Gimhae B-set lunch with parents, 20,000 won: Gaya Kkeutjip Samgye

Gimhae Korean restaurant A Samgye-dong spot that's good to take your parents to Gaya Kkeutjip 🚗 6 Garo181beon-gil, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, 1st floor ⏰ 11:00 ~ 21:00 🎈 15:30 ~ 17:00 break time

I went for a weekday lunch at Gaya Kkeutjip, the Samgye-dong restaurant that's great for family meals with parents. I'd been twice before and had been meaning to go back, so when I saw they were recruiting for a review campaign, I quickly applied and headed over.

Is there parking at Gaya Kkeutjip Samgye?

Gaya Kkeutjip has its own parking lot, which made getting there by car easy. It's a restaurant on Garo181beon-gil in Samgye-dong, Gimhae, so I parked and headed straight inside to grab a seat.

Busy even at weekday lunch in Samgye-dong, Gimhae

This Samgye-dong restaurant is always packed at lunchtime, and today was no exception — barely a seat to be found among the lunch crowd.

Gaya Kkeutjip has an open kitchen and grills fish over a clay oven, so you get fish that's golden-brown and crisp with the excess fat well rendered off.

Gaya Kkeutjip Samgye menu and B-set price

Gaya Kkeutjip's B-set costs ₩20,000 per person. This Samgye-dong set-menu restaurant serves gochujang bulgogi, bossam (boiled pork wraps), steamed skate, and grilled fish as mains, alongside a spread of side dishes. The menu runs from A-set to B-set to C-set, plus an oyster bossam set and more. I ordered the B-set.

After a quick trip to wash my hands, I sat back down for a bit of chat and the set arrived in no time. The B-set I had — clay-oven grilled mackerel and bossam with a full lineup of side dishes — made for a very filling lunch table.

Here's a short video look at the B-set table, filled with clay-oven grilled fish and bossam.

What side dishes come with the B-set

Beyond the mains, Gaya Kkeutjip's B-set comes with a full spread of Korean set-meal side dishes. I've come here once before with a group and once with my mother-in-law — this is a popular Samgye-dong spot for Chuseok holidays, weekend family meals, or gatherings, since parents tend to love the variety of banchan (side dishes).

The B-set I ordered turned out to be a hearty meal — clay-oven grilled mackerel and bossam plus a good number of side dishes.

Bossam dipped in garlic soy sauce

The main event of the B-set

Clay-oven grilled mackerel and bossam. The mackerel is grilled golden and crisp on the outside while staying moist inside, and the mild, savory bossam comes with dried radish strips, cabbage kimchi, garlic soy sauce, lettuce, and cabbage. Apparently it's one of the most popular items at Gaya Kkeutjip.

First, bossam with dried radish strips and garlic!

Whether wrapped in lettuce or piled on rice, the real charm of the B-set's bossam is the garlic soy sauce. The sharp garlic aroma with the sweet-and-tangy soy sauce made the mild, savory bossam even softer and more delicious.

Honestly, the grilled fish and bossam are the number one reason to come to this Samgye-dong restaurant that's great for a meal with parents.

Clay-oven mackerel: crisp outside, tender inside

Golden-brown mackerel straight from the clay oven

You can't recreate this texture or flavor at home, which is exactly why Gaya Kkeutjip is a great Samgye-dong pick to bring your parents to. The B-set's clay-oven mackerel is crisp outside, tender inside!!

It's also great wrapped in Sinan gopchang gim (thick-cut laver)!!

For me, the seaweed soup, yeolmu (young radish) kimchi, and seokbakji (radish kimchi) stood out, while my mother said the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and seasoned crab were the best. Of course, the clay-oven mackerel and bossam needed no introduction as the mains. All the other side dishes were tasty enough that I cleared my whole bowl of rice — a filling lunch of grilled fish, bossam, and a full spread of banchan at this Samgye-dong restaurant that's great for taking your parents to.

Mint candies and plum juice to finish the meal

On the way out, I grabbed the free mint candies and had a cool glass of plum juice for dessert — a nice way to wrap up a meal at this Samgye-dong favorite.