Daegu Japanese restaurant: ₩20,000 sake-don obanzai for one, Ongijeong

I remember visiting Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch a long time ago, and the fact that it's still right there by Suseong Lake proves it's a verified local favorite!! I had this nice memory of being served a neatly arranged table like a proper treat, and this time the same warmth and flavor were still there.

Here's my honest review of the sake-don obanzai I had at Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch, a tendon spot famous around Suseong Lake, haha.

Location and parking at Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch

Ongijeong sits by Suseong Lake, which along with Dongseong-ro is considered one of the top-tier tourist spots in Daegu. Having a large parking lot available in a hot spot like Suseong Lake already makes it hard not to call this place a real find...!

It's close enough to the lake that you can take a lap around Suseong Lake after eating to help with blood sugar control, haha.

First customer on a weekday opening run, window seat for one

I went on a weekday opening run and ended up being the first customer!! Thanks to that I could freely photograph the clean, spacious interior haha.

There's a private room option, and the main hall has retro-feeling sofas and wide tables that made it feel even more relaxed. Kind of fitting for the name of the place, which has 'warmth' and 'affection' in it — haha.

I'd also recommend this as a solo dining spot in Suseong-gu — even though I came alone, the staff kindly told me to sit wherever I liked, so I took a sunny window seat.

The menu at Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch

FYI, if you write a Naver receipt photo review, they give you a free drink or shrimp tempura.

For a Suseong-gu lunch spot, Ongijeong's famous dish is of course tendon! But since this felt more like brunch than lunch for me, I wanted something lighter with fresh salmon, so I ordered the sake-don obanzai instead.

The obanzai menu is Ongijeong's signature item, sold in a limited quantity each day, haha. It comes on a pretty half-moon tray like an omakase spread. I remembered having obanzai for lunch here on my old visit too, so I ordered it again, haha.

The ₩20,000 sake-don obanzai set

After about 10 minutes of waiting, the sake-don obanzai set arrived! It costs ₩20,000. Being able to enjoy a course like this for ₩20,000 — as long as you catch it within the limited quantity, there's no reason not to order it~~ Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch, the go-to spot for tendon and sake-don in Suseong-gu!!

The main dish, the sake-don, came with 5 widely-sliced pieces of salmon sashimi topped with chopped onion, scallion, and wasabi, over rice seasoned with sweetened vinegar — nicely salty, just right. The miso soup that came alongside was packed with burdock root, pork, scallion and other ingredients, pairing perfectly with the sake-don.

Not tendon — but the tempura that comes with the obanzai set is a whole different class haha, amazing. Five kinds of tempura — shrimp, lotus root, seaweed, perilla leaf, and enoki mushroom — arrive neatly plated. Plus incredible inari sushi, haha.

There's also an egg roll and steak salad in the set. So generous... You have to order the obanzai at Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch...

Pickles and sashimi soy sauce complete the set, haha.

The miso soup full of ingredients!!! You can't have a donburi dish without a miso soup like this. It paired so well, I was tearing up.

The soft egg roll I popped in one bite to manage my blood sugar before the meal!!! Fresh salmon sashimi, haha — salmon is love.

Topping the sake-don with tempura for round two as tendon

Each piece was so crispy, it was almost too much haha. The sake-don had a bit too much rice for my taste, so after finishing off the salmon I topped the rice with the tempura and made round two as tendon haha. A foodie's creative second course, lol. Order the obanzai at this Suseong-gu tendon spot and you basically get 2 dishes in 1 order.

The yuzu-dressing steak salad was also so refreshing, and while the inari sushi didn't have much filling, the tofu skin was so soft and the rice so good that I kept eating even when I was already full — pure magic haha.

Good for a solo meal or a date by Suseong Lake?

The salmon was delicious on its own, but dipped in the shredded onion, wasabi, and sashimi soy sauce, then put over rice — absolutely delicious!! I'd been craving a salmon donburi lately, and this totally satisfied that craving. The salmon was so well-aged it just melted in my mouth — I almost ordered more haha.

Ongijeong really earns its reputation as a top salmon and sake-don spot by Suseong Lake. Great for a solo meal at Suseong Lake, and great for a date too — your girlfriend or boyfriend will absolutely approve. You get both value for money and a satisfying experience. If you're looking for a Japanese restaurant with parking near Suseong Lake, Ongijeong Suseong Lake Branch — highly recommend~~