Gijang Korean restaurant for cream chili tteokgalbi: Dongam Tteokgalbi

Today, I visited Dongam Tteokgalbi, a great Korean restaurant in Gijang, Busan~ It’s also well known as a restaurant near Dongbusan Lotte Outlet and Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. The self-serve bar was loaded with generous portions of namul (seasoned vegetable side dishes) and banchan (side dishes), and the warm sotbap (pot-cooked rice) and thick, juicy tteokgalbi were delicious~

Where is Dongam Tteokgalbi, and what about parking?

The address is 3F, 160 Gijanghaean-ro, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan. Hours are 11:00–21:00 Monday through Friday, with a break from 15:00–16:30; Saturday and Sunday hours are 11:00–21:00 with no break. There’s parking, too.

The restaurant is on the third floor, and there’s a large parking lot on the first floor, so you can visit comfortably without worrying about parking fees. The lot can get busy on weekends and public holidays, but they say you can follow the attendant’s directions then.

An antique-style restaurant and waiting area

As soon as you go up to the third floor, you’ll find Dongam Tteokgalbi. The waiting area is incredibly cozy and tidy. Just a spoonful of old-fashioned charm~ It’s especially nice that the restroom is right beside it.

There can be a wait at weekend lunchtime, and there was a notebook that seemed to be for writing your name on the waitlist by hand~ It’s in a great spot for stopping by before shopping at Dongbusan Lotte Outlet or coming for a meal afterward, so there seem to be lots of family groups in particular.

The interior had a slightly antique atmosphere. It feels like somewhere older guests would enjoy too, and there were lots of framed pictures and vintage objects that caught my eye. They’re things you don’t easily see these days, so I think children would enjoy looking around as well.

The tables are very spacious, which is lovely because you can spread out comfortably~ The window tables are especially popular, and you can see Lotte World rides through the window~

A self-serve bar with everything from namul to tteokbokki

A self-serve bar packed with assorted namul, tteokbokki, and dubu kimchi!!

What makes Dongam Tteokgalbi special is that the basic side-dish spread is good, but the self-serve bar is generous too!! There was just so much to eat ㅠㅠ

There were crunchy mung bean sprout namul, said to be good for detoxing; nutty napa cabbage namul; springy acorn jelly salad; tteokbokki; fried rice; dubu kimchi (tofu with stir-fried kimchi); rich seaweed soup; stir-fried sausage and vegetables; and steamed egg. On top of that, there were many kinds of namul and kimchi, plus black bean sauce, roasted seaweed, and more~

On one side, they even had those addictive old-school Korean snacks~

Cream Cheongyang chili tteokgalbi and the Dongam tteokgalbi set

A 100% beef tteokgalbi menu full of juicy goodness

Even when I traveled to Jeonju, I don’t think I saw such a variety of tteokgalbi dishes (though maybe they have them now), but there are so many options here~ Children’s tteokgalbi is ₩10,000, the 1++ Korean beef tteokgalbi set is ₩22,000, the cheese tteokgalbi set is ₩18,000, the cream Cheongyang chili tteokgalbi set is ₩18,000, and the Dongam tteokgalbi set is ₩15,000. We ordered the cream Cheongyang chili tteokgalbi and Dongam tteokgalbi~

The spread came out so nicely: 8 basic side dishes + sotbap + blue crab doenjang stew~ Every single side dish was delicious. (I think it was even tastier than the last time I came!!)

Here came the round, plump tteokgalbi!! As you eat, you really start to think, wow, this is a lot of food haha.

Once I put the warm sotbap into a rice bowl and set out the seaweed soup too, I was all ready for the tteokgalbi set!! A seriously abundant table was complete haha.

Let’s gently cut into the cream Cheongyang chili tteokgalbi~ The cream and Cheongyang chili are truly a godsend with tteokgalbi, which can be a little rich!! I think this combination is really great.

The tteokgalbi is full of juices, so it isn’t dry and you can enjoy it tenderly. They say it uses only 100% beef, is aged at a low temperature for at least a day in a special soy sauce-based marinade, then grilled over charcoal before serving.

A bite of tteokgalbi with the nutty, mild cream and spicy Cheongyang chili is honestly the best combination haha. There was more food than I expected, and with all the other side dishes, I could have a truly filling and satisfying meal~

Dongam Tteokgalbi makes me want to go back and eat there every now and then. That’s how satisfying I remember it being. I can recommend it when you’re looking for a good lunch in Gijang, a restaurant near Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, somewhere in Gijang to bring your parents, or a family restaurant.