Tonkatsu in Geumjeong, Busan with a cheese timer: Gatjidong

One afternoon, today’s discovery is Gatjidong Busan Jangjeon Branch (갓지동 부산장전점), a great Japanese-style tonkatsu spot in Jangjeon-dong, Busan.

Inside Gatjidong, a Busan National University-area restaurant

Gatjidong has a spacious dining room that can seat around 30 people. Even though I went in a little after dinnertime, quite a few people were still eating. The delivery alert kept going off too, so I guess it is one of those neighborhood favorites that everyone in the know knows about.

There are solo-dining seats by the window too. I was eating alone, but I like a corner, so I asked and headed for a corner table. This is where I sat. The table was so neatly and cleanly set, right? 🦋 Baby chairs are available as well, for anyone visiting with a little one.

A solo meal of tonkatsu and salmon

I stopped by for a solo meal today, and I noticed tonkatsu and salmon dishes on every table around me. So of course I decided to have both a tonkatsu dish and a salmon dish too, and read the menu carefully.

I debated between cheese tonkatsu and pork loin tonkatsu, then chose a set with one piece of each. I ordered the half-and-half tonkatsu with mini udon for ₩15,500 and the generous salmon salad for ₩13,800. I wondered if it might be a bit much, but since the salmon dish was a salad, I got greedy and told myself I could definitely eat it alone.

Cheese tonkatsu after one minute, plus salmon salad

Everything I ordered arrived. The udon was bigger than I expected. It is a not-at-all-mini mini udon with three pieces of fried tofu pouch in it. 😂

They say they prepare the salmon themselves every day while it is fresh, and sure enough, its color looked so good. Once everything was in front of me, I started worrying whether I could finish the salmon salad, two pieces of tonkatsu, and the not-mini-at-all udon.

They told me to turn over the hourglass and eat the tonkatsu exactly one minute later, when the cheese would be wonderfully chewy. When you order cheese tonkatsu, they bring out this yellow hourglass with it. I was touched by the thoughtfulness of even timing the moment it would taste best. 🌸

I turned the hourglass over and waited one minute. I was so hungry that I wanted to pick it up and tear into it with my hands right away. But they said it would taste even better, so I held back and waited. . . 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 . . 1 Ding!

Now it was time to cut into the tonkatsu and eat. A few quick slices with the knife, and the cheese came flowing out. The cheese was melted to the absolute perfect point for eating. The not-at-all-mini mini udon had three fried tofu pouches inside. I sipped the udon broth and tackled the tonkatsu first.

The salmon was so good with tartar sauce and cabbage salad. It was also delicious wrapped with wasabi in the rice that came with the tonkatsu. There was no fishy taste at all, and I really loved the salmon’s melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Steamed rice and clear soup at the self-service bar

You can have as much steamed rice and clear soup as you like from the self-service bar.

The pork loin tonkatsu was full and substantial inside, with a pleasantly pink center that had a nice bite without being tough at all.

I got up after emptying every bowl, udon included, all by myself. Another wonderful meal today.