Beomeo-dong Daegu restaurant: summer squid and cheonggukjang bibimbap

In the summer heat my energy drains and my appetite just disappears. At times like this you need something spicy and filling to recharge, otherwise how are you supposed to get through the summer healthy? So today I headed out for lunch to eat smoky fire-grilled squid stir-fry and bring my lost appetite back.

The place I went for a hearty meal is a hidden gem in Daegu where I blurted out "This place is the real deal!" right after the first bite: Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch (반월당부자식당 수성점).

Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch hours and parking

Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch is at 22 Beomeocheon-ro, Suseong-gu, Daegu, on the first floor, and you can use the public roadside parking right in front of the restaurant. It is open Monday to Saturday, 11:00–20:45, and closed every Sunday.

• Name: Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch
• Parking: public roadside parking right in front of the restaurant
• How to settle parking: When you pay after the meal, be sure to keep the restaurant receipt! Contact the parking attendant or show them the receipt and your parking is taken care of neatly. In the busy Beomeo-dong area of Suseong-gu, being able to park and eat with peace of mind like this is a huge plus.
• Hours: Mon–Sat 11:00–20:45 / Break time 15:30–17:00 / Last order 14:45 and 20:00
• Closed: every Sunday

A space with 40 years of a mother's cooking

When I arrived, the exterior was neat and a big banner caught my eye. It told a warm, touching story: the mother has run all kinds of restaurants for more than 40 years, and now she runs this one wholeheartedly with her son, drawing on that deep experience and cooking touch.

I've been taking a Korean cooking practical class lately to learn to cook properly. After experiencing for myself how carefully you trim each ingredient and build deep seasoning, I felt keenly how impressive and precious the skill built over 40 years at this restaurant really is.

Inside, round hanji (Korean paper) lamps glow softly, and a big phrase above the kitchen reads "Enjoy your meal and get rich!" (a pun on the restaurant's name, Buja, meaning wealth), so I felt cozy and comfortable the whole meal.

How to mix Buja bibimbap with cheonggukjang stew

At Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch I ordered the fire-grilled squid stir-fry and the Buja bibimbap. When you order Buja bibimbap, a bubbling earthenware pot of cheonggukjang doenjang stew (stew of fermented soybeans and soybean paste) comes with it as a set.

I sat down and happily agonized over the menu, then ordered the fire-grilled squid stir-fry I'd been craving since before I left home, and the Buja bibimbap loaded with assorted namul (seasoned vegetables). What makes this place such a bargain is that the bibimbap comes with a bubbling pot of rich, savory cheonggukjang doenjang stew as a set!

The Buja bibimbap arrives neatly in a big stainless steel bowl, topped generously with fresh lettuce, crunchy bean sprouts, sweet-spicy radish salad, nutty seaweed flakes, and prettily sliced egg strips. How you eat it is simple but brilliant.

You scoop up a generous ladleful of the steaming hot cheonggukjang doenjang stew, put it into the bibimbap bowl together with the tofu and enoki mushrooms, and mix it all up well. I took a big spoonful, and the deep savory stew and the crunchy namul came together perfectly, soothing my stomach and filling me up. The side dishes that came with it, like stir-fried fish cake, stir-fried seaweed stems, and radish salad, were seasoned just right and went well with the rice.

How smoky is the fire-grilled squid stir-fry?

The fire-grilled squid stir-fry at Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch is a rice thief (a dish so good you keep eating rice) with a smoky flame flavor coated onto a bright red special sauce. The squid is prepared by hand every day, so it wasn't tough but plump and chewy.

And now the main highlight of the day: the fire-grilled squid stir-fry! The squid, with its smoky flavor coated onto a bright red special sauce, was the textbook rice thief. Maybe because they prep fresh squid by hand every day, the texture wasn't tough at all but plump and chewy.

I put a little stew-moistened rice on a fresh lettuce leaf, topped it with a big piece of smoky squid plus a sharp chili pepper and garlic, and wrapped it into one big ssam (lettuce wrap). The savory flavor exploded in my mouth. The sweet-spicy taste made the stress and the sweltering summer heat vanish in one go.

The stew, bibimbap and fire-grilled squid went together so well that my spoon never stopped moving. After finishing the meal, I rinsed it all down with my favorite nutty iced café latte, and the afternoon was complete, nothing left to wish for.

If you've lost your appetite from sweating through Daegu's record-breaking heatwave, do drop by Banwoldang Buja Sikdang Suseong Branch and recharge with a mother's deep, heartfelt cooking. I think you'll really feel the happiness and healing a good meal brings!