Ansan kimchi jjigae restaurant, 28,000 won set with kids: Choburi

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch: dinner on the drive home to Songdo

On the way back to Songdo after wrapping up a trip to Gunsan, it felt like a waste to just head straight home, so we decided to grab dinner first. We stopped in with the kids at Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch! The exterior looked clean even from a distance, so my first impression was already good.

The kids were tired from traveling, but we could park and walk straight in for a comfortable meal.

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch is located at 145-7 Gwangdeok 3(sam)-ro, Units 111–113, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, and is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00. Break time is 15:30–17:00, and last order is at 20:30.

Kimchi stew made by the same family since 2006

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae is a fresh-pork kimchi jjigae restaurant run by the same family for three generations since 2006. They say they use a special red sauce made by hand following the tradition and recipe passed down from the grandmother's generation — and the broth wasn't just spicy for spice's sake, but had the sour tang of kimchi balanced nicely with the savory taste of pork!!

Choburi's Korean pork (hanbon) certificate for fresh, unfrozen meat

The meat itself was good, probably because it's an officially certified handon (Korean domestic pork) shop. It wasn't just dry lean meat piled in — the lean meat and fat were mixed in just the right ratio, so the more you chewed, the more savory and tender it tasted. Once the pork fat naturally blended into the kimchi jjigae broth, the rice really flew in, hahaha.

What comes in the 28,000 won stone-pot rice and stew set for two?

We ordered the ₩28,000 set with stew for two, three perilla-oil fried eggs, unlimited ramyeon noodles, and drinks included.

We also added one of the hearty toppings, packed with mushrooms, meat, and fried tofu, plus one extra stone-pot rice, haha. Since it was freshly cooked golden gardenia stone-pot rice, the rice was pretty even in color from the start, and being freshly made, the grains were moist and glossy.

For the kids: soy sauce rice with a perilla-oil fried egg

For the kids, I mixed the perilla-oil fried egg with soy sauce to make it like soy-sauce egg rice, and they really ate it well.

Even though the kids had eaten all sorts of things while traveling, they finished a whole bowl of rice pretty well — which made me, as a mom, the proudest, hahaha.

For the adults: kimchi jjigae and a full bowl of rice

Adults have to go for the kimchi jjigae, of course, hahaha. Scooping up plenty of meat and kimchi from the bubbling stew and mixing it into the rice really filled up our hunger after the trip !!! The kimchi hadn't gone too soft and still had a decent bite, and the broth, with the pork's savoriness and the kimchi's umami blended together, really went well with the rice.

I especially liked the ratio of lean meat to fat. Not so fatty that it felt greasy, and not so lean that it felt dry — right in the middle! My husband said it was delicious and ended up eating two bowls of rice. I also kept adding more rice as I ate — that's how good it was.

Unlimited ramyeon noodles and the self-service bar

The set menu included unlimited ramyeon noodles, so partway through the kimchi jjigae we threw in some noodles too. Once the stew broth soaked into the noodles, it became a different kind of delicious, making it a great finishing course for the adults after the kids were done eating. And if you need more rice, side dishes, or broth, you can conveniently help yourself at the self bar !!

Free dessert: ice cream and Maxim coffee

After finishing the meal, there was even ice cream and Maxim instant coffee mix for dessert, so we made sure to enjoy every last bit, haha.

How big is the Gojan-dong dining room?

The restaurant is about 120 pyeong, so it's on the spacious side, and with the large air conditioning unit, it's a place where you can eat comfortably even on a hot day.

When you're out with kids, a cramped table or a noisy atmosphere can be a bit stressful, but that day we could sit comfortably and enjoy our dinner without any worries.

A filling meal with kids near Gojan Station in Ansan

This was our last meal of the trip, and we really left feeling well-fed and satisfied. If you're looking for restaurants near Gojan Station, or a solid place to eat a proper meal with kids, I'd recommend a local kimchi jjigae spot like this one -!

Since it's a place that's kept up such a long tradition, it felt like they focus on the basics — kimchi jjigae and stone-pot rice — rather than flashy menu items, and our family left satisfied 🧡 On a day when we needed a hearty dinner on the way home from a trip, we really ate well :)

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch: the verdict

• A fresh-pork kimchi jjigae restaurant run by the same family for three generations since 2006
• Officially certified handon (Korean domestic pork) restaurant
• Freshly cooked golden gardenia stone-pot rice
• Self bar with rice, side dishes, and broth
• Unlimited ramyeon noodles with set menu orders
• Ice cream and Maxim instant coffee mix for dessert
• A spacious restaurant of about 120 pyeong
• Comfortable dining with large air conditioning