Japanese restaurant in Pangyo for black rice tendon: Godai Kitchen

Pangyo Techno Valley has so many great spots for office workers. Looking for a place for butadon (pork rice bowl) and cold soba on a crisp fall day like today, I chose Godai Kitchen Lunch Special! 📝

It is an 8-minute walk from Exit 1 of Pangyo Station, on Basement Level 1 of Building A at Pangyo Samhwan HiPex.

It was my first time at the Pangyo Samhwan HiPex building, and parking was easy: there was plenty of space across Basement Levels 2 through 4. ✌🏻

Found the restaurant on Basement Level 1! ✨Godai Kitchen Lunch Special✨ You can feel the aura of a great Japanese restaurant right from the entrance, can't you? 🤤

Heading into Godai Kitchen Lunch Special, a Japanese home-style restaurant (heart pounding💕).

These are the signature dishes! There are lots of other menu items, too.

Godai Kitchen after the lunch rush

When we went in, the staff checked our reservation and showed us to our table. It was just after the 12 p.m. office-worker lunch rush, so there were not too many people. It must be absolutely packed during peak lunch hours..!

These are said to be Godai Kitchen Lunch Special's five promises: 100% house-made soba broth (tsuyu, Japanese dipping sauce), 100% house-made butadon sauce, 100% Korean pork belly, 100% Korean pork loin tonkatsu, and 100% Jindo black-rice rice. Ah, my anticipation shot way up ✨✨

This is how to eat the bestselling pork-belly butadon!! We went back and forth because there were so many choices, then ordered shrimp-and-chicken tendon (tempura rice bowl), Godai butadon, and zaru soba (cold dipping noodles).

Huh, it came out this fast?! I was surprised by the speed, then surprised again by how generous it was, haha 👍🏻

Godai butadon topped with pork neck and onsen tamago

The butadon came first!! Stir-fried pork neck in gochujang (Korean red chili paste) sauce over black rice, plus onsen tamago (soft-cooked egg)!! There was also plenty of finely chopped green onion under the meat, and you could adjust the wasabi to taste before taking a big spoonful. 👍🏻👍🏻 I was so curious about the sauce ratio and what was in it because it paired that well with the pork neckㅠㅠ Everyone in the family just quietly kept spooning it up, haha.

So glossy ✨✨ That meat color looks amazing, right?ㅠㅠㅠ

Shrimp and egg rice bowl piled high with tempura

Next came the shrimp and egg rice bowl!! It was topped beautifully with shrimp tempura and egg tempura. Seriously, is this amount of tempura for real…? The bowl was packed tight with tempura, it was so generous 🤤 The tempura was crisp and delicious without that heavy, greasy feeling! It was my first time having black rice in tendon, and surprisingly it did not feel out of place at all—such a fresh way to get a little healthiness in, too 😊

The side dishes were danmuji (pickled radish), kimchi, and cabbage! Whenever things start to feel rich or repetitive, one bite resets your palate right away!

The mini udon was perfect for a quick slurp, too.

An overhead shot of the two rice bowls. The portions of rice, meat, and tempura are insane ✨

Lemon zaru soba and a cabbage refill

Last up was the zaru soba. The balance of chewy noodles, perfect for hot summer days, and the salty, rich tsuyu dipping broth was spot-on 👍🏻

I especially loved the thoughtful touch of a slice of lemon floating in the tsuyu 🤤

I am a self-proclaimed cabbage fanatic. This raw cabbage was so, so good with the sauce served over itㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ I even got a refill. Thank you, owner, for giving us such a big serving 🫶🏻🫶🏻

After happily finishing everything and paying, I snapped a photo because the figurines by the entrance were so cute. Another wonderful meal today 😋 I recommend Godai Kitchen Lunch Special to anyone looking for great Japanese home-style food at Pangyo Samhwan HiPex near Pangyo Station!!!