Gunpo Korean restaurant for a baby-friendly dinner: Deodolpan Sanbon

I heard there was a new spot in Sanbon, so I went to check it out. This time it was Deodolpan!

When you're hunting for a good meal in Sanbon, you usually end up looking for places with everything from meat dishes to stir-fries, and this place caught my eye because they cook on a hot stone plate.

Since I was going with my baby, it mattered whether there was something my little one could eat, and thankfully we could order cheese jjapaguri (cheese-topped black bean noodles) and rice balls for the baby too. Being a newly opened place, the whole restaurant was clean and pleasant, which made a great first impression — Deodolpan, a Gunpo Sanbon restaurant worth knowing about.

First impressions of the signature oje bokkeum set for three

I love hunting down new restaurants, so I tried the signature oje bokkeum set for three at the newly opened Deodolpan. What satisfied me most right away was the generous portion. With the three-person order, there was plenty of squid and meat, so I never felt short on the main ingredients, and since it stays warm on the hot stone plate, it was delicious right down to the last bite. The squid was plump and chewy, and the meat was soft and juicy, well soaked in a salty-sweet-spicy sauce.

Weekday evening atmosphere

We went on a weekday evening, and maybe because it was a bit early, the place still felt quiet. With its open windows, it was a really nice space to eat in during this cool weather.

How spicy should you go?

You could choose your spice level, and we went with the base option. Halfway through I wondered if I should've gone a notch spicier, but in the end the base level was plenty spicy! If you can handle Shin Ramyun, I'd recommend the base level.

Self-serve banchan corner and the set composition

After ordering, I checked out the self-serve corner. There were perilla leaves and pickled side dishes, and the seasoned bean sprouts were especially good! Mixing them into the oje bokkeum also helped tone down the spice level, which was great.

For the first round, the banchan (side dishes) come out on a tray, and after that it's self-serve.

Rice is included in the set, and it comes in a good-sized bowl, perfect for mixing with the oje bokkeum!

Doenjang soup is also part of the set, and since it was for three people, it came out in a generous portion! You can also swap it for cheonggukjang for an extra charge.

How much squid and pork do you actually get?

The main dish we ordered that day was the oje bokkeum set for three! I liked that it combines both squid and meat so you get to enjoy both at once. When it arrived, I was surprised at just how much food there was.

I figured a three-person order would come with a decent amount, but seeing it piled high on the hot stone plate, I knew we'd be properly full. I especially liked that there was plenty of squid and meat.

With stir-fry dishes, you sometimes end up with mostly vegetables and sauce and not enough of the main ingredient, but with Deodolpan's oje bokkeum, every bite of squid or meat came with a satisfying chunk.

The oje bokkeum, sizzling hot off the stone plate, was appetizing just to look at. The sauce was thickly soaked into every ingredient, the squid had a glossy sheen, and the meat looked perfectly cooked — I couldn't wait to dig in.

When I picked up a piece of squid with my chopsticks, I could really feel that plump, chewy texture. The more I chewed, the more the squid's clean, savory flavor came through, and with the spicy, savory sauce added on top, it really woke up my appetite!

There was also a generous amount of jjolmyeon (chewy noodles) mixed in, which was fun to slurp up, and the meat was soft and moist, well soaked in sauce. The savory flavor from the meat combined with the chewy texture of the squid gave it a different kind of fun compared to a stir-fry with just one main ingredient.

The sauce and the perks of the hot stone plate

I also liked the flavor of the sauce. At first the spiciness hits you, but as you keep eating, a salty-sweet, savory note follows. It's not a sauce that's spicy just for the sake of being spicy — it clings nicely to the squid and meat, making it great to eat with rice.

I also liked that the food stays warm the whole time on the hot stone plate, so you can eat it piping hot right to the end. Piling a piece of meat and a piece of squid onto your rice is fun texture-wise too — the soft meat and springy squid alternate in every bite, so my chopsticks kept going back for more.

Cheese jjapaguri and rice balls, ordered for the baby

Since my baby came along, we ordered cheese jjapaguri and rice balls separately. Bottom line: my baby ate them up happily. The cheese jjapaguri had a soft, savory cheese flavor that worked well for a little kid, and with the noodles cut into small pieces, my baby munched away happily. The rice balls were also easy to pick up by hand, which made them great for a baby's meal.

But here's another delicious combo I discovered! I ate the cheese jjapaguri plain at first, but later put a bit on the hot stone plate with the spicy sauce from the oje bokkeum, and it was surprisingly delicious too.

The savory, mild flavor of the cheese jjapaguri combined with the spicy stir-fry sauce gave it a slightly spicy, richer flavor. The naturally sweet, savory taste of the jjapaguri itself, boosted by the umami of the oje bokkeum sauce, actually suited adult tastes quite well too.

My baby happily ate the cheese jjapaguri and rice balls while we filled up on the oje bokkeum — the menu lineup worked out really well for us.

Wrap-up

If you're looking for a newly opened restaurant in Sanbon, or craving a hearty stir-fry dish among Gunpo Sanbon restaurants, I'd recommend trying the oje bokkeum set at Deodolpan. Next time we visit, I'd like to try some other menu items too. This was our review of Deodolpan, a Gunpo Sanbon restaurant, where we had a filling meal with plenty of squid and meat in the oje bokkeum.