Open-run after break time for grilled fish and crab at Yun Sikdang

Yun Sikdang, a set-meal favorite on the Changwon furniture street

Yun Sikdang (윤식당) sits about halfway down the Changwon furniture street, a Korean restaurant with a wait that's worth it. I went once before and thought, wow this is neatly plated and delicious, I should come back~ but in the meantime it got so popular that if you don't do an open-run, you'll be waiting. We went to the mart on a weekend evening and did an open-run right after break time ended to grab dinner.

The waiting area and the vibe inside

Since it's a place with a wait, there's a waiting area set up too! In summer and winter when it's hot or cold, you can wait inside the restaurant, so that's a relief.

The inside of the restaurant is a wide rectangle! It's so open that even with a lot of people, there's no echo. Dinner starts at 5, and by 5:30 it was magically full.. good thing we came early. There are 2 high chairs too, so we used one! Eating with a baby was fine since the seasoning was mild — the steamed egg and fish were perfect for feeding her along with rice.

Grilled bulgogi set meal and the extra à la carte items

The grilled bulgogi set meal is the main dish, and you can add extra à la carte items. Grilled meat plate, kimchi pancake, doenjang jjigae, grilled fish, seasoned crab, and marinated abalone are all available as add-ons, and we added grilled fish and seasoned crab. The fish is mackerel.

Adding the fish and crab made an already generous spread even more generous, right?

• Grilled bulgogi
• Kimchi pancake
• Grilled mackerel
• Doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew)
• Seasoned crab
• Kimchi
• Seasoned eggplant
• Steamed egg
• Macaroni salad
• Sweet napa water kimchi
• Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry)
• Seasoned mung bean sprouts
• Stir-fried anchovies
• Spicy seasoned squid
• Wrap greens

The banchan (side dish) lineup can change a bit, but it seems to come out roughly the same each time.

Honestly, making a spread like this at home is way too much of a hassle for a two-person household, and once you add up ingredient costs plus effort, just eating out ends up cheaper and better for your sanity... cooking while raising a baby is really tough..

My husband and I are Korean food people, so we often go to places like this. There's that place in Hapseong-dong where people line up too, right? We've been a few times, but my husband says Yun Sikdang is way tastier than that one.

Kimchi pancake and grilled mackerel

The kimchi pancake was fried crisp too — if it'd been raining, I'd have wanted makgeolli with it. The mackerel had lots of plump flesh, great for feeding the baby! Though the mackerel was a bit salty~ our baby eats low-sodium so we just fed her plain.

Doenjang jjigae with clams and blue crab

The stew had clams and blue crab in it, so it was refreshing with a deep doenjang flavor — good mixed into rice, and after eating meat, a spoonful of the broth made me think, yeah, Koreans really do run on rice. The ingredients were genuinely generous, so if you like a doenjang jjigae packed with stuff, you could bury your face in this one.

Refilled sweet napa water kimchi and marinated abalone

Among the side dishes, that sweet napa water kimchi was especially delicious so we got a refill! There was also one marinated abalone per person, so I got my abalone fix for the first time in a while~

Seasoned crab with a hint of sancho pepper

The seasoned crab had a faint sancho pepper aroma that made it delicious! The meat inside is small, but the seasoning is so good that I'm glad we added it. All the side dishes were the kind you keep reaching for, so I ended up polishing off every bit of it~

Was the open-run worth it?

The grilled bulgogi had no gamey smell at all, just a perfectly sweet and savory flavor — I thought it'd be great as a side dish for kids too. Wrapping it in greens made it even tastier. Even though the location isn't exactly prime, if a place needs an open-run or a wait, you know the taste is guaranteed. If you're looking for a great set-meal restaurant in Changwon, I'd recommend Yun Sikdang!