Sicheol, Daegu Korean dinner after work: wasabi tangsuyuk, Cafe Dong-i

A Korean restaurant in Sicheol, Daegu for an after-work solo dinner

Cafe Dong-i Sicheol (카페동이 시지점) is a Korean set-meal restaurant near Sinmae Market in Suseong, Daegu, and a nice place for a light dinner after work. When you can't be bothered to cook and want to eat before heading home, when you want a casual baekban (Korean set meal) place, when you're craving good Korean food, or when you're eating solo, I found just the spot 👀‼️

Here are the three dishes I had this time.

• 1-person brazier) Dong-i fire-grilled jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork) Korean set meal
• 40-year master's kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) set
• Crispy-outside, chewy-inside Dong-i koji-aged tangsuyuk (Korean sweet and sour pork)

Cafe Dong-i Sicheol opening hours and parking

Cafe Dong-i Sicheol is open daily 11:00–21:00 (last order 20:00), with a break from 14:30 to 16:30. For parking, use the Sinmae Market public parking lot, a one-minute walk from the restaurant.

• Address: 56 Sinmae-ro 16-gil, Suseong-gu, Daegu, South Korea (1st floor of the commercial building)
• Hours: daily 11:00–21:00 (last order 20:00)
• Break time: 14:30–16:30
• Parking: Sinmae Market public parking lot (1 minute on foot)
• Weekdays (Mon–Fri): free for the first hour, then ₩300 per 10 minutes
• Weekends and holidays (except Thursdays): fully free parking

The Sinmae Market public lot is one minute on foot from the restaurant, so it was close and convenient. Free for the first hour on weekdays, and fully free on weekends and holidays ‼️

What are Cafe Dong-i Sicheol's entrance and interior like?

At the entrance, chilled hovenia tea is set out for anyone passing by to drink. It's a small thing, but it made my heart go all soft 🫶 There are also waiting chairs and Tabling (a queue app) ⭕️

There were more tables inside than I expected, and since I went on a weekday evening, lots of families came with kids.

Cafe Dong-i membership perks

The membership is seriously generous: a free mini tangsuyuk coupon on first sign-up, 5% points on payments, plus birthday and discount coupons. You also get a lemonade for a Naver receipt review, so grab those little perks 🫶

What's at the Cafe Dong-i Sicheol self-serve bar?

The service bar has barley gangjeong (crunchy barley snack), hovenia tea, fried eggs, multigrain rice and gopchang gim (seaweed), all unlimited 🆗️

After ordering, I made a fried egg and tried the barley gangjeong. It isn't too sweet, doesn't stick to your teeth, and it's crunchy and sooo good 👻 You absolutely have to have the gangjeong and fried egg, haha

How good is the 1-person brazier fire-grilled jeyuk set?

The Dong-i fire-grilled jeyuk set comes with the pork on a personal mini brazier, so it stays warm until you finish.

Jeyuk on a mini grill, savory doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), three side dishes and omija tea (five-flavor berry tea) to finish. A proper full spread 👍

The jeyuk has a lovely smoky char flavor, and the meat itself was tender and juicy and not salty, so it was perfect with rice >.< It came on the mini brazier, so it stayed warm 🔥 The doenjang jjigae was savory too, like a home-cooked meal for the first time in ages 🥹

Koji-aged tangsuyuk with wasabi: does it work?

Cafe Dong-i's koji-aged tangsuyuk has a glutinous rice batter, so it's crunchy outside and chewy inside. Topping it with wasabi made it even better, so I found a new combo.

Truly crispy outside, chewy inside, just like the name 😍 The glutinous batter is crunchy yet so chewy, the lean meat is thick, and with wasabi on top it's even better 😘 I never knew wasabi went so well with tangsuyuk, so I found a new food combo, haha

How does the 40-year master's kimchi jjigae set taste?

The 40-year master's kimchi jjigae set was ordered by my partner (내편이, "my side"). It had a rich broth of slow-simmered aged kimchi and pork, packed with ingredients.

The kimchi jjigae my partner ordered‼️ Well-fermented aged kimchi and fresh pork simmered for ages gave a rich broth I kept going back for 😋 Hearty ingredients and a tangy, deeply savory broth >.<

Smoky jeyuk, savory doenjang jjigae, kimchi jjigae rich with pork and kimchi, and chewy, crunchy tangsuyuk. I felt treated to a bountiful spread. That was my honest review of Cafe Dong-i Sicheol ❣️