Kids' room and free café drinks after octopus stir-fry, Yuseong

Picking a restaurant for a family outing on the weekend is oddly hard. The kids need to eat comfortably, parking has to be easy, and there has to be enough variety for the adults too.

But visiting Boksakkot Pineun Jip this time, I got why it's so packed with families. The parking lot is huge, there's a kids' room with baby chairs, and the menu is genuinely varied. On top of that, you don't even need to go somewhere else for coffee afterward — drinks and rice puffs are right there. A pretty good-value spot for family dining.

A restaurant with a spacious parking lot

Boksakkot Pineun Jip is in Gyesan-dong (계산동). What I liked right away was the parking — the lot is huge, so even on a weekend visit, parking was easy. We went during weekend lunch and, sure enough, it was busy.

There was a wait, but we registered with Tabling and waited. It didn't take as long as expected before we got seated.

There's a reason so many families come here

Once inside, there were so many tables — and just as many customers. Family groups especially stood out.

There are plenty of group tables set up too, so if you're planning a family gathering or a meal with several people, it might be worth booking ahead.

Baby chairs are also on hand.

Best of all, there's a separate kids' room, which makes this a great spot to bring children. Kids have a hard time sitting still after eating, so having a kids' room means parents can eat a little more at ease. Walking in, I understood right away why families keep coming here.

A genuinely varied menu

Boksakkot Pineun Jip has a wide range of dishes — jeyuk (spicy pork stir-fry), jjukkumi-bokkeum (stir-fried webfoot octopus), nakji-bokkeum (stir-fried octopus), mushroom bulgogi hot pot, deunggalbi (grilled pork ribs), and even braised beef short ribs. For sides, there's donkatsu (pork cutlet) and pizza, both easy for young kids to eat.

Adults can have the spicy octopus dishes while the kids eat pork cutlet or pizza, so there's less to argue about when it comes to picking a menu as a family.

Basic side dishes plus a salad bar

Four basic side dishes came out. There's also a separate salad bar, so you can grab whatever extra side dishes or food you want yourself.

Rice was ready and there was also beef seaweed soup, which was nice. If you're with a young child, you could mix rice into the seaweed soup for them. Having these basics well-covered really puts my mind at ease when eating out with a kid.

Unlimited refills on soft drinks!

And here's another thing I liked — the soft drinks are unlimited refill. If you're someone who likes soda with your meal, this is oddly satisfying. Being able to drink as much as you want here was great.

What we ordered: jjuchipa

What we ordered was jjuchipa — exactly as the name suggests, webfoot octopus, cheese, and pasta all together.

It came out piled high with octopus, cheese, and pasta. Just looking at it, it was hearty.

And ordering jjuchipa also comes with a rice ball.

You just mash the rice ball around and roll it into a ball shape. It tastes great dipped lightly in the octopus sauce, and also goes well eaten alongside the octopus, cheese and pasta.

The octopus + cheese + pasta combo

Eating the jjuchipa, the octopus and cheese combo was really good. The cheese stretches endlessly, and it went well with the spicy kick of the octopus.

Having pasta mixed in gave it a different feel from just eating octopus alone. I'm pretty weak with spice, so it felt a bit spicy to me, but not unbearably so — more like a nicely spicy level. That said, you can't choose the spice level for jjuchipa, so if you're not great with spicy food, keep that in mind.

Order two servings or more and you also get wood-fired pizza!

This is one of the things I really liked about Boksakkot Pineun Jip. Order two servings or more and you get wood-fired pizza, salad, and mukbap (acorn jelly with dipping sauce) provided. Along with the basic side dishes, we got mukbap and salad. And after a short wait, the wood-fired pizza showed up too!

We had the pepperoni pizza, and being baked in a wood-fired oven, it was really good. Eating it while it was still warm, the cheese stretched beautifully. Eating pizza alongside the octopus made the whole spread look incredibly hearty.

Laid out all together, it's really a feast!

With the octopus-cheese-pasta, rice ball, salad, mukbap, and wood-fired pizza all laid out together for a photo, it made for a genuinely hearty spread.

I especially loved dipping the rice ball lightly into the octopus sauce. The spicy sauce goes so well with the rice ball, and with the cheese stretching too, I kept reaching for more.

Café drinks after the meal, all in one visit!

But Boksakkot Pineun Jip's perks didn't stop there. Along with the soft drinks, you can also get free café drinks. You just take your drink of choice to go and walk over to the building next door.

The building next door has a separate, comfortable space set up for enjoying your drink. Not having to go find another café after the meal was genuinely convenient.

Rice puffs are ready too

On top of that, there are rice puffs (bbeongtwigi) prepared too. You can scoop some rice puffs and enjoy them with the free drink — kids eating rice puffs, adults sipping coffee or a drink, everyone relaxing after the meal. At this point, it really feels like a full meal-and-café experience in one place.

Recommended for family outings with parents and kids

Visiting in person, I got why Boksakkot Pineun Jip has so many family customers.

• Spacious parking lot
• Varied menu
• Baby chairs
• Kids' room
• Group tables
• Salad bar
• Beef seaweed soup
• Unlimited soft drink refills
• Free wood-fired pizza, salad, mukbap
• Free café drinks after the meal
• Even rice puffs!

It seems like a great spot whether you're bringing kids, taking your parents out for a family meal, or gathering with a larger group.