Gimhae Chinese restaurant lunch course B with gochu japchae: Dongbaek

How long is the weekend lunch wait at Dongbaek in Dongsang-dong, Gimhae?

Today I visited Dongbaek, the famous course-meal Chinese restaurant in Dongsang-dong, Gimhae! Just the exterior is impressive — you can feel the presence of a place that's stood watch over the neighborhood for years~ I was excited even before going in, and I made it out for a weekend lunch!

Open daily 11:00–21:00, break time 15:30–16:30, last order 20:20. There's underground parking! If the underground lot is full, use the second lot (114-2 Dongsang-dong). You'll have to walk a bit!

I think I got there around 12:40, a little past lunchtime? And even then there was a wait!! There were more people waiting behind me too, but the line dropped off fast! Tables turn over quickly, so time your visit well haha.

When I arrived there were 4 parties including mine! I waited about 30 minutes to get in, and while I waited it grew to 8 parties haha. Having a wait for a neighborhood restaurant??? That's a sign of a good one!

There are waiting chairs too~~

Inside Dongbaek: hall and private room seating

As we walked in, a group was leaving right as we arrived~ so we all went in together~ it was pretty relaxed by the time we left~~ Chinese restaurants are better with round tables, I think. Eating at a round table somehow feels more atmospheric!! The interior had a slightly upscale Chinese-restaurant feel too.

Dongbaek in Gimhae also offers full-venue booking, with private rooms well set up for dol janchi (first birthday parties), sangyeonrye (family meeting before marriage), wedding receptions and more! It almost felt like there were more rooms than open hall seating??? Rooms seat anywhere from 4 up to maybe 26 people! But if you book the whole place... does the room capacity even matter ^^ When I visited on the weekend, a family birthday party was in full swing~

Lunch Special Course B at Dongbaek: how is it different from Course A?

The course I ordered today was the Lunch Special Course B! There's also a Course A — the difference is whether it includes gochu japchae (stir-fried peppers and pork) or not! My mom loves gochu japchae so we went with B!

Besides the lunch courses, there was also a Dongbaek course — a version with dim sum or shrimp dishes~ The Jinsihwang course<< this one seems great for a sangyeonrye course, and for a family outing, the family set menu looks just right! Haemul yonggungtang (seafood soup),,,, now I'm curious,,, I'll definitely come back with a party of 5!

There are plenty of other à la carte dishes too, and the name Jjunghwa bibim-myeon alone caught my attention!

Side dishes and the self-serve bar at Dongbaek

Danmuji (pickled radish), onion, and chunjang (black bean paste) come out as basics~ and beyond that, you can help yourself to jasmine tea, jjasai, and more from the self-serve bar!

The jasmine tea was lovely and fragrant~ and this place,,, is a jjasai destination! Some places make it too bland, but this one really hit the spot!

Course B starts with cold appetizers and abalone porridge

First came the naengchae (cold appetizer) and abalone porridge! You're meant to mix them together~ there's naengchae sauce pooled underneath, so give it a stir before taking a bite! It had jellyfish, abalone, shrimp and more in it, and eating this first really got my appetite going~

The nutty abalone porridge~ this one had sesame oil drizzled on top too, so mix it in and eat. So nutty and savory haha.

Dongbaek's yusanseul, eaten with crushed fried noodles

Next up was yusanseul (stir-fried seafood and vegetables)! This was actually my first time trying yusanseul at a Chinese restaurant! And wow... I fell for that yusanseul! I think from now on when I go to a Chinese restaurant I'll order yusanseul instead of chili shrimp. And eating it with the crushed fried noodles on top? There are truly no words;;;

It's just so, so good!

Plump shrimp piled high, plenty of squid too, and mixing in the crushed noodles makes it crunchy and thick and delicious! Right as I was thinking this place is a yusanseul destination, the sirloin tangsuyuk arrived!

Fresh sirloin tangsuyuk in pink sauce

Unusually, the fresh sirloin tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) came drizzled with a pink sauce! The batter is thin but the crunch is the ultimate crispy-crispy!! And the meat was so tender.... After just two dishes, ah,,, I got why people wait for this place!!

A crisp bite of onion with the tangsuyuk is the best combo,,,

Yurin-gi made with chicken thigh

Next came the yurin-gi (fried chicken in a tangy sauce). You know how pork gets tangsuyuk and chicken gets yurin-gi or kkanpunggi, right?? Personally I've always liked kkanpunggi more, but after trying this tender yurin-gi, turns out I liked yurin-gi too??? A wedge of lemon comes alongside so you can squeeze it on generously!

Doesn't it look so tender in the photo? It was made entirely from chicken thigh meat so it was an extremely soft yurin-gi!! Absolutely delicious! This place really is a dish-by-dish standout;;;

Why order Course B: gochu japchae with flower buns

Next up was the gochu japchae! I'd only ever had gochu japchae from a company cafeteria or,,, school lunch? kind of place, but trying Dongbaek's version here in Gimhae, I finally understood why my mom loves it! Onion, bell pepper, chili and other vegetables, all julienned, with plenty of meat~ wrapping it in the flower bun was absolutely delicious!

And what my mom said,,, the flower buns here are so much softer than the ones from the supermarket~ hahaha, funny.

Having so much meat in it made it even better 😁

The rice-and-noodle course: one jjajangmyeon, one jjamppong

The final course~ the meal and dessert came next~

We ordered one jjajangmyeon and one jjamppong to share! The jjamppong had half a whole crab in it! Packed full of meat~ the jjamppong wasn't so much fiery-spicy as it was deep and rich in flavor!! Probably because it was loaded with seafood haha.

The jjajangmyeon had that sweet, old-school jjajang flavor that adults and kids alike can enjoy! Some people really love this kind of old-fashioned jjajang. My mom included haha.

Dessert: pineapple and fried crackers with condensed milk

For dessert to finish things off, we got pineapple and a fried cracker drizzled with condensed milk~ eating the refreshing pineapple helped digestion along, ha ha. That condensed-milk-drizzled cracker was so sweet, my hand kept reaching for more! I'd planned to hit a café afterward,,, but after dessert at Dongbaek, all thoughts of a café completely disappeared!

When you're done and heading out, you even get to take a coffee to go~~ A perfectly complete finish to a Gimhae course-meal Chinese restaurant, Dongbaek! Had exactly the delicious lunch I wanted with my mom haha. Highly, highly recommend!