Dinner at tachi seats: bukkake cold udon & croquette in Ansan

We're big fans of a chaebol detective drama, and after seeing the pork cutlet on screen we just had to have some — that's how we found Gin Jaryoko Gojan Branch, and it was so good.

Location and hours of Gin Jaryoko Ansan Gojan Branch

• Location: 1F, Unit 107, Geumgang Plaza, 56 Gwangdeokseo-ro, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: 11:00–21:00 (closed Wednesdays)
• Break time: 14:30–16:30
• Last order: 20:30
• Parking: public street parking nearby

The outside of the restaurant

The restaurant is on the first floor of the building, right near the law office buildings, so it's easy to get to. Out front there were food models of the signature menu items so you can browse before going in.

What's the inside like? Tachi seats that make solo dining easy

The interior has tachi (counter-style) seating that feels like a Japanese restaurant. Since there are a lot of offices nearby, plenty of people probably come to eat alone, and the counter seats make that comfortable. There were also posters from past dramas and the currently airing chaebol detective show on the walls.

Menu and the free 1.5-portion upgrade

You order at the kiosk by the door. There's more than just pork cutlet — udon, rice bowls, curry rice, and more — so it's nice that you could come back multiple times and try something different each time. They also give a free 1.5-portion upgrade (just note there's a ₩3,000 fee if you leave food unfinished). We looked at the menu for about three minutes and ordered the demi-glace pork cutlet set and the bukkake cold udon.

Our seats already had napkins, chopsticks, a fork, a spoon, and even an udon spoon set out.

For first-timers, there were instructions on how to use the restaurant right at the seat, along with the restroom passcode. There's also a Naver review event you can take part in.

Self-serve banchan and soup bar

Banchan (side dishes) and soup are self-serve. We eat a lot of kimchi no matter which restaurant we're at, so having a self-serve bar like this that doesn't require asking staff was really convenient. There's also an apron and a water dispenser next to the air conditioner.

Demi-glace pork cutlet set & bukkake cold udon

The food came out pretty quickly. We only did the 1.5-portion upgrade on the pork cutlet set, and the portion was massive — plus the udon bowl was huge. My husband's hands aren't small, but next to the udon bowl they looked like a baby's hands.

You can see the steam rising. We've always ordered pork cutlet through delivery before, so this was our first time eating it at the restaurant, and it was so good. It didn't cool down quickly either, so we could eat it warm the whole time. The croquette on top was especially amazing — my husband thought it was so sweet he assumed it was made with sweet potato instead of regular potato. We're definitely ordering an extra croquette next time.

And the udon was the best udon I've ever had. It was my first time trying cold udon at all, and even though I usually don't like udon noodles, Gin Jaryoko's noodles were so chewy, with a clean, slightly sweet flavor. Even though the portion was huge, I finished the whole thing... haha.

It was such a satisfying, delicious meal, and we left in a great mood. The owner and staff were really kind too. We went for dinner, but I think it would be great for office workers at lunchtime as well. We're 100% going back!