Kimchi udon and dumplings for solo diners in Cheomdan: Jinsim Wang

Let me introduce a pork cutlet spot in Cheomdan I visited last Friday. It's a place I revisited after a long time — Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Gwangju Cheomdan branch! 🍚🤍

Where is Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan, and where do you park?

Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan is located on the 1st floor at 6 Cheomdangangbyeon-ro 87beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea, and is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00.

🅿️ Parking: No dedicated lot. Please park on the back street and walk over! 🚗

Inside Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan: is it comfortable to eat alone?

The inside of Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan is much bigger and cleaner than it looks from outside! I went right after work on a weekday haha. The tables are spaced generously, so eating alone felt totally comfortable haha (I actually saw several other solo diners that day).

When you think 'pork cutlet restaurant,' you might picture something a bit cramped and busy, but Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan has a bright, casual overall vibe, which seemed great for a relaxed lunch.

Menu at Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan: pork cutlets and noodle dishes

Looking at the menu, as expected from a cutlet specialty shop, there were so many kinds of cutlets! From the basic giant pork cutlet to spicy giant cutlet, cheese cutlet, sweet potato cheese cutlet, and fish cutlet, plus noodle dishes like udon, kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup), naengmyeon (cold noodles), and jjolmyeon (chewy cold noodles), so you can pick whatever suits your taste ><ㅎ

What was ordered on this visit

• Jinsim Kimchi Udon (₩8,900)
• Jinsim Pork Cutlet Kimchi Nabe (₩11,900)
• Fried Dumplings (₩5,500)
• Zero Cider (₩2,000)

What's at the self-serve bar?

One of the things I really-really liked about Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan was the self-serve bar! 🥬 You can use it before or after your meal — from basic side dishes to warm soup and broth, you help yourself to as much as you need.

Lots of you love soup at a pork cutlet place, right? >_< I'm one of those people who likes a bowl of soup before the cutlet, so getting warm soup first made the whole meal feel extra hearty before it even started! And there was lettuce and ssamjang (seasoned dipping paste) too, so you could wrap the cutlet in lettuce — pretty unique haha.

Just wanted to flag these details for you too.

Between the soup and broth from the self-serve bar, our drinks, and the day's main and side dishes, the table was totally full!

Jinsim kimchi udon (8,900 won)

🍲 First up is the day's dish: Jinsim Kimchi Udon! Udon noodles in a spicy broth made with kimchi — a great pairing with the cutlet. Since the cutlet is crispy and savory, sipping the warm, spicy kimchi udon broth in between made the combo really work. The noodles were plump and the broth had a sharp kick, so it also seemed like it'd be good as a hangover cure ㅎ.ㅎ

Fried dumplings (5,500 won)

🥟 We also had the fried dumplings we ordered as a side hahaha. Just the cutlet and kimchi nabe felt a bit lacking, so we added a side, and munching on the crispy fried dumplings between bites, my hand kept reaching for more.

Jinsim pork cutlet kimchi nabe (11,900 won)

🥘 And the dish I was most curious about that day: Jinsim Pork Cutlet Kimchi Nabe! The cutlet sits inside the kimchi nabe (hot pot), which gives it a completely different feel from a regular cutlet. Eating the crispy cutlet on its own is delicious, but the cutlet soaked in the kimchi broth was a whole different, interesting experience.

The portion was so big I ended up buying a takeout container (₩1,000) to pack the rest — 😋 The staff were friendly, and the hall was super wide and comfortable, so I'm thinking of coming back to eat alone sometime. Happy Monday everyone, and enjoy a good lunch at Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu!