Bongdam sukiyaki lunch with tuna belly sashimi, Hwaseong: Sindong Lab

Sindong Lab is famous as a Japanese food spot for its rice bowls, tabletop grill, and sukiyaki, and I visited to try everything from rice bowls to grilled skewers, gyukatsu (breaded pork cutlet), and sukiyaki all in one place.

I usually like Japanese-style rice bowls or grilled dishes, but that day I was really craving something warm with a rich broth — sukiyaki. So after some thought, I landed on Sindong Lab. If you're looking for a Bongdam restaurant, a spot near Suwon University, or a Japanese place in general, this is worth a visit.

Parking at Sindong Lab Bongdam: public lot free for 90 minutes

Sindong Lab has a dedicated parking area right in front, so it's convenient to drive here. But I visited during the busiest lunch hour, and sure enough, so many people came for lunch that the lot in front was completely full. Haha, sob.

Using the public parking lot gets you 90 minutes free, so parking wasn't as much of a burden as I'd feared. If you're visiting during a busy time like lunch or weekends, the lot in front might be full, so it's good to know about the public lot as a backup. I was worried about parking, but I was glad there was an alternative nearby.

Sindong Lab menu: rice bowls, gyukatsu, soba and sukiyaki

One of Sindong Lab's biggest strengths is the variety of menu choices! You'll find rice bowls, tabletop grill, gyukatsu, sukiyaki, soba, and more. That's probably why so many people looking for a spot near Suwon University, a family dinner, or a date place end up here.

Appetizers at Sindong Lab: warm soup and omija tea

While waiting for the food to arrive, a simple appetizer came out first — warm soup and omija tea (five-flavor berry tea).

It was nice to have something to eat and drink lightly while waiting for the meal. Waiting a long time for the main dish can get a little boring, but having this pre-meal course made the wait feel much shorter. I especially liked feeling that this small touch showed they were thinking of the customer. Personally, I really appreciated this kind of thoughtful service from Sindong Lab.

What we ordered: sukiyaki set and sukiyaki signature

• Sukiyaki set
• Sukiyaki signature

That day I really wanted to properly enjoy sukiyaki, so I chose both menus centered around it.

How Sindong Lab's sukiyaki tastes: simmered in soy sauce broth

In the end, the most satisfying dish that day was, as expected, the sukiyaki. From the moment the food arrived at the table, it looked quite generous. Plenty of vegetables and meat, plus udon noodles, made this more than enough for a full meal.

The sweet and salty soy sauce-based broth that's characteristic of sukiyaki had soaked well into the ingredients, and eating the meat and vegetables together made for a great balance of flavors. Simmering the ingredients thoroughly in the broth really let the seasoning soak into the meat and vegetables. If you like sukiyaki, this setup will likely satisfy you.

How much meat, vegetables and udon come with the sukiyaki

Isn't the charm of sukiyaki being able to enjoy a variety of ingredients at once? Sindong Lab's sukiyaki has not just meat but various vegetables and udon noodles too, so it's fun to fish out one thing at a time. Start with the meat, then move on to eating it with the vegetables, and finish with the udon that's soaked up plenty of seasoning.

The udon noodles soaking up the sukiyaki broth get richer in flavor, and it's quite delicious. The way the flavor gradually changes from start to finish is part of the fun of sukiyaki, I think.

Sukiyaki signature: salmon and tuna belly sashimi included

Eating just sukiyaki alone felt slightly lacking, but the signature menu came with sashimi as well. Being able to enjoy hot sukiyaki and cold sashimi together at one table gave a different feel from the regular sukiyaki menu. The sashimi came with both salmon and tuna belly.

The salmon was soft and clean-tasting, and what I especially liked was the tuna belly. The distinctive rich, fatty flavor of tuna belly made for an interesting combination alongside the sukiyaki. Eating a piece of sashimi in the middle of the warm, sweetish sukiyaki completely shifted the mood in my mouth. Rather than eating just one dish the whole time, having these different foods together meant I could enjoy the meal without getting tired of it, all the way to the end. If you want to eat sukiyaki and sashimi at the same time, the signature menu is a solid choice, I think.

Is Sindong Lab Bongdam worth a lunch visit?

This visit to Sindong Lab felt less like a simple rice-bowl Japanese restaurant and more like a place where you can enjoy a variety of Japanese dishes all at once. The sukiyaki in particular, with its meat, vegetables, and udon, was hearty enough to satisfy people with a big appetite, and dipping it in raw egg made it feel like a properly done sukiyaki. On top of that, choosing the sukiyaki signature let me taste salmon and tuna belly sashimi as well, which was a nice bonus. Above all, seeing how packed it was at lunchtime made me realize it's not called a Bongdam favorite for nothing, haha.