Bongdam Japanese restaurant in Hwaseong: tonkatsu curry salmon set

This review was written after a discounted visit. It's Sindong Lab Hwaseong Bongdam Branch, a restaurant with the kind of atmosphere you'd want near the Yungneung and Geolleung tombs.

Where is Sindong Lab in Bongdam, Hwaseong, and is there parking?

Sindong Lab Hwaseong Bongdam Branch is a Japanese restaurant on Wau-ro in Bongdam-eup, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. The restaurant sits tucked inside an alley among some large buildings, but there's a parking space right in front of the store. I came back here to close out another satisfying weekend with a good dinner. Last time, the food, the atmosphere and the service were all great, so I didn't hesitate to revisit this Bongdam Japanese restaurant favorite!

Sindong Lab has a subtly Japanese feel from the outside. Big picture windows let you see straight in, and plants and small decor pieces around the entrance gave it a warm, comfortable atmosphere.

Inside Sindong Lab: seating for two, long tables and a private 8-seat room

Once inside, the restaurant was bigger than I expected, with wood-tone furniture and green plants placed throughout, giving it an overall cozy yet tidy feel.

Sunlight came in nicely by the windows, and the spacing between tables was generous enough that I never felt cramped during the meal.

Toward the back there were several 2-4 person tables, plus a long table good for larger groups. The seating variety works well for a date, a family dinner, or a gathering with several people.

At the very back there's a more private 8-seat table, which looked great for group get-togethers too.

It was convenient that you could wash your hands before the meal at a sink inside the restaurant, without needing to go to the restroom.

Tablet ordering, welcome tea and soup at Sindong Lab

Once seated, you order using the tablet on the table. The menu was neatly organized with photos of each dish, which made choosing pretty easy. Beyond the Japanese menu items, there were plenty of kid-friendly options too, so families would have a good range of choices.

After ordering, it wasn't long before welcome tea and soup arrived ahead of the meal. They came neatly arranged on a tray, and the soup was soft and warm, nice as a light starter. The drink was cool and refreshing, a good way to whet the appetite a bit.

Since I had to drive that day, I ordered a non-alcoholic highball instead of alcohol. It came with pretzels as the default side — salty and crunchy, good for picking at before the food arrived.

Tonkatsu curry rice bowl with salmon set and ricotta cheese salad

The first dish to arrive was the tonkatsu curry rice bowl with salmon set + ricotta cheese salad. One plate held three neat pieces of salmon, and the main bowl held the tonkatsu curry rice. With salad and a light miso-style soup on the side, it was a pretty hearty spread at a glance.

I tried the salmon first — thickly sliced, with a satisfying chew and a moist, tender texture. It tasted even better with a little wasabi.

Up close, the tonkatsu curry rice bowl really was piled high with tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet). Crispy fried tonkatsu topped with a generous helping of curry and scallions on top — it looked delicious from the start.

The curry wasn't too strong, blending smoothly with the rice, and eating it bite by bite with the tonkatsu was filling and delicious. Piling curry sauce onto the rice especially made for a combination I kept reaching for, spoonful after spoonful.

What comes with the sukiyaki set at Sindong Lab?

Next came the sukiyaki set. Meat, various vegetables, mushrooms, and udon noodles were all neatly arranged into one set. With meat and vegetables sorted by type, it looked quite hearty once placed on the table.

In particular, there was a generous amount of bright red beef, which made it feel like a proper full meal. Rice and a raw egg were prepared on the side too, so you could dip the sukiyaki in the egg or eat it alongside rice.

Broth was set over a burner and the ingredients were added one by one to simmer. As the meat and vegetables cooked in the broth, that sweet-savory sukiyaki aroma rose up and really stirred my appetite while it cooked. I picked up a piece of well-cooked beef and dipped it lightly into the egg — tender meat plus sweet broth plus rich egg made for a combination that never fails.

After eating a fair amount of the sukiyaki, I finished it off by adding the udon noodles that came with it. The broth soaked into the noodles nicely, and the chewy noodles paired well with the sweet broth. After the meat and vegetables, finishing with noodles made for a satisfying meal right to the end.

Chicken karaage, the side to share

And then the chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken) I ordered as a side appeared! Several generous, appetizingly fried pieces of karaage arrived. The outside was fried crisp while the chicken inside stayed moist, giving a great crispy-yet-tender bite.

It was delicious even plain, with just the right seasoning, and works well as a side to nibble between bites of the main dishes — a good pick to order and share when visiting with a group. Overall the food lineup felt substantial and the restaurant's atmosphere was comfortable, so I left satisfied. With such a varied menu, it's easy to pick something to your taste. This is a place I'd want to return to whenever I'm craving a clean, satisfying Japanese meal in Bongdam.

1F Sindong Lab, 96 Wau-ro, Bongdam-eup, Hyohaeng-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea