Kid-friendly lunch at Momo Lab, a Cheongju Seongan-gil Japanese spot

Lunch with the kids at Momo Lab, Cheongju

After visiting Darae Ranch in Cheongju with the kids, we headed to Seongan-gil for lunch. Looking for something the kids could enjoy too, we ended up at Momo Lab, which serves gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) and donburi. The kids ate up the gyukatsu, soy sauce rice, and soup happily, so we got to enjoy a relaxed lunch.😊

📌 Momo Lab at a glance ✔️ Parking at the Art Avenue 198 building ✔️ Gyukatsu grilled tableside on a charcoal brazier ✔️ Donburi menu — nakyeopsteak-don, sake-don, and more ✔️ Welcome tea: omija tea ✔️ Modo soy sauce rice and soup ✔️ Good for sharing dishes with kids ✔️ There's a wait at lunchtime

Where is Momo Lab, and how do you park at Art Avenue 198?

Momo Lab is located at 아트에비뉴198 102호, 중앙로 9-1, 상당구, 청주시, 충청북도, South Korea. Hours are 11:00–21:20, last order 20:50, and you can park in the Art Avenue 198 building's parking lot.

If you're driving, search for Art Avenue 198 and you'll be directed straight to the parking lot.

After parking, take the elevator down to the first floor and head out and to the left of the building — that's where you'll find Momo Lab.

One thing to know: to use the parking lot, you need to stop by the security office right next to it and ask them to open it up. When you leave after eating, bring your receipt for parking verification — good to know ahead of time.

Inside Momo Lab: seating and whether it works with kids

Momo Lab is located on Seongan-gil, and we visited during lunchtime.

Inside, the space had a clean, tidy feel, and it wasn't stressful to dine there with the kids. Seating is mostly 4-person tables, and while the space itself is a little compact, the tables were arranged efficiently.

Each table came with a water cup, pink salt, soy sauce, napkins, and a water bottle as standard, and when we opened the drawer we found wet wipes, hair ties, and even dental floss. It felt like the owner had thought of every little detail.

Walking into a restaurant with kids usually means a scramble of wrangling them and picking a menu, but they had omija tea ready as a welcome drink, which made for a nice start to the meal.

We sipped it with the kids while waiting for our food.

< Restroom note > The restroom is outside the restaurant, and you need to take the restroom key with you.

Momo Lab's menu: gyukatsu plus three rice bowls

We ordered three dishes in total that day.

• Gyukatsu
• Nakyeopsteak-don
• Thick salmon-don (daily hand-prepared)

The dish we were most looking forward to was the gyukatsu.

Gyukatsu grilled on a tabletop charcoal brazier

The gyukatsu comes with a small charcoal brazier so you can grill it bit by bit to your liking.

I wondered how we'd manage a hot grill with kids around, but we kept the brazier in front of the adults while the kids sat beside us and ate.

It's a cutlet with tender beef inside a crispy breaded crust — you melt butter on the brazier first, then lay the meat on a little at a time to grill.

Grilled golden brown, the meat was wonderfully tender, and the kids ate it up way better than I expected.😊

The sauce wasn't too sharp or strong either, so it was easy to share with the kids.

But there was something the kids ate just as well as the gyukatsu that day — the modo soy sauce rice and soup! A bite of meat, a bite of rice, a spoonful of soup — they went through it all so smoothly that I thought to myself, 'Today's meal is a success!' 😂

Nagyeop steak-don, a hanger steak rice bowl

Nakyeopsteak-don is named because hanger steak (buchaesal) is also called nakyeopsal in Korean.

The meat was grilled just right, with the juices still there, and thick enough that the portion felt satisfying. As adults we enjoyed it, but compared to the gyukatsu it could be a touch chewier. Still, our kids dipped it in the sauce and ate more of it than I expected.

The sauce came mixed right in with the rice, so eating the meat and rice together went down smoothly.

Thick-cut salmon-don, the writer's top pick at Momo Lab

I also ordered the salmon dish, which I personally love. True to its name, the salmon slices were thick, and just the sight of it made my mouth water.

Taking a bite, the pieces were bigger than expected and had a thickness that wasn't at all overwhelming to eat.

They also gave us seaweed to wrap it up, so I tried piling wasabi, onion, salmon, and seaweed together — and yeah, this is exactly how salmon should be eaten, haha.

Dipping it in the soy sauce added even more savory depth — delicious.

My personal pick was, without question, the salmon.🤍

How long is the lunch wait at Momo Lab, and what to do meanwhile?

There was a wait when we visited. There are a lot of photo booth studios around Seongan-gil, so taking photos with the kids while waiting is a good way to pass the time.📸 If your plan is lunch on Seongan-gil after visiting Darae Ranch, I'd recommend building in a little extra time.

There's also a receipt review event, so keep that in mind.

Is Momo Lab worth it for lunch with kids in Cheongju?

For this lunch on Cheongju's Seongan-gil, we settled on Momo Lab with the kids. Best of all, the kids ate up the gyukatsu, rice, and soup happily.

If you're looking for lunch on Seongan-gil after visiting Darae Ranch, or a Cheongju restaurant to enjoy with your kids, this one's worth considering.

📌 Momo Lab visit highlights ✔️ Parking available at the Art Avenue 198 building ✔️ Gyukatsu grilled tableside on a charcoal brazier ✔️ Donburi dishes can be ordered alongside it ✔️ Kids loved the soy sauce rice and soup ✔️ Expect a wait at lunchtime ✔️ Photo booth studios nearby to pass the wait