Pangyo soba restaurant for chilled buckwheat noodles: Godai Kitchen

Today was a hectic day from the moment I woke up. Maybe because I was so exhausted, cooking felt like way too much effort...

Just thinking about making a meal made my battery drop to 1%. So I decided today's lunch would definitely be a relaxed meal out.

Location and hours of Godai Kitchen Lunch Special

Godai Kitchen Lunch Special is a Japanese restaurant located in B102, basement floor, Samhwan Hipex Building A, Sampyeong-dong, Pangyo. It's open weekdays 11:00–20:30 and weekends 10:00–20:00, with a break time from 15:00–16:30. Free parking support is also available.

• Name: Godai Kitchen Lunch Special
• Address: 240 Pangyoyeok-ro, Samhwan Hipex Building A, B1 B102, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, South Korea (Sampyeong-dong 678, 13493)
• Hours: Weekdays 11:00–20:30 / Weekends 10:00–20:00
• Break time: 15:00–16:30
• Parking: Free parking support

Craving katsu and soba, I headed to Samhwan Hipex

I was craving 'katsu' with that satisfying crunch, and 'cold soba' with icy chilled broth, so I quickly searched it up. That's how I ended up heading toward Godai Kitchen, the soul food of office workers in Sampyeong-dong, Pangyo, located inside Samhwan Hipex!

In a clean, cozy atmosphere, it's a place where you can enjoy classic Japanese home cooking at reasonable prices in the ₩10,000 range.

Crispy pork loin katsu plus cool soba~ maybe because it's exactly the food I crave when I'm exhausted~ it felt like my chest opened up, like the best tonic ever.

If you're a Pangyo office worker who keeps agonizing over 'what should I eat for lunch today?'~ this is Godai Kitchen Lunch Special, the real Sampyeong-dong gem that nearby office workers can't stop raving about.

An atmosphere that works for solo dining and family meals alike

Not only is the menu lineup rich and varied~ the interior is spacious too, so it looked great for a quick office lunch, solo dining, or a cozy weekend family meal.

Today I tried the icy cold naengmomil that's refreshing down to your bones, the chewy springy zaru soba, and on top of that the thick pork katsu with crispy outside and juicy inside, plus butadon~ the balance of crispy and cool was absolutely amazing.

Even though it was a weekend, the delivery notification kept going 'ding-dong, ding-dong' nonstop, and customers kept streaming in?

Decision paralysis at the menu board, ordering three mains

I had the happy dilemma of standing in front of the menu board at the restaurant. All my favorite dishes were gathered in one place~ haha, I was seriously stuck with decision paralysis right there at the menu board.

On top of that, the mouthwatering photos on the menu made it even harder to focus. So I ordered the signature menu posted on the wall along with soba I'd been craving since morning.

There were so many dishes I wanted to try that I ended up ordering three main dishes to share generously. When the food arrived, I couldn't help but gasp in admiration.

Icy cold naengmomil and zaru soba

Wait, can buckwheat noodles really be this chewy? The moment I took a sip of the icy broth, it felt like this summer's heat literally melted away like snow.

The broth is made through a careful 9-step process, and you could really tell — the depth of flavor was on another level. Honestly, out of everything I ate that day, this was my personal favorite pick!

And maybe because they use high-quality buckwheat noodles with a high buckwheat content, the more you chew, the springier and chewier the texture gets — truly artful.

48-hour aged tare sauce butadon

Feeling like cold soba alone wouldn't be quite enough, I ordered Godai Kitchen Lunch Special's signature butadon. It comes as a generous set with mini udon included too~

'Butadon with 48-hour aged tare sauce'

Since it's a Sapporo-style pork belly rice bowl made with tare sauce aged for a full 48 hours, the sauce soaks completely into the rice and meat, and the moment I took a bite I thought, 'Wow, this is seriously addictive!'

The portion was so generous that after one big scoop of rice, I felt satisfied all the way down.

Triple katsu with pork loin cutlet, shrimp tempura, and karaage

This is the triple katsu, where you can generously enjoy pork loin cutlet, handmade shrimp tempura, and chicken karaage together. The pork cutlet uses '100% domestic Korean pork.'

For a weekday solo lunch, the portion might feel a bit much~

but it's really great to share bit by bit when visiting with family.

It's not just a plain plate of katsu on its own — it comes as a set with crispy shrimp tempura and karaage too, so you get to enjoy a variety of fried flavors on one plate. True to a Japanese katsu specialty restaurant, the meat is thick, and the chewy bite was simply artful.

Why I'd recommend it for lunch in Pangyo

It was a spontaneous lunch decision here in Pangyo~ but it ended up being such a delicious meal.

If you're looking for a great lunch spot around Sampyeong-dong, Pangyo, I genuinely recommend 'Godai Kitchen.' Located inside Samhwan Hipex, it's a beloved go-to for nearby office workers, with everything from rice bowls to rich curry, thick pork katsu, and cool soba — a great place to visit with a group and share a variety of dishes.