Daejeon Japanese fusion restaurant, Couple Set B for two: Choi Dining

I was craving Japanese fusion food, so I headed to the Daejeon Gwanpyeong branch of Choi Dining (초이다이닝 대전관평점)! It's got a reputation as the go-to Japanese restaurant in Gwanpyeong-dong, so off I went~!

Choi Dining Daejeon Gwanpyeong: location and parking

I absolutely love salmon, and this place has futomaki (thick sushi rolls) with salmon in them! One quick search and I was racing over there @@ The exterior alone has a real Japanese feel, right? It stood out easily even from a distance.

• 1F, 20 Gwandeul 4-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon (대전광역시 유성구 관들4길 20 1층)
• 11:00–21:00
• Break time 15:00–17:00
• Last order 14:15 / 20:15
• Street parking

Gwanpyeong-dong being what it is, parking isn't exactly plentiful, so keep that in mind!

Wood-toned interior and how to order

Stepping inside, the first thing I noticed was the clean, warm wood-toned interior. The tables are spaced well apart, so it's a relaxed atmosphere whether you come for a date or a group get-together. Every table has a tablet for ordering, so you can browse the menu photos yourself and order at your own pace.

Near the entrance there were high chairs and a coat rack for hanging up your jacket — little thoughtful touches that caught my eye.

Oh, and did you hear the news? 15% cashback with Ontong Daejeon (Daejeon's local prepaid payment card) all through September!!! I topped mine up right away and paid with Ontong Daejeon haha

The owner walked us through every single menu item with real enthusiasm. The owner is a total power E (MBTI extrovert)!!!

How does Couple Set B work out for two?

We went with Couple Set B: salmon futomaki, mazesoba (Japanese soupless mixed noodles) and thick-cut bacon cream pasta. Getting to enjoy all three at once meant no agonizing over the menu, and we ate well. It's a lot of food for one person, so it's the perfect setup to share between two haha. And with the mazesoba, once you've finished the noodles you can mix rice into what's left!

Thick-cut salmon futomaki

Each piece is seriously huge. It's packed with thick raw salmon, rolled omelette, crispy tempura bits and crunchy vegetables, so when you fit a whole piece in your mouth you get all those different textures at once?!

TMI: I actually get indigestion easily, so as much as I wanted to eat it in one bite, I split it into two...

A light dip in the special sauce and what I think was wasabi mayo(?) and it was so, so good haha. I love salmon so much… ♡

Mazesoba mixed with egg yolk and garlic chives

The mazesoba is addictive! I popped the egg yolk and mixed everything up — the sauce, the chopped garlic chives and the noodles. The chewy noodles soaked up the salty, umami-packed sauce so well that I kept going back for more. The crunch of the chives with every bite — this, this right here is a real treat haha

Once you've fished out and finished all the mazesoba noodles, you can ask the owner for a free bowl of rice, and mixing the rice into the leftover sauce is honestly the jackpot.. Thanks to the fragrance of the chives it never got heavy, and I cleaned the bowl right to the end. I was stuffed haha

Cream pasta with big chunks of bacon

The rich thick-cut bacon cream pasta! Big chunks of bacon for a protein boost~~ The smooth, savory cream sauce clung thickly to the pasta, and eaten together with the salty slab bacon, the combo is just good haha

There are mushrooms in it too, so tasty haha. Great texture. Taking a bite of pasta in between the futomaki and the mazesoba kept every flavor feeling fresh, so nothing got boring!

Final verdict on the three dishes together

All three dishes have their own distinct charm, and Couple Set B alone is more than filling!! If you're looking for a good Japanese restaurant in Gwanpyeong-dong, it's worth dropping by. Just plan your parking ahead of time and the visit will go more smoothly. It's the kind of place I'll find myself thinking about again and again.