Nampo-dong mentaiko set with assorted croquettes, Busan: Daidokoro

My sister and I went shopping at Lotte Department Store Gwangbok Branch and stopped for a filling meal at Daidokoro, a Japanese home-style restaurant on the 10th floor food court! 🩷

Where is Daidokoro Gwangbok, and what are its hours?

Daidokoro is located in the 10th floor food court of Lotte Department Store Gwangbok Branch, which made it perfect to visit right after shopping! There's a culture center on the same floor, so there were a lot of moms and babies stopping by after their classes. Maybe that's why the restaurant greets little customers with cute figurines!

Crayon Shin-chan, Pikachu, Pokémon — all designed to win kids over, haha.

• Location: 10F, Lotte Department Store Gwangbok Branch, 2 Jungang-daero, Jung-gu, Busan
• Hours: 10:30–21:00
• Last order: 20:00
• Parking: department store parking lot

They even have a kids' curry set 🍼👶🏻, making it a great restaurant to visit with little ones! The table next to us had a baby, and the staff brought over baby cutlery and thoughtfully asked if they needed a bib too... A restaurant that's really prepared for families.

Inside Daidokoro: seating and how long the wait is

Daidokoro Gwangbok's interior had a modern, clean feel. From the entrance there were plenty of cute figurines, along with charming Japanese character props scattered throughout — a cozy space that transports you straight to Dotonbori, Japan.

Overall the atmosphere was tidy, and while there was no wait when we went, there were quite a lot of customers. You can also register for a waitlist through Catch Table, so it seems like there's often a wait!

They had a variety of Japanese home-style dishes ready, like karaage (Japanese fried chicken), chicken nanban, and tonkatsu curry, and the set compositions were so generous that we left feeling completely full!

I just assumed it was a Japanese home-style restaurant, but at the entrance there was a sign about the 'mentaiko rice bowl master' — huh, so the mentaiko rice bowl must be famous? My sister really wanted to try it lol.

What we ordered: the mentaiko set for 17,500 won

The set meals come with a fried egg 🍳 on top of the rice, and you can choose soft-boiled or hard-boiled.

Mentaiko set, ₩17,500. It was a rice bowl topped with a special mentaiko (salted cod roe) sauce over white rice, along with a soft-boiled egg (hard-boiled also available), bonito flakes, green onion, and orange flying fish roe, all mixed together.

The set meals came served all together on a tray. Main dish, kimchi, danmuji (pickled radish), Vienna sausages, braised quail eggs, miso soup, and even a milk pudding for dessert...! The milk pudding can also be ordered separately, but it was nice to get a taste of it included with the set.

It's a set meal where you eat mentaiko with rice, but instead of just placing whole mentaiko on top, it's a rice bowl made using a special mentaiko sauce. This mentaiko rice bowl was featured on the TV show 'Master of Living,' which is why it's listed as a signature menu item.

Karaage set for 16,900 won: what comes with it

Karaage set, ₩16,900. It was so cute that they drew animals and facial expressions on the rice with ketchup >_< The kind of thing that makes you happy the moment you see it, haha.

The karaage was fried crisp on the outside, with tender, juicy chicken thigh meat inside.

The karaage was really tender and juicy inside — great to eat with rice, and it paired well with the cabbage salad underneath.

The karaage set also came with a small taste of mini curry in a little bowl — a smooth Japanese-style curry.

Assorted croquettes, 4 pieces for 5,000 won — all four flavors differ

The mentaiko set only comes with rice, no fried side, so we ordered the assorted croquette platter (4pc) for ₩5,000 to go with it. I assumed it would be 4 pieces of one kind of croquette, but they were actually four completely different kinds! Sweet potato-cheese, potato, curry, and crab — four different croquettes.

With the karaage set, mentaiko set, and assorted croquettes all together, it was a really hearty meal to share between the two of us. It was great being able to taste such a variety.

That super cute ketchup character on the rice, haha.

Crispy on the outside, incredibly tender and juicy on the inside karaage.

Crispy, crunchy croquettes.

All four kinds were different, so there was a fun taste to trying each one.

Is the mentaiko set worth it? Add the croquettes

Hearty + filling. The mentaiko set is just the mentaiko rice bowl on its own, so I'd recommend adding croquettes as a fried side, like we did.

We mixed it up thoroughly and ate it thoroughly~

Daidokoro Lotte Gwangbok is a great Japanese home-style set meal restaurant — the set compositions were so generous, and with a variety of menu items, it was easy for a group to share without feeling like too much. Rice, soup, basic side dishes, and even milk pudding for dessert made the meal really satisfying. If you're looking for a good Japanese restaurant around Nampo-dong or Gwangbok-dong, I'd recommend giving it a visit~!!!