Gyeongsan set meal of spicy baby octopus, 4-hour parking: Cafe Dongi
In short
Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch is a Korean set-meal restaurant on the second floor of the main concert hall at Yeungnam University's Cheonma Art Center in Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk. Over a weekend lunch alone, the writer ordered the Grandmother's Stir-Fried Baby Octopus set meal, went back to the self-service bar for half a bowl more rice, and fried an egg to go with it. With 4 hours of parking covered, Cafe Dongi works well as a solo meal before a campus walk or a laptop session at the first-floor cafe.
Good to know
- Hours
- 10:30–20:30
- Break time
- 15:00–16:30
- Parking
- In front of the Yeungnam University Art Center building; 4 hours covered
- Location
- Second floor, main concert hall, Cheonma Art Center, Yeungnam University
- Ordered
- Grandmother's Stir-Fried Baby Octopus set meal
- Seating
- Mostly tables for four, plus six-seat tables and private rooms
- Self-service
- Rice cooker, hutgae (oriental raisin tree) tea, snacks, induction stove for frying eggs, tray return counter
as written by the visitor on Sep 6, 2026
Wow, there's finally a cool breeze in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk area and full-on autumn weather has arrived. I was meeting my boyfriend in the evening, so I was trying to figure out what to eat alone for weekend lunch, and ended up heading to Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch, a well-known spot in Gyeongsan.
Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch: hours, break time and 4-hour parking
Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch is on the 2nd floor of the main hall at Yeungnam University's Cheonma Art Center, open 10:30–20:30. Break time is 15:00–16:30, and you can park right in front of the Art Center building.
📍Hours 10:30–20:30 (break time 15:00–16:30)
📍Parking in front of the Yeungnam University Art Center building (your license plate gets scanned entering campus, but once inside you can park anywhere. Parking support is a whopping 4 hours ⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Yeungnam University really is huge, like open fields everywhere. I drove, and there was so much parking available that it put my mind at ease. Since Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch gives you a full 4 hours of parking support, it seems like a great idea to grab a meal and then take a walk around campus in this nice weather. I even brought my laptop, planning to get some work done afterward at the café on the 1st floor haha.
You enter through this way. There's also parking space right out front — if it's empty, that's probably the better spot.
There's an elevator too, so if you don't feel like taking the stairs, use that. It's only one floor up so I thought about walking, but my muscles were so sore from working out too much yesterday that I took the elevator instead haha...
Break time runs from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.
What the seating is like at Cafe Dongi: tables, private rooms and the full-window view
The interior of Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch was bigger than I expected. Most tables seat 4, with 6-person tables and even room seating available depending on your group size. The tables are also spaced quite far apart, so you won't hear conversations from neighboring tables — nice!
While looking around for a seat, I noticed the lush green trees outside the big windows made for a really nice view. I thought about sitting right by the window, but the sunlight was still pretty strong, so I picked a seat facing the window instead.
Eating alone: the Grandmother's Stir-Fried Baby Octopus set meal
I went back and forth looking at the menu at Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch, but since I'd been craving stir-fried octopus since yesterday, I didn't deliberate too long and ordered the Grandmother's Stir-Fried Octopus Set Meal. For anyone searching for a good restaurant near Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan, this seems like a solid choice for a clean, reasonably priced full spread.
The self-service bar: free rice refills, hutgae tea and fry-your-own eggs
The self-service bar at Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch has simple snacks, hutgae tea (a Korean raisin tree tea), and a big rice cooker, so if your rice runs low, you just help yourself to more.
There's even a station where you can fry your own eggs — three induction burners with a whole stack of eggs lined up in front. With egg prices these days, I was surprised they'd let you go at it so freely. So I looked around to see how the place actually operates, and...
Serving is done by a robot, and there's a return counter where customers bus their own trays after eating, so labor costs are kept low — which is probably exactly what makes a service like this possible. Honestly, from a customer's point of view, this setup seems better anyway. With reasonable prices too, I bet a lot of students come here to eat.
How the Cafe Dongi set meal actually tasted
At Cafe Dongi Yeungnam University Art Center Branch, once you order, a clean full spread like this shows up. While I was busy frying my egg, I noticed the serving robot heading toward my table from way off, so I rushed over, set it down, and went right back to my egg lol.
The Grandmother's Stir-Fried Octopus even had these cute little rice cakes mixed in. It wasn't overly spicy or heavy, and it really felt like homemade food, so I even went back for a half bowl more of rice and finished it all. If you're looking for a restaurant near Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan and want a simple, no-frills meal, I think I'd come back here again.
I also carefully enjoyed the omija tea (five-flavor berry tea) that came with the meal, plus two desserts, then walked out patting my full belly.
Where it is
280 Daehak-ro, Yeungnam University Cheonma Art Center, main hall 2nd floor, Cafe Dongi, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea경상북도 경산시 대학로 280 영남대학교 천마아트센터 대공연장 2층 카페동이
