Packed Sunday dinner at a Jecheon Korean restaurant: Deulbabae

I visited Deulbabae, a Korean set-meal restaurant at Forest Resom in Jecheon. It's a great spot for anyone from little kids to grandparents!

Recommended for anyone who likes neat, tidy Korean food, wants a spacious and clean restaurant, or is staying at Forest Resom!

Where is Deulbabae Forest Resom Branch, and what is it like at dinner?

Deulbabae (들밥애) is a Korean restaurant on the 3rd floor of the Forest Club at Forest Resom in Jecheon. I went at 7:30 pm on a Sunday and there was no wait, but the place was already full!

Here's the inside!

Deulbabae's self-serve banchan refill and dessert corners

Deulbabae has a dessert corner and a banchan (side dish) refill corner, so if you run short on sides, just help yourself!

These are the kinds of banchan on offer!

Deulbabae menu, prices and how to order

You order at a kiosk, and the tables (bapsang, meal sets) start at 2 people. I wanted to try a bit of everything, so I got the Bomseol table (봄설밥상) for 2-3 people: set spread + seasoned jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork) + grilled mackerel + jeon (savory pancakes) = ₩62,000.

For groups of 4 or more, the Mansu-mugang table seemed to be a popular order! The menu is great for bringing elders too! Cutlassfish, barley gulbi (dried yellow corvina), soy-marinated crab, grilled mackerel... what a feast!

Ordering alcohol at Deulbabae: call a staff member

Oh, Deulbabae sells alcohol too! You can't order it at the kiosk, so call a staff member over!!

The beer is... one of those tiny beers. T_T Bummer.

What comes in the Bomseol Bapsang set?

The Bomseol table came out all at once about 30 minutes after I ordered! I think it was because lots of people came at the same time.

At a Korean restaurant? Stone-pot rice is the golden rule!! It had just come out and was steaming hot. You know the trick, right? Scoop out all the rice, pour in hot water, and make nurungji (scorched rice tea)!!

True to a Korean restaurant, the Deulbabae set had a wide variety of banchan! And what really moved me was that they even served cheonggukjang (a pungent fermented soybean stew), which is hard to eat at home. Total heart-melt...

Personally, my favorite banchan were the japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) and the braised eggplant!!! Also, the set is supposed to come with braised kodari (semi-dried pollock), but because of a kitchen issue it was replaced with soy-marinated crab! Even better!!!! Now let's dig into the mains one by one!

Soy-marinated crab: sweet, not fishy, a true rice thief

First up is the Deulbabae soy-marinated crab I was so looking forward to, haha

I normally can't eat soy-marinated crab because it tastes too fishy to me, but Deulbabae's had no fishy taste at all! The sauce is a little sweet, like jangjorim (soy-braised beef)!! With rice it's a true bapdoduk ("rice thief")!!! And it was packed with roe, so good!

Jeyuk pork stir-fry: the right balance of fat and lean

Next, Korea's soul food! Jeyuk-bokkeum

Deulbabae's jeyuk has no porky smell at all and is clean and mild. Some places give you all fat, or all lean meat that turns dry, but here the fat-to-lean ratio is golden, so it was tender and really delicious.

Grilled mackerel: a big piece, enough for two

The grilled fish you can always count on: grilled mackerel!

The mackerel was huge, just right for two people to share! It was grilled perfectly and so rich and nutty that I was satisfied! All three mains were delicious, so it was a very satisfying Korean meal!

Deulbabae spoon rating: would I go back?

• Taste - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Atmosphere - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Service - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Revisit - 100%

The food took a while at Deulbabae, but with the generous banchan lineup and even cheonggukjang, it's perfect for a family meal from kids to grandparents! The mains, jeyuk, grilled mackerel and soy-marinated crab, were all flawless with no off smell or fishiness. I left really satisfied and plan to come back with my parents!!