Gumi Korean restaurant with pork cutlet and potato pancake: Irojeong

After a round trip to Gyeryong for a 5am baseball game today, we finished the match starving and craving a hearty family meal — so we headed to Irojeong, a hanjeongsik (Korean set meal) spot in Gumi.

Parking at Irojeong and the 11:50 a.m. Tabling wait

Irojeong Gumi Geumosan Direct Branch is a hanjeongsik restaurant on Park Chung-hee-ro in Gumi, Gyeongbuk. The first thing I loved the moment we arrived was the huge parking lot! We got there around 11:50am and immediately put our name down through the table-ring waitlist app.

Parking is always a bit of a stress point when you're visiting as a family or in a big group, so having plenty of space right from the start already put me in a good mood.

We arrived around 11:50am and there were already a lot of guests. We signed up right away with table-ring. What surprised me was that even with quite a few people waiting, it didn't feel chaotic or crowded at all — the space is so spacious overall that despite the crowd, the atmosphere stayed calm and relaxed, which I really liked.

Free drinks while you wait at Irojeong Café

Right near the entrance, Irojeong has its own separate café space. It's great for sitting while you wait, and also nice for a light drink or snack after your meal.

There's coffee, sujeonggwa (cinnamon punch), sikhye (sweet rice punch), and ginseng tea, plus ice cups set out separately — such a thoughtful touch! Little details like that quietly won me over.

They also had gangjeong (crispy rice snacks) ready, not too sweet, just the right amount — easy to pick at one after another. But since we needed to save room for the actual meal, I only had a little bit while waiting.

Big hall, private rooms and a playroom for kids

Irojeong has a really spacious hall and separate rooms you can reserve, which looked great for group bookings. There were plenty of baby chairs and even a playroom, making it an easy layout for visiting with kids.

The hall itself is quite large, but it was already full by the time we got there. Even so, it wasn't loud or hectic — overall it felt calm and quiet. Once we sat down, I noticed there were even more people waiting behind us!

There are also rooms you can reserve, which seemed great for booking ahead. And since winter coats get bulky, having coat hooks inside the rooms looked really handy for hanging up thick padded jackets.

There were plenty of baby chairs ready for families. Irojeong also has a fairly spacious playroom. It's not a huge jungle-gym setup, but it looked more than enough for kids to play in for a bit, making it a solid choice for a family meal out.

Irojeong's menu and what our family ordered

Irojeong's menu centers on nourishing loach soup and black goat dishes, with pork cutlet and Korean beef seaweed soup for the kids. We ordered two mackerel suyuk loach soup sets, one pork cutlet, and one potato pancake.

The menu wasn't overwhelming! Loach soup and black goat for nourishment as the mains, plus pork cutlet and Korean beef seaweed soup for kids, potato pancake, scallion pancake, mackerel, and grilled sailfin sandfish fillet! The set combos are worth checking out too.

Two mackerel suyuk loach soup sets, one pork cutlet, one potato pancake — that's what our family ordered.

White rice at the self-serve bar if turmeric rice isn't for you

Irojeong also has a self-serve bar. Beyond extra side dishes, there's fruit and noodles ready, so you can help yourself if anything runs low. All the seasonings and condiments needed for the loach soup are there too, so you can adjust it to your taste.

Turmeric rice comes as the default, but for anyone who isn't a fan, plain white rice is set out separately at the self-serve bar. The kids had white rice while the adults stuck with turmeric rice, and it was nice being able to help ourselves to as much as we wanted.

How the Irojeong set meal is plated

Irojeong's basic side dishes come out neatly arranged on a wooden tray, and despite the crowd, the food came out really fast. We were starving after the game, so the short wait was a huge plus.

The basic side dishes arrive neatly arranged on a wooden tray. And even with so many guests, the food came out way faster than expected — quite a surprise! Truly a place built for Korea's 'pali-pali' (hurry-hurry) pace 🤣 We were starving after the game, so not having to wait long for the food was fantastic.

I asked the kids, "Is this good?" and they were happily devouring the suyuk (boiled meat). Turns out they had no idea it was goat suyuk — they were just eating away thinking it was delicious…🤣

Getting the kids to try the fried loach didn't work out.. but it was nice that the basic side dishes included fried items too. All the side dishes were tasty overall, but personally, the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) was amazing!

There are basic extra seasonings already set out on the table.

Thick Namdo-style loach soup with jepi

The thick Namdo-style loach soup came out first. What I personally loved was that there's almost no trace of the loach itself!! It's so smooth that if nobody told you it was loach soup, you might not even know! Great for someone like me who isn't fond of seeing or feeling the shape and texture of loach.

There's plenty of siraegi (dried radish greens) in it too, and the seasoning was just right for my taste.

I'm a fan of jepi (Korean sansho pepper), so I added a bit extra seasoning to my taste, mixed in a bowl of rice, and slurped it down… it truly felt like a proper nourishing meal!

Potato pancake made from thinly sliced potato

Potato pancake — a favorite of our whole family. Rather than the usual finely ground style, this one is made with potatoes sliced really thin.

The thin potato slices layer on top of each other, so you get a nice bite and texture from the potato. The outside was golden and crisp while the inside kept that chewy potato feel — really enjoyable.

Moist boneless grilled mackerel

The grilled mackerel wasn't over-seasoned and tasted great. Best of all, it's boneless so it's easy to eat, and the flesh was moist, pairing perfectly with rice.

If you have a kid who isn't great with loach soup, ordering something like grilled mackerel or pork cutlet alongside makes for an easy family meal.

Thin, crisp pork cutlet with creamy sauce

A pork cutlet fried thin and crispy, not thick at all. We had planned to just give the kids mackerel and rice, but ended up ordering the cutlet they love too — and sure enough, it was the biggest hit. The canned mandarin oranges on the side were refreshingly good too.

Is Irojeong worth it for a family meal in Gumi?

Visiting starving right after the game, Irojeong made family dining easy from start to finish — the parking, the waiting space, the speed of service, and the menu lineup all worked well. The kids happily polished off suyuk, potato pancake, and pork cutlet, and I demolished a bowl of loach soup loaded with jepi mixed into rice! A satisfying meal for a hungry family fresh off a game.🍚💙

They're also running a Naver review event, so be sure to grab the tasty ppeongtwigi (puffed rice snack) too. There wasn't anywhere to sit at the Irojeong café, so we grabbed a coffee and sikhye each and headed home.

• Large parking lot
• Table-ring waitlist available
• Café space for waiting
• Rooms available for reservation
• Hearty loach soup recommended