Gimhae Korean restaurant: no-wait bossam dinner set for two after work

I love eating — I'll happily eat Chinese, Japanese, Western food, bread, anything — but somehow I never quite get around to eating Korean food, even though I'm Korean myself, haha 😶‍🌫️ When I eat out, I tend to pick anything but Korean 🤭🤭

Maybe it's because I figure Korean food is always available? Even at home I never seem to find time to eat, let alone go out of my way for it 🥲 My craving for Korean food kicks in later than for other cuisines, but this time I really wanted a proper full meal, and I thought of Gaya Kkeutjip, a Samgye-dong restaurant I'd noticed since it was first being built, with its striking red brick and grand interior.

Gaya Kkeutjip: location, hours, parking

🏠 Name: Gaya Kkeutjip 📌 Address: 1F, 6 Gayaro181beon-gil, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00–21:00 Break time: 15:30–17:00 Last order: 20:00 🚗 Parking: ⭕️

It's the red brick building right behind the Lotteria in Samgye — the kind of place that looks like it wouldn't fall down even if the Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed, haha.

Isn't the exterior really grand⁉️ I kept glancing at it while it was under construction. And as for parking at Gaya Kkeutjip,

Yay~~~ they actually have their own private parking lot!! Fully doable for an hour-long meal 😝😝 Every minute counts, so let's go in already~

Late dinner after work: any wait?

Oh wow… this is definitely the kind of place you'd expect to wait for! Since I came well past regular dinner hours after work, I strolled right in with zero waiting. Finishing work late actually pays off sometimes 🫪🫪🫪

There's also a waiting area~~ and thanks to the sudden autumn weather, waiting outside was totally doable too 😝😝

The dining hall was also super spacious and clean. Other guests were already wrapping up their meals as I walked in~~

Wow~~ Gaya Kkeutjip's own slogan — something basic, yet the hardest thing to actually keep up ❓️ And that's exactly what they're doing~~ There's a wood-fired oven visible in the back, and I couldn't wait to eat!!

The menu: Sets A, B, C, and seasonal oyster bossam

You order by tablet at your table, and the main menu has Sets A, B, C, and seasonal oyster bossam. In order, those are gochujang bulgogi, bossam (boiled pork wrap), skate stew, and seasonal oyster bossam ｡·͜·｡

I wanted oysters, but it's not oyster season right now — oysters can carry toxins out of season, and since I'd rather not risk it, ㅋㅌㅋㅋㅋ I went with the skate stew instead, while my friend chose the bossam set.

Aww 🥲🥲 in the end we both just went with the bossam set for two.

WOW… it came out so fast for how much was ordered, and it was a full feast!!

A full meal from side dishes alone: from grilled tofu to kimchi jjim

Grilled tofu, tofu salad, kimchi jjim (braised kimchi), gungchae namul (aster greens), kimchi, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), zucchini, yangnyeom gejang (marinated crab), lettuce wraps, and even gim (seaweed) — could you finish a whole bowl of rice on the side dishes alone? 😋

The side dishes were so generous I felt this would be perfect for bringing my parents (dutiful daughter energy 😎).

The seaweed soup was proper rich stuff too~~~

Cleansed the palate with the salad~~ slurped down the seaweed soup to keep my stomach happy~~ wrapped the sweet and tangy kimchi jjim in seaweed and threw it all in, hehe.

And the sweet japchae too, mmm~♡ All the side dishes are refillable via tablet order, so I refilled the japchae once more, haha. ※The marinated crab costs extra※

Bossam set for two: the meat, tofu and kimchi trio

Ta-da, our star, the bossam 🩷 It came out so neat and tidy that it just put me in a good mood, haha.

With so many side dishes, there was plenty to wrap and mix in! I tried the meat-tofu-kimchi trio combo, and the garlic sauce that came with it was fantastic too~~💃🏻 Also tried wrapping it in gim, which was a fun little challenge 😁😁

Wood-fired mackerel and marinated crab

And then the mackerel, freshly out of what felt like a sauna in the wood-fired oven —

— I tore it apart and ate it shred by shred. So flaky and tender!! It was even better with a squeeze of the lemon that came alongside 🤤🤤

And finishing off my newly reawakened taste buds with a bit of a kick from the spicy-sweet marinated crab really made me feel like a true Korean again. It was great to feel healthy and full off Korean food served this delicious and this neatly.

Gaya Kkeutjip aims to serve a clean, tidy meal that everyone — young or old — can enjoy and leave healthy and satisfied, using fresh seasonal ingredients so you get a slightly different experience every time you visit. A true Samgye-dong favorite.