Korean restaurant near Gosangol Dinosaur Park in Daegu: Cafe Dongi

Eating a hearty meal at a great restaurant near Apsan, Daegu

Exterior and parking info

We went to Cafe Dongi Daemyeong Station Branch, a favorite in Daemyeong-dong, Daegu, for a weekend meal — since the fried eggs, rice, barley candy, and seaweed are all unlimited refills, we end up going often with the kids. This time we stopped by after a walk with the kids at Gosangol Dinosaur Park.

If you're driving, note there's no dedicated parking lot, so you'll need to use the nearby alleys. About 2 cars can park in front of the restaurant. Outside this Apsan favorite, they set out cool hutgae tea for people passing by or waiting.

Interior

Cafe Dongi Daemyeong Station Branch lets you enjoy cozy Korean home cooking in a clean, tidy space. With high chairs and a kids' menu, it's also a great Daemyeong-dong set-meal restaurant for group gatherings or family dinners.

Cafe Dongi's unlimited refills — what exactly is unlimited?

The best thing about Cafe Dongi Daemyeong Station Branch — and this goes for every branch, not just this one — is that five-grain rice, seaweed, eggs, and barley candy are all unlimited refills.

Some of the set meals come with seaweed soup too, so you can wrap rice in seaweed for the kids, or fry up an egg and mix it into the seaweed soup — the kids ate so happily they were practically dancing. Being able to feed themselves made things easy for me too, at this restaurant near Apsan that's great for going with kids.

The menu

From the set-meal menu at this Daemyeong-dong favorite, we ordered the following.

• Tuna yeolmu bibimbap (rice mixed with radish greens, with seaweed soup)
• Individual-brazier grilled pork set meal
• Individual-brazier grandma's stir-fried octopus set meal
• (The individual-brazier sets come with doenjang jjigae by default — I swapped both for kimchi jjigae)

Just looking at the table full of food was reassuring.

True to its motto of sharing happiness with the neighborhood through a more valuable meal, this Apsan favorite offers unlimited fried eggs, five-grain rice, seaweed, and barley candy, plus a 15% discount on select menu items every month.

All three dishes were generously portioned, weren't they? You can really see the owner's mindset here — that giving customers more delicious, filling food matters more than the profit margin.

How do the grilled pork, stir-fried octopus, and kimchi jjigae taste?

Cafe Dongi is a great spot in Daemyeong-dong for anyone who loves Korean home-style food, and it's also worth a stop with kids after visiting Gosangol Dinosaur Park! Whenever we visit Cafe Dongi we always order the grilled pork — the seasoning is delicious, and the smoky char flavor is great too.

The stir-fried octopus comes with rice cakes mixed in, and since it stays warm on the brazier the whole time, it never gets tough. It's one of the dishes worth trying at this favorite near Apsan.

The individual-brazier set meals come with doenjang jjigae as the default, but we swapped both to kimchi jjigae. Folks, this place is a kimchi jjigae winner — it's rich, with plenty of pork and kimchi in it.

Tuna yeolmu bibimbap and seaweed soup

Cafe Dongi's yeolmu bibimbap (rice mixed with radish greens) is a great-value menu item — there's also a bulgogi yeolmu bibimbap, but that day we ordered the tuna version. It comes with seaweed soup, which is also handy for mixing into the kids' rice.

You can also fry up an egg and add it in for extra flavor. This Apsan favorite already serves a hearty spread, but with all the eggs, five-grain rice, and seaweed you can eat, the meal ended up even more filling.

10 minutes by car from Gosangol Dinosaur Park

If you leave a receipt review, you can get a lemonade — don't miss out on that! Finishing off with a good helping of barley candy for dessert made for a filling day and a warm heart, at this favorite near Apsan and Gosangol Dinosaur Park. It's only about 10 minutes by car from the dinosaur park, so it's not far to bring the kids along.

That was Cafe Dongi Daemyeong Station Branch, a great Daemyeong-dong restaurant to visit with kids whenever you're craving Korean food near Apsan in Daegu.