Oncheonjang, Busan family restaurant with free baby dishes: Gatjidong

Hi, this is Kim Reto! The tomato-citron salmon udon, cheese tonkatsu and sake-don were all so good, and with free baby tableware and seaweed on top, this is a great Oncheonjang restaurant to bring kids to — let me introduce Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch! (100% would revisit)

What we ordered: half-and-half tonkatsu (cheese and regular), tomato-citron salmon udon set (comes with a mini sake-don, salmon rice bowl)

Where is Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch, and where do you park?

Gatjidong is just one crosswalk away from the Jangjeon Raemian apartments! It's right next to the Oncheonjang DT Starbucks — perfect for a tidy family dinner or weekend meal if you live nearby.

🚗 Parking at Gatjidong: there's a building parking lot with about 4-5 spots, but it's shared with the whole building, so if it's full you'll need to park at a nearby public lot (no separate support for that). Call or tell the staff at the parking gate and they'll open the barrier for you!

Inside Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch: interior and seating

📍 Inside Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch

From window seats that are fine for solo dining to 2-person and 4-person tables, there was plenty of room everywhere, and the place was spotless and shiny! I visited around 11:30am on a Saturday and even though it was early, the restaurant was already half full (lots of families with kids, especially). It seems like it's already a well-known local favorite in the Oncheonjang neighborhood!

Why Gatjidong works so well with a child

If you have kids, calling ahead to book gets you a table already set up like this to make things easier.

Kids' seaweed, furikake rice, vitamins, baby tableware and a bib — all provided free

Plenty of high chairs and even a baby-sized spoon and fork set — this place is definitely great for bringing little ones!

What to order from the Gatjidong menu

📋 The Gatjidong menu

There were so many tasty-looking options that I agonized for a while. Reading other people's reviews, the sake-don, shrimp sauce rice bowl, tonkatsu, and tonkatsu kimchi nabe udon all looked delicious haha. After much deliberation I ordered the tomato-citron salmon udon set and the half-and-half tonkatsu.

The self-serve corner and the cream soup

A look around the self-serve corner after ordering

You grab the basic side dishes yourself from the self-serve corner, and there's also soup, rice, and a clear broth!

Before the meal I tried the cream soup with a sprinkle of pepper — some places water down their soup and it ends up bland, but Gatjidong's was smooth and rich, like it had milk mixed in. Genuinely delicious!! You have to try the soup. And then the main dishes arrived.

The colorful presentation really built up my expectations! The portions were bigger than expected too — two adults ended up genuinely full.

What does the tomato-green citron salmon udon taste like?

🍅🍊🍣 Tomato-citron salmon udon ⚠️ Wasabi comes on the side, so if you're portioning some out for a child, ask for the wasabi separately

I ordered this half-doubtfully, but I was genuinely surprised by how good the tomato-citron salmon udon was. It had the refreshing coolness of cold cucumber soup, the right amount of sweetness from tomato and onion, the tang of citron, and a soba-udon broth base with a cool sharpness from scallions — it went really well with both the salmon and the udon noodles. It was better than expected, and I think I'd order it again if I come back!

The salmon is sliced long like the noodles and there's a generous amount of it — salmon udon approved! (I think you could portion some into a small bowl without the wasabi or salmon and feed it to a kid too)

Half-and-half tonkatsu and the cheese hourglass timer

🥩 Here's the half-and-half tonkatsu

This is cheese tonkatsu and pork loin tonkatsu. When you order the cheese tonkatsu, they give you a small hourglass and tell you it tastes best if you wait until all the sand runs down before eating it!

I waited for the hourglass to run out before cutting into the cheese tonkatsu, and it was packed with cheese that had melted just the right amount. I'm not usually a fan of Western-style tonkatsu, but Gatjidong's was genuinely delicious — I think it'd be perfect for kids' tastes too!

The mini sake-don, and my verdict on Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch

And finally, the mini sake-don — the vinegared rice inside is genuinely delicious. My companion kept insisting it was so good and telling me to try it, so I took a bite of the rice with salmon, and it really was delicious.

Every single dish at Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch was delicious. If you're looking for a good place to eat with kids near Oncheonjang, or just want a simple solo meal, I highly recommend Gatjidong!