Sokcho restaurant with kids' meal trays: Deungdae Gotgan

Since it's summer vacation in August, I wanted to post about the restaurants we visited during our Sokcho trip. Day one was a stir-fried octopus place, day two a tofu restaurant, and day three a potato bread place — stay tuned haha.

So today, first up, let me introduce the stir-fried octopus restaurant "Deungdae Gotgan" in front of Deungdae Beach in Sokcho, which we visited on Friday, August 7th.

Where Deungdae Gotgan is and when it opens

Deungdae Gotgan sits in front of Deungdae Beach, between Jangsa Port and Dongmyeong Port. From Sokcho Beach it was about 3km, an 8-minute drive.

• 📍 Address: 109 Yeongnang-haean-gil, Sokcho, Gangwon, South Korea, 2nd floor
• ⏰ Hours: 08:00–17:00
• 🗓 Closed: Every Wednesday

✨ Isn't it really rare for a place to open at 8am? I absolutely love restaurants where you can take your kids for breakfast at a tourist spot, ㅠㅠ

Parking was street parking in a single line, and even though we went on a weekend, it wasn't hard to find a spot.

The building had two floors — the first floor seemed to be the kitchen, and the second floor had the dining room, restroom, and counter.

The calligraphy signs displayed on the stairs going up had such nice sayings that my daughter and I read each one as we climbed up to the restaurant. The dining room was set up with tables for four and group seating.

Deungdae Gotgan menu and prices

Deungdae Gotgan's basic menu lineup is jjaglak-ji (₩14,000), pork cutlet (₩14,000), stir-fried pork (₩13,000), and octopus hangover soup (₩13,000). There were also side menus like somyeon noodles, cheese, and fried rice.

Since we went with two kids, we ordered jjaglak-ji for two (₩28,000) and pork cutlet (₩14,000).

The second-floor seats with a full ocean-view window

Is this really an octopus restaurant's view? ㅠㅠ Most places with a full ocean-view window are raw fish restaurants or big chains ㅠㅠ, so waiting for our food in such a cozy little restaurant while looking out at the wide sea made me feel so good. It was lovely to spend time with the kids watching the ocean while we waited for the food.

Why Deungdae Gotgan works with kids: banchan and kids' tableware

The basic side dishes were cold bean sprout soup, pickled radish, seasoned cucumber, seaweed, fish cake, bean sprouts, and young radish kimchi. It was so nice that there were dishes the kids could eat too.

They even had a kids' tray, kids' spoon, and high chair all set up, which I really appreciated. Most places only have spoons or forks, but here they even had a divided tray ready.

How does the jjaglak-ji taste?

After setting up the kids first, we brought out our octopus stew. Doesn't it look so good ㅠㅠ The seasoning was spicy and savory, and it was so tasty. The octopus was also more tender than I expected.

When it was bubbling away, the owner brought over a separate mixing bowl so we could mix it up as rice — isn't mixing it the real way to enjoy jjaglak-ji?!

I thought a lot about adding somyeon noodles, but held back for fear my mouth would burn ㅠㅠ They even had instructions posted on how to enjoy jjaglak-ji 200% — worth a look haha.

The kids finished off their pork cutlet and salad completely. My son said this place's pork cutlet is so good and he wants to come back next time haha. Passed the test... lol.

A mom's take on eating out with two young kids in Sokcho

Even on a trip, a mom with a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old still ends up planning meals around the kids' menu. I wanted to enjoy seafood since we came to the sea, but there was never anything for the kids, so I used to just pack seaweed sheets..... I wish there were more places like Deungdae Gotgan. With cold bean sprout soup, stir-fried fish cake, bean sprouts as sides, and pork cutlet for the kids, moms can enjoy their own meal without any guilt ㅠ