering tendon and the spicy tempura kimchi nabe set at Ongijeong

After mulling over the menu for a bit, we ordered tendon plus the spicy tempura kimchi nabe set. Tendon is Ongijeong's signature menu, and the spicy tempura kimchi nabe was something I'd really enjoyed on a previous visit.

I briefly considered ordering two tendon bowls for the two of us, but figured eating only tempura might get a bit greasy, so we added a soup dish instead. And that decision turned out great!!!

We chatted about this and that, and the food arrived quickly.

The moment the tendon landed on the table, the visual alone was mouthwatering.

My kid let out a gasp the second they saw it — "Wow, that looks so good!" Letting them pick the menu themselves really does seem to be the best approach, haha.

What tempura comes on Ongijeong's tendon?

Ongijeong's tendon comes topped with a wide variety of tempura — shrimp, sweet pumpkin, seaweed, perilla leaf, enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, and egg, among others. With so many kinds, there's fun in picking through them one by one.

People say even a shoe would taste good deep-fried, but honestly, each piece of tempura here was genuinely delicious. Crisp on the outside with the ingredient's original flavor intact inside — no matter which piece you grab, you can't go wrong.

Personally, my favorites were the perilla leaf tempura, the chili pepper tempura, and the soft-boiled egg tempura. The perilla leaf had a lovely fragrant flavor, and the chili tempura added a slight spicy kick that cut through the tempura's richness.

And the soft-boiled egg tempura was, as expected, a real treat! Pop the yolk and mix it with the rice — savory and soft, it kept pulling my chopsticks back.

Dipping the tempura into the spicy kimchi nabe, then adding udon

There was one combination I properly discovered that day: dipping the tendon tempura into the spicy tempura kimchi nabe.

The tempura is delicious on its own, but dipped lightly into the spicy kimchi nabe broth, it becomes a whole different treat.

Even though the menu name includes the word "spicy," the kimchi nabe isn't actually all that hot. Personally, I'd say it's a notch milder than Shin Ramyun.

It had a sharp yet flavorful broth that went down easy without feeling too heavy. The kimchi inside was tasty too, and there was shrimp tempura mixed in. I'd worried that dropping tempura into the broth would make it soggy and lose its appeal, but eating it, it wasn't soggy-and-bad at all — instead, soaking up the broth actually made it taste even more savory.

So I deliberately dropped a few leftover tendon tempura pieces into the kimchi nabe... and honestly, it was pure magic.

My kid also said ordering one soup dish alongside tendon, rather than two tendon bowls, was much better. Eating only tempura can get greasy after a while, but sipping the sharp kimchi nabe broth in between cleanses the palate.

Best of all, the nabe stays hot the whole time you're eating it. Spooning up the warm broth bit by bit left me feeling refreshed down to my core. At the end, we even added udon noodles into the nabe.

The chewy noodles soaked up the kimchi nabe broth beautifully — another real treat. I hadn't planned on eating udon too, but the food was so good we ended up finishing every last bit, haha.

Is Ongijeong a good Suseong Lake dinner spot with kids?

This visit to Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch felt extra satisfying since it was my kid's own menu pick. Eating out with kids often means ordering separate kids' and adults' menus, but tendon removes that hassle.

It's a menu kids love and adults enjoy too, so I'd highly recommend it for family meals. On top of that, Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch has easy parking and a clean interior, making it hassle-free to visit with a child. After the meal, it's easy to head straight to nearby Suseong Lake for a walk.

So if you're looking for a Suseong-gu restaurant, especially one serving tendon in Suseong-gu, or a Suseong Lake spot to go with kids, Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch is worth a visit. Even though I'd already been once before, thanks to my kid's pick that day, I got to enjoy another great meal here. A good restaurant really isn't a one-time thing — it's the kind of place you keep thinking about and coming back to.

• Address: 9 Suseongmot6-gil, 1st floor, Suseong-gu, Daegu, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00–21:30
• Parking available