Late lunch fish cutlet with tartar sauce in Gwangsan, Gwangju: Jinsim

A trustworthy, great-value spot — Jinsim King Donkatsu!

I had an errand in Pyeongdong and found myself craving something cheesy and full of umami. While thinking about what to eat, I came across photos of cheese cutlet and fish cutlet — the cheese was practically overflowing, and the combo of fish cutlet and sauce looked so, so good, so I decided to go right away!

• Address: 11-13 Pyeongdong-ro 800beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju
• Hours: 10:00 ~ 21:00
• Parking: Available, very spacious lot

Parking and interior at Jinsim King Donkatsu Pyeongdong

This Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot sits just behind Songwon Butcher Restaurant. The parking lot is genuinely huge and easy to park in :)

The place inside is even more spacious and pleasant..! I visited well past lunchtime, at an awkward hour, so I could eat in peace. On one side were customers with kids, and on another were people who'd come in on the weekend for a late lunch after working.

A self-bar with lettuce wraps, soup, and broth

This Pyeongdong Station cutlet restaurant has this wide self-bar,

With basic side dishes like pickled radish and kimchi, plus — uniquely — lettuce wraps, so you can eat your cutlet wrapped up!

On top of that, there's the soup and warm broth that are the crown jewel of Western-style cutlet restaurants, so it really feels like a proper old-school cutlet joint ;)

Leftover cutlet? There's a self-service packing station

One of the best things about Jinsim King Donkatsu is this self-packing station..! Anyone who's been here knows — the prices are great, but the portions are massive. Especially if you order the Jinsim King Double Cutlet because the price difference is small... you might end up eating nothing but cutlet all day long haha. With portions this big, this self-packing station means you can pack up leftovers yourself without any awkwardness.

Jinsim King Donkatsu menu and prices

The menu at this Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot! It looks like jjolmyeon (chewy cold noodle) items like jjol cutlet and jjol cheese cutlet have been newly added!

• Jinsim King Cutlet ₩10,900
• Jinsim Spicy King Cutlet ₩11,900
• Jinsim King Double Cutlet (two palm-sized cutlets) ₩16,900
• Cheese Waterfall Cutlet ₩15,900
• Jinsim Jjol Cutlet (with jjolmyeon) ₩14,900

This Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot serves huge portions across a price range from the low ₩10,000s to mid ₩10,000s :) I'd already had my eye on the fish cutlet before I even arrived, plus I wanted the cheese cutlet — so I ordered the new jjolmyeon item, the Jinsim Jjol Cheese Cutlet, along with it — two dishes total!

I grabbed side dishes and broth from the self-bar and warmed myself up with the broth first ~! That exact broth flavor I remember from Gimbap Cheonguk and Gimbap Nara as a kid!

This soup is also unmissable. Exactly the taste of an old-school cutlet restaurant's soup! A flavor kids and adults alike will love — the soup at this Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot ;)

Before long, my order arrived — and here, a robot carries the food while a staff member does the actual serving.

On top is the Jinsim Jjol Cheese Cutlet, below is the Jinsim Fish Cutlet! The sauce on top is for the jjol cheese cutlet, the one below is for the fish cutlet. Just from the photo you can tell that fish cutlet sauce looks so good — and it really, really is.

Jinsim fish cutlet: the tartar sauce is something special

This is the Jinsim fish cutlet. Dishes at this Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot come with salad, corn, a small portion of rice, and even chili peppers.

I've loved fish cutlet since I was a kid, but that white tartar sauce... honestly, I was surprised by how good it actually was. I assumed it would just be the standard store-bought kind, but it's — how do I describe it — a little different and more special than usual, brighter and just the right amount of tangy with a lovely fragrance! It paired perfectly with the thick, crispy fish cutlet at Jinsim King Donkatsu.

The fish inside is thick and packed full. Totally different from those fish cutlets where the inside is hollow and you can't tell if it's just fried flour or actual fish! I expected it to be good, but it was far more satisfying than I imagined — a memorable dish ;)

The new jjolmyeon is perfect as a palate cleanser

This is the jjolmyeon that came with the Jinsim Jjol Cheese Cutlet — I set it aside first and ate it slowly. This surprised me too, being way better than expected... how does a cutlet restaurant make jjolmyeon this well? The noodles are springy and chewy, packed with all kinds of vegetables, and the seasoning is spicy-tangy through and through — perfect for taking a mouthful between bites of cutlet as a palate cleanser.

The Cheese Waterfall Cutlet lives up to its name

And then the Cheese Waterfall Cutlet, which was exactly what its name promised... just cutting into it made the cheese pour out like you see above — literally like a waterfall, just gushing out!

Look at this cheese... how could this possibly not be delicious. Good seasoning on the breading, good breading thickness, fresh meat inside, meat with just the right thickness, and cheese pouring out everywhere — the cheese cutlet at this Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot has it all!

To really taste the cheese, I ate it plain without any sauce for a while, savoring the nutty cheese flavor, then dipped it in sauce once in a while — and that umami hit is a whole different experience.

Honest overall review

Visiting this branch of Jinsim King Donkatsu near Pyeongdong Station, I definitely noticed there's some variation between locations. When I went to a different branch before, it wasn't quite this good, but this time the menu variety was great, the breading wasn't the least bit greasy, and the sauce seasoning was just right — not too strong — so overall it was a really satisfying meal.

When you're craving cutlet in Pyeongdong, or looking for a good-value lunch there, this Pyeongdong Station cutlet spot, Jinsim King Donkatsu, is the place to go!