Daebong Station Korean restaurant for fire-grilled pork: Cafe Dongi

I'm a tea person, and a person with my own taste (the Korean pun is on "cha", tea and car, and "taste" in my blog name). That's the only kind of joke I can come up with now that I'm getting older. I used to have a sense of humor.. 🙏🙏🙏 Today I'm posting about a varied, tasty and even reasonably priced rice restaurant in Suseong-dong, Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch (카페동이 수성1가점).

Where is Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch, and what about parking and hours?

Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch is near Daebong Station in Suseong-gu, Daegu, and it's open daily 11:00–20:30. Parking spots nearby are hard to come by, so we parked briefly in the lot of the shopping building way down the hill and walked up.

• Hours: daily 11:00–20:30
• Break time: 14:30–17:30
• Last order: 20:00

What's worth visiting near Cafe Dongi after the meal?

Suseong Market is right near Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch, and a bit further on you reach Kim Kwang-seok Street. Suseong Market looked so lively that I wanted to wander through, but there was nowhere to park, so I put it off for next time and instead went a bit further and parked in the public lot at Kim Kwang-seok Street to look around.

Next time I'd take the subway, eat at Cafe Dongi and then go to Suseong Market, or walk along the Sincheon riverside path to Kim Kwang-seok Street as a post-meal stroll. At Kim Kwang-seok Street I had a cup of tea, browsed, and bought myself an armful of flowers. I'm posting them because they're pretty. Aren't autumn chrysanthemums lovely? My friend's bouquet was even prettier, so I'm posting it without her permission, haha. 💗💗💗

Is Cafe Dongi a café or a restaurant?

Despite the name, Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch is a restaurant where you get a full Korean table spread like jeyukbokkeum (stir-fried spicy pork) or bulgogi (marinated grilled beef-style pork). "Home-style restaurant" is written big on the exterior, so it wasn't hard to find.

There was also a large banner out front: the signature dishes are the jeyukbokkeum set and the bulgogi set, and the fried egg, multigrain rice and barley puffs are self-serve at the service bar.

What are the atmosphere and seating like at Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch?

There was quite a lot of seating, and it was clean, as a restaurant should be. White walls and wood-toned tables made it bright and comfortable.

It was lunchtime, so there were solo diners, coworkers and families, all of them. It was fairly busy when we visited, but the tables weren't packed so tightly that it felt stuffy, so it was fine for a meal.

What about kids' chairs, the self-serve fried egg and other extras?

Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch has kids' chairs and a kids' set meal tray, which seemed pretty handy for families with children. One side of the restaurant has water and various self-service stations.

There's a frying pan, an induction burner, eggs and cooking oil, so you fry as many eggs as you like yourself. A fried egg may not seem like a big deal, but putting one on top of your rice when eating Korean food sends the satisfaction through the roof, right? ...It's not just me, is it? 😱😱😱 Barley puffs (bori gangjeong) were also set out, and you can take one after your meal. Generous service at Cafe Dongi.

Origin labeling and how to order

I liked that Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch lists origins in detail. The rice is domestic, from the Gimpo DMZ clean area, and the napa cabbage kimchi is listed as using domestic cabbage and chili powder. Rare, isn't it? You couldn't see the kitchen clearly, but you could see it if you tried.

You order on the tablet at the table. The side menu was quite varied too: tasting-size tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), nuruk-aged tangsuyuk, fried mandu (dumplings), kimchi pancake and meatballs.

Here's what we ordered. That's a lot, right? The prices are low, so you just keep ordering. 🤑🤑🤑

• Fire-grilled pork (jeyuk) set meal
• Dongi fire-grilled pork bulgogi
• Mini tasting tangsuyuk
• Kimchi pancake (kimchijeon)
• Egg-coated meatballs

Spoons, chopsticks and napkins are neatly stored in a table drawer. Even with lots of customers, I couldn't find anything lacking.. It was comfortable~

How are the fire-grilled pork and bulgogi sets at Cafe Dongi?

The main table at Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch comes with rice, soup or stew, and side dishes, so it feels like a literal home-cooked spread. The fire-grilled pork had plenty of cabbage and a fierce smoky flavor that tasted as good as it looked, and with the stew and side dishes it made a pretty filling meal.

The bulgogi had an impressive sweet-salty marinade, and the seaweed soup tasted like what my mom used to make.

At least in terms of the meat, it was the best jeyukbokkeum I've had so far.

Some restaurants don't care much about the pork in their jeyuk. However good the sauce is, if the meat smells or is tough, the jeyuk is a fail. But at Cafe Dongi the pork had a good amount of fat and tender lean meat~

Sides: mini tangsuyuk, kimchi pancake and meatballs

The mini tasting tangsuyuk wasn't a huge portion, just a few pieces for two people, but the meat was thick and the pieces weren't small, so even that alone made us feel half full. The kimchi pancake was so crispy I wondered if it was deep-fried, with a nutty, spicy flavor that was excellent, and the egg-coated meatballs were thick and burst with juice. The side dishes were decent too.

Who is Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch best for?

You don't go to Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch for flashy or special Korean food. It's the place to think of when you want a home-style meal at a restaurant, with plenty of side dishes that don't get boring. If you're after a meal that's part home cooking, part restaurant, a kind of flirting-in-between, and you're around Suseong-dong or Bangcheon Market, give Cafe Dongi Suseong 1-ga Branch a try. It was an enjoyable meal on a good day for me.