Motgol Station pork galbi set with cream udon, Busan: Gim Geumja

Today's another warm sweetened-condensed-milk latte~

I visited a pork rib restaurant in Daeyeon-dong, Busan that's both affordable and delicious.

The restaurant is called "Gim Geumja Sutbul Galbi" (김금자숯불갈비). The sweet-savory marinade on the pork ribs was the real draw — the sauce was delicious and the ribs were tender. Let me introduce this Daeyeon-dong pork rib spot where I ate happily and walked out satisfied :)

Where is Gim Geumja Sutbul Galbi Daeyeon Branch, and when is it open?

Gim Geumja Sutbul Galbi Daeyeon Branch is located at 185-5 Suyeong-ro, Nam-gu, Busan. It's about a 2-minute walk from Motgol Station Exit 2.

Hours are 16:00–01:00 on weekdays and 11:30–01:00 on weekends.

The restaurant from the street

From outside, the yellow sign really caught my eye, and the place had a distinctive vibe.

Unlike the exterior, the inside looked clean and had a good overall atmosphere.

Inside: group tables that suit a team dinner

The interior of Gim Geumja Sutbul Galbi Daeyeon Branch was quite spacious, with plenty of tables set up.

Besides the 4-person tables, there were also group tables, making it a fine spot for a work dinner.

What comes in the Geumja Set?

The menu includes marinated pork ribs, spicy ribs, raw ribs, galmaegisal (skirt meat), whole hangjeongsal (pork jowl), and more. We ordered the marinated pork ribs 600g + cheongyang cream udon (Geumja Set). Note that a table charge of ₩1,500 per person is added.

The side dishes at Gim Geumja

After ordering, the side dishes were set up first — well-fermented kimchi and garlic,

a marinade sauce and onions, and

ssamjang (dipping paste), wasabi, and wrap vegetables came along too.

Sliced scallions also came out — great to eat together with the ribs.

Grilling 600g of marinated pork ribs over charcoal

And then the pork ribs 600g arrived! They looked great from the start — this looked like actual rib meat, not shoulder butt.

The ribs went straight onto the grill! Ribs really do taste best grilled over charcoal.

Sliced potatoes were also grilled alongside the ribs.

Cheongyang cream udon and the dinner-roll burger

While the ribs were grilling, the cheongyang cream udon showed up too. It came with a morning bread roll, so you could actually make a burger with the ribs inside.

The cheongyang cream udon didn't look skimpy at all — great visuals from the start.

Strawberry jam came along too, to eat with the bread,

and one bite of the cheongyang cream udon showed the spicy chili aroma paired beautifully with the smooth cream — a really appealing cream udon.

How the sweet-savory pork ribs taste

Then it was time to really dig into the well-grilled pork ribs! The smell alone was fantastic.

One bite in, the sweet-savory pork ribs were just so delicious.

Dipping the ribs once more in the soy sauce made them even better,

and pairing them with the cheongyang cream udon worked really well too.

The pork ribs also went great with perilla leaves — wrapping up a big bite and popping it in.

We even made that burger, and ate happily down to the very last bite.

Eaten with pickled radish and onion, the pork ribs matched perfectly with everything, and it was all delicious.

The free pork skin from the review event

When you take part in the review event, you get a serving of pork skin too — no reason not to do it, right haha

The pork skin was grilled well and eaten right away — chewy and sweet, the kind of taste that makes you crave a beer.

Dipped generously in bean powder,

and also dipped generously in curry powder — delicious either way.

And each table also got a piece of jjondeugi (chewy rice cake) — grilled just right on the charcoal, it was completely chewy and delicious.

Is Gim Geumja worth a visit in Daeyeon-dong?

I left this Daeyeon-dong pork rib restaurant happy after eating well. The sweet pork ribs paired nicely with the cheongyang cream udon, and I enjoyed every last bite. The pork ribs were great value, and the atmosphere was good too — another happy meal today :)