Baby-friendly Korean restaurant near Wiyangji, Milyang: Ilpum Irojeong

Ilpum Irojeong is a loach soup (chueotang) Korean restaurant on the 1st floor of Beomchang Building, 75-1 Baekmin-ro, Milyang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. Open daily 11:00-21:00 with a break time of 15:30-17:00, last order at 20:30, and parking available.

Why Ilpum Irojeong works for lunch with a baby after Wiyangji pond

I went to Wiyangji pond in Milyang for the first time in a while, and while looking for somewhere to have lunch with my baby, I ended up at this Milyang loach soup restaurant, Ilpum Irojeong. Besides the 4 spots in front, they said you can park along the street during lunchtime.

Wait time and seating at Ilpum Irojeong

Seeing they had Table Order (a waitlist app), it looked like a place with waits during meal times! Luckily I visited before noon so I could eat without waiting. There was no wait, but there were quite a lot of customers.

Since loach soup is generally something older folks eat for health, the crowd skewed older. But since there was grilled fish and boiled pork that a baby could eat, there were quite a few families visiting too.

There was also a room-like area further inside, which they said was reserved seating! There's group seating for up to 8, so if you're coming with a group it's best to reserve ahead. It seemed like same-day reservations weren't possible.

Ilpum Irojeong menu and what we ordered

The menu had loach soup as a single dish, plus set combos: boiled pork and loach soup, righteye flounder grill with boiled pork and loach soup, and mackerel grill with boiled pork and loach soup. The grilled fish sets were only available from 2 people, and there were also individual dishes like boiled pork, righteye flounder grill, mackerel grill, assorted fried loach, potato pancake, octopus and seafood pancake, Korean pork loin cutlet, and Korean beef seaweed soup — a nice variety for both adults and kids.

We ordered the mackerel and boiled pork loach soup set for two, plus a Korean pork loin cutlet. Loach soup is available for takeout too, but only from a generous 2-portion order!

For basic side dishes we got pickled wood ear mushrooms, diced radish kimchi, cabbage kimchi, spicy chili seasoning, salad, and japchae (glass noodle stir-fry)! Looks like fried loach also comes with the set menu. The boiled pork had no gamey smell at all, so it was easy to feed to the baby.

Boneless grilled mackerel the baby could eat

The mackerel took time to grill so it came out last, but it was crisped up nicely and, being boneless, was convenient and delicious to eat without having to pick out bones. It was seasoned just salty enough to go with rice — perfect. Looks like each person gets one piece.

Once the whole set was laid out, the table was completely full. Since I go around with a baby, I tend to pick Korean restaurants with dishes a baby can eat, and this Milyang loach soup spot, Ilpum Irojeong, was good for that after a trip to Wiyangji.

Loach soup loaded with siraegi (dried radish greens)

The main dish of Ilpum Irojeong, loach soup. It's packed with dried radish greens (siraegi) and rich, so it filled us up well. You can add minced garlic and sancho powder to taste. My husband, who loves loach soup, says it's not real loach soup until you add minced garlic and chopped chili peppers too. Since it's considered a restorative dish, I even fed the baby a little of the broth.

Fried loach and warm boiled pork (onsuyuk)

It had been a while since I had fried loach, and since we ordered the set, we got to taste it without ordering it separately. They also gave us fried sweet potato alongside. Crispy and warm — so good.

The boiled pork was soft and warm, and went well dipped in ssamjang (dipping sauce) and salted seafood. It paired nicely with the doenjang chili seasoning too. If side dishes run low, you can grab more from the self-serve bar.

Whole Korean pork loin cutlet: the dish to add for kids

Just in case the baby didn't eat the grilled fish or boiled pork, we also ordered the Korean pork loin cutlet. Freshly fried and topped with demi-glace sauce, it was tasty enough for adults too, not just a kids' menu item. I honestly have a kid's palate myself, so truth be told, the cutlet was better to me than the loach soup, haha. It was soft and crispy, so I'd recommend ordering it if you're going with a child.

Dessert: sweet pumpkin sikhye and sujeonggwa

After finishing the meal, we got sweet pumpkin sikhye (rice punch) and sujeonggwa (cinnamon-persimmon punch) for dessert. It had been a while since I had sujeonggwa, and it was really good. Sweet pumpkin sikhye takes a lot of effort to make, and you rarely see it served as dessert outside hanjeongsik (Korean full-course) restaurants — so it's clear this Milyang loach soup spot, Ilpum Irojeong, puts real care into their desserts too.

On top of that, they even gave us ppeongtwigi (puffed rice snack) worth ₩4,000 for writing a Naver receipt review! Make sure to take advantage of the event. Recommending Ilpum Irojeong as a good place for a meal with a baby in Milyang.