Korean BBQ with a baby in Dunsan-dong, Daejeon: Imdaejang Dunsan

We're a meat-loving family, so we can't give up eating Korean BBQ out just because we have a baby. But grilling meat yourself while wrangling a baby is chaos — you can barely taste anything. Today's spot actually brings the meat out already grilled. I finally got to savor Korean BBQ again. Let me introduce Imdaejang in Dunsan-dong.

Where is Imdaejang Daejeon Dunsan Branch, and where do you park?

Imdaejang is located near Galleria Department Store. There's a basement parking lot in the building with room for about 10 cars, and they offer 2 hours of free parking. Parking wasn't too difficult, and there was space available on a weekday evening.

With the cool autumn breeze picking up, the restaurant had its doors wide open. It had that open-air pojangmacha (street tent) vibe — exactly the mood for eating meat at night.

Meat grilled in the kitchen means no smoke smell on your clothes

All the meat at Imdaejang is grilled in the kitchen before it comes out. So there's no meat smoke or smell lingering in the restaurant, which made it really pleasant. It was almost surprising that my clothes didn't smell like grilled meat on the way home.

What comes in the han-pan-gui set, and how long is the wait?

We ordered the han-pan-gui (one-pan grill) set with pork belly, pork neck, and pork skin. The side dishes come out first. It takes about 10–15 minutes for the meat to arrive. Since you're not grilling it yourself, that wait is nothing.

Finally the meat arrived. It comes on one big plate along with kimchi, bean sprout scallion salad, enoki mushrooms, water dropwort, and garlic. The stone plate itself was warm, so there was no need to turn on the burner at the table at all. They told us to light the burner only if the meat got cold... but even cold, it was delicious, so we never needed to. With nothing hot on the table, I didn't have to worry about the baby and could eat with real peace of mind.

Instead of myeoljeot (salted anchovy dip), Imdaejang serves a spicy sauce. Having a bit of spiciness mixed in here and there was really nice.

The meat was delicious, of course. Maybe because someone else grilled it, it somehow tasted even better. Even eating with a baby, I didn't break a single sweat, and we all got to enjoy the meal at the same time. This place would also be great for a group gathering or a date, since nobody has to be stuck grilling.

The pork skin included in the Imdaejang set

I don't usually order pork skin (껍데기) on its own, but since it came with the set, I got to try it. Chewy yet tender, with a deep, distinctly savory flavor — delicious, since it had been a while since I'd had it.

Which side dishes are free and which cost extra

The bean sprout scallion salad was so good I asked for a refill. Among the sides placed on the grill, enoki mushrooms and water dropwort need to be ordered as paid extras.

The doenjang stew from the Naver review perk

This is the doenjang (soybean paste) stew we received through the Naver review event. If you leave a Naver review, you can get pork skin or a stew for free. We chose doenjang over kimchi stew. Good choice! It tasted close to cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew), which suited my taste even more.

High chairs and seating for babies at Imdaejang Dunsan

Unfortunately there was no baby chair, but there is wall-side sofa seating. I brought a portable baby chair, but the baby refused it, so I ended up eating with her on my lap. Even so, because the meat came already grilled, I could still eat with much more ease. The baby also seemed to love the meat — she sat through the whole meal without a single tantrum, just chanting 'meat, meat.'

And on the way out, cool ice cream too!!

We ate really well. If you're in Dunsan-dong looking for Korean BBQ that comes already grilled, I recommend Imdaejang.