Free self-serve veggies & soup at Naju pork cutlet spot: Jinsim Wang

I came to Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Naju Innovation Branch, a lunch spot in Naju Innovation City. There are a lot of public institutions nearby, so this place is really popular for lunch!

Where to find Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Naju Innovation Branch

It's located behind the Korea Power Exchange in Naju, close to the Bitgaram Woomirin apartments.

It's packed with people at lunchtime. The place is popular because it's such good value — the cutlets are huge and the self-serve bar is free.

There's a reason 'king cutlet' is in the name!

Come with two people, there's leftovers. Come with three, still leftovers. At Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Naju Innovation Branch you're basically guaranteed to pack some home.

Turns out the 'king cutlet' in the name isn't just for show. The cutlets are so massive that there's a dedicated self-packing corner off to the side.

The self-serve corner with free cream soup and veggie wraps

A self-serve corner where you can help yourself to soup and lettuce wraps as much as you want!

One of the most appealing things here is the self-serve corner! These days most pork cutlet places have gone the Japanese-style route, so it's rare to find one that gives you cream soup. Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Naju Innovation Branch does — and since it's self-serve, you can eat as much as you like.

A pork cutlet restaurant that gives you lettuce wraps — how unusual!

Koreans apparently eat especially little vegetables, so let's not just eat pork cutlet — eat some veggies alongside it too!

And here's the unique part — just like at a Korean BBQ place, you can grab as many lettuce wraps as you want from the self-serve corner. I saw a news story recently saying Koreans' vegetable intake is especially low. But at Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Naju Innovation Branch, you can pile on unlimited lettuce wraps, so make sure to get your veggies in while you enjoy your cutlet!

I was enjoying the soup so much I was still eating it when a serving robot brought the food straight to my table.

What I ordered: jumbo shrimp and the jjolmyeon cheese cutlet

I wanted to try a variety of things, so I ordered the jumbo shrimp along with the jjolmyeon (spicy chewy noodles) cheese cutlet.

Jumbo shrimp (3pc) / ₩6,000

Plump, fat fried shrimp!! I really love fried shrimp, so getting both pork cutlet and fried shrimp is killing two birds with one stone!

Jinsim jjolmyeon cheese cutlet, ₩19,900

I'm serious about jjolmyeon, so I ordered the jjolmyeon cheese cutlet menu — it comes with spicy-sweet jjolmyeon alongside a cheese cutlet.

First you're amazed by the sheer size of the cutlet, then you're amazed again by the taste.

This is the jjolmyeon cheese cutlet I ordered, and the size was enormous. If you come here, just assume you're going to be packing your cutlet to go — literally every table was packing up leftover cutlet after finishing their meal. There's even a dedicated self-packing corner for it.

Spicy-sweet jjolmyeon!! The combo of cutlet and jjolmyeon is the best!!! If you like jjolmyeon, definitely order it alongside — the jjolmyeon is so good that other tables were ordering it as a standalone dish just to share!!

The cheese cutlet is genuinely loaded with cheese — like a waterfall of cheese pouring out!! Cut into the cutlet and the cheese comes streaming down!!

After eating the plump fried shrimp, the jjolmyeon, and the cutlet on top of that, I was seriously stuffed!! Everything was so delicious it was actually a shame I couldn't finish it all.

Take the leftovers home from the self-packing corner

Pack it up at the self-serve corner and enjoy it again deliciously at home.

But don't be sad about leftover food! At Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu, boxes and plastic bags are all prepared so you can pack things up yourself.

I put my leftover shrimp in a box too. No need to ask the owner separately — you just grab a box from the self-packing corner and fill it up, which made things really convenient.

Handmade king cutlet made with heart, at the Naju Innovation branch!! Plenty of baby chairs on hand, and above all, this much food for this price — such generous portions that it's a Naju Innovation City lunch spot that budget-conscious office workers can enjoy without any burden!