Gwangalli Japanese diner lunch: chicken nanban with curry, Daidokoro

On the last day of my Busan trip, the place I picked for lunch was — drumroll — Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch! The shop and the food that came out were so cute, with a friendly weekend-morning kind of vibe, that it made for a great spot for a date too!

Why Daidokoro was the lunch pick after a Gwangalli bread tour

I stopped by Gwangalli Beach in the morning to see the sea, then hit up a nearby bakery — and when it came time for lunch, I wanted somewhere cute and charming that felt like a little date, so I picked this place!

Gwangalli restaurant, Namcheon-dong restaurant, Japanese food, near Geumnyeonsan Station, lunch spot

Busan's bus views are pretty too, but ugh — just walking around and glancing down an alley, there are so many pretty views where you can spot the sea!! Gwangalli has a cluster of bakeries perfect for a bread lover like me, so on the way to lunch I kept ducking into one after another — I think it took a whole hour haha. If you're planning a course that includes a bread tour and a stop at Gwangalli Beach, I'd recommend making Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch your lunch spot~

Where Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch is and how the waiting list works

Arrived at Daidokoro, 2nd floor, 27 Namcheon-dong-ro 108beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan~ I'd checked reviews beforehand and was full of anticipation for food that comes out cute and neat, like Japanese home cooking!

If there's a wait, you just sign up outside the shop! Daidokoro even has lemon water ready for waiting guests!

Inside Daidokoro at noon on a weekday, and what's on the menu

Visited around noon on a weekday and there were seats available~ A cozy space with an interior that's easy and comfortable to walk into!

You order at the table~ Each table already has shichimi, furikake, cabbage sauce(?), and water set out~ Daidokoro is a small, home-style Japanese diner with udon, tonkatsu, curry, karaage, chicken nanban, menbosha, croquette and more — fried dishes and noodles alike! It's the kind of place that pairs well with a Coca-Cola with a red ribbon on it~~ The shop itself is cute and the whole vibe feels like popping into a tiny Japanese shop haha. That weekend-morning kind of mood ..⭐️

Order details

The chicken nanban set with curry, on the table in 15 minutes

After about a 15-minute wait, it arrived~ I wanted to try both the curry and the chicken nanban, and the chicken nanban set came with a little curry on the side, so I got to taste both~

The curry was tastier than I expected, perfect for mixing into the rice topped with egg~ Writing this at night now,, seeing the photos again makes me want it,, guess I'll have curry as a midnight snack haha.

What does Daidokoro's chicken nanban taste like? The sauce on top

One of the best chicken nanbans I've had, hands down..

I came in just expecting a simple lunch, and it turned out to be way tastier than I thought..? What's the cabbage salad sauce, anyway? Sweet, salty, and delicious!! On top of the chicken nanban seems to be mayo sauce and egg white! Different from tartar sauce!

One drawback: cabbage salad and chicken nanban on the same plate

The Vienna sausages that came as a side dish! They had ketchup on them, which went well with rice! The cabbage salad underneath the chicken nanban had plenty of salad dressing on it, and the seasoning was so good I liked piling it on top of the rice! But I think it'd be better if it came separate from the chicken nanban, because eventually the sauce on top of the chicken nanban mixed with the cabbage salad dressing and everything ended up floating in a pool of sauce ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Why Daidokoro is worth it for lunch in Gwangalli

There were cute little figurines around and Japanese anime songs playing too haha. They even gave us Mentos to freshen up after the meal~ An easy-going menu with a genuinely solid taste! I'd recommend it for a great lunch in Gwangalli~