School-break katsu lunch for two in Cheonan's Buldang-dong: Jinsim

During summer break I'm cooking three meals a day plus snacks, and we're only halfway through!! Eating out is the only way to survive haha. So we went back to our favorite pork cutlet place in Buldang-dong for the udon and cutlet my kid loves, and it was still as clean and comfortable as ever — packed with customers too!!

Inside Jinsim Wang Donkatsu Cheonan Buldang right after opening

We got there right after opening and were basically the third table in?? Haha. There were already some customers at the sofa seats and the tables in front of them, so I only photographed the empty side. Even in summer heat, the blue and green tones look so pretty ^^ Instant healing time looking out through the huge picture window lol. It's always so clean that you can actually enjoy the view through that window!

As a mom who really loves clean places, this open kitchen + spotless self-serve bar at Jinsim Wang Donkatsu, a favorite pork cutlet spot in Buldang-dong, passes with flying colors on this front!!

What we ordered: half udon katsu set and pork cutlet kimchi nabe

We come here often so the menu's pretty set haha. My kid ordered the pork cutlet with half udon set, and I was going to get cold memil noodles to cool off, but !! since a cool breeze was blowing this morning, I finally ordered the pork cutlet kimchi nabe I'd passed on twice before because it was too hot ^^^^ + since it's hot, one drink each~!!

What's at the Jinsim Wang Donkatsu self-serve bar?

Now that a cool breeze is starting to blow morning and evening, I finally feel like eating hot food again haha. The self-serve bar instructions are kindly posted, and beyond the water, side dishes, vegetables, apron and plates listed there, they've also got kids' tableware!! And the side dishes and veggies aren't just kimchi and pickled radish — there's lettuce and ssamjang too, plus udon broth and even soup! It's dangerous! Watch out for filling up before the main dish arrives lol. Especially the soup! You really have to be careful, careful, careful with the soup since it fills you up so much!

It was just the two of us today without dad, so I only brought back enough lettuce for myself and a little soup for my kid. We'd already ordered udon, so no need for the udon broth!! Haha.

A little pepper sprinkled on the soup haha. Ever since coming to Jinsim Wang Donkatsu, a Buldang-dong pork cutlet favorite, my kid got completely hooked on this cream soup lol. Back in daycare and kindergarten days, this kid used to gag at the sight of soup, but got into it here at Jinsim... Today they even complained I only brought a little bit .........haha (on days I bring a lot because they ask for more, they barely eat any pork cutlet after, so soup portions must be controlled lol. Sorry kid..haha)

Such an interesting place where you wrap the pork cutlet in lettuce! Which makes me even happier haha. You grab lettuce and ssamjang and can go full veggie-protein-carb combo haha. Fold up the lettuce carefully and dip it in ssamjang and isn't that basically a Korean salad???

They thoughtfully brought our drinks first, knowing we were thirsty!! One drink each, gotta do it right haha.

Why the half udon set came with the sauce on the side

Here's the half udon set!! I ordered it with the sauce on the side, and the reason is simple! We've never once managed to finish this pork cutlet haha. If the sauce is already poured on, you have to toss whatever's left lol.

The king cutlet itself isn't thin, and the size is amazing on top of that. Really hard to order just one per person haha.

They call it half udon but it really feels like a full bowl of udon, doesn't it?? Of course, my kid ate every single noodle solo — didn't see that coming. Big appetite today?!?! Great, love it!!!! ^^ Eat like this every day, sweetie~~♡

Cut the king cutlet neatly with tongs and scissors! And digging in!! Haha. Since there's a plate at the self-serve bar, I grab it and portion out udon, cutlet and rice for my kid first, and they eat it all up happily — that's why this place is a true Buldang-dong pork cutlet favorite!! I made a wrap with the leftover lettuce for myself. It felt a bit odd the first time, but after a few visits, it's such an unexpected pairing!!!!! I cut up the fresh green chili that comes on the side with scissors too and wrapped it in with everything.

Pork cutlet kimchi nabe: so filling the rice went untouched

Finally, my true favorite pork cutlet kimchi nabe (jeongol-style hot pot) arrived!! Not many places make nabe to my taste, but this one passes ^^

The portion is also sooo huge that I couldn't even touch the bowl of rice that came with it. Because if I ate it with rice, I'd never finish the whole nabe ㅠ So I decided to give up on the rice!!

The pork cutlet inside the nabe feels even thicker!! So I did the same thing haha — portioned it onto a plate, cut it with scissors, then topped it with egg wash and kimchi and chomped down — this is truly Korean-style pork cutlet!!! The kimchi nabe is really popular haha, I'm the third table but all three tables including us have a kimchi nabe each haha. Wrap the pork cutlet kimchi nabe in lettuce too!!

Oh my, I missed the group shot while eating! Haha. Did I cut the king cutlet too small? Haha. Maybe that's why my kid ate even more happily haha. I only had one bite of that king cutlet — my kid ate the entire set udon and more than half the cutlet all alone!! As expected, good thing I didn't give too much soup haha.

Nemo (the fish cake) in the udon always goes uneaten by my kid..haha. Guess they just can't bring themselves to eat it .??haha Anyway, it's always mine haha.

Packing up the leftover king cutlet at the self-packing counter

I cleared my pork cutlet kimchi nabe! (Rice untouched though!?) My kid cleared the udon. The leftover king cutlet went into a container from the self-packing counter to take home haha. We always have pork cutlet sauce at home anyway!! Haha.

Cold memil noodles. Cold jjolmyeon. Bibimbap. Cheese cutlet. Jjolmyeon. Everything's delicious at Jinsim Wang Donkatsu, our favorite spot in Buldang-dong!! Now that it's starting to cool off, next time I'm coming to crush the kalguksu, another Cheonan favorite *^^*