Solo lunch at a Paju ssambap restaurant with grilled atka mackerel

Simhaksan Deulkkot Ssambap / 55-10 Dolgoji-gil, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do / 11:00 ~ 21:00 / Parking available, pets not allowed

Simhaksan's Korean-set-meal favorite, Deulkkot Ssambap! Check out the intro video and let's start.

Hi, this is Chugu, running and traveling. After an outing around Paju, I wanted something hearty and Korean, so I stopped by Simhaksan Deulkkot Ssambap.

Where is Simhaksan Deulkkot Ssambap, and is it close to Lotte Premium Outlets Paju?

Deulkkot Ssambap sits in the Simhaksan food village, close to Lotte Premium Outlets Paju. There are quite a few good restaurants in the food village, and among them, Deulkkot Ssambap is a well-known spot for Paju Korean set meals and ssambap.

It's also a convenient spot to stop by after shopping at Lotte Premium Outlets Paju. There's space right in front of the building, so parking was easy.

I visited a bit later than usual lunch time, around 1pm.

Even on a weekday at that late lunch hour, customers kept coming in. That felt like proof of how good this place is.

Looks like a lot of influencers have visited too.

Unlimited banchan and self-serve wrap greens at Deulkkot Ssambap

At Deulkkot Ssambap, you can eat as much banchan (side dishes) as you like. There are a lot of homestyle side dishes that are hard to make at home, eggplant among them. It was so nice to be able to enjoy these here.

I also got to eat as much fresh vegetables as I wanted without feeling self-conscious about it.

Solo deuljeongsik set for 20,000 won, plus grilled atka mackerel for 13,000 won

I visited alone, so I added grilled atka mackerel to the deuljeongsik set.

• Deuljeongsik set, ₩20,000 per person
• Grilled atka mackerel, ₩13,000

Let's start off refreshingly with pumpkin porridge.

The doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) is boiled right at the table, and everything except the main dish gets free refills.

Once the dishes start landing on the table one by one, it gets pretty generous. Various banchan, wrap greens, gangdoenjang, doenjang jjigae, bulgogi-style pork stir-fry, and stone-pot rice fill up the whole table.

These days plenty of restaurants serve just a single simple dish, but Korean food really feels like a proper meal when it comes with a full spread of side dishes like this.

The star of Deulkkot Ssambap: well-aged gangdoenjang

The tasty gangdoenjang is what made the wraps so enjoyable. It seems to be made in-house, and that well-aged gangdoenjang was this place's real kick.

A set meal like this wouldn't be complete without stone-pot rice.

Because you have to finish with the nurungji (scorched rice).

You have to get the wrap greens yourself. I brought over my wraps and started eating.

With the grilled atka mackerel added, a full Korean set-meal spread

The ssambap alone at Deulkkot Ssambap is plenty filling, but adding one grilled fish made it feel even more like a proper Korean set meal. The atka mackerel, grilled to a nice golden brown, was mild yet savory when I flaked off the flesh and put it on warm rice.

The pork stir-fry was tasty on its own too, but the combination with the grilled atka mackerel was great.

Unlimited refills, but genuinely fresh — the main wrap of Deulkkot Ssambap, a Simhaksan Korean-set-meal favorite! Best part of the meal.

The portion of pork stir-fry is massive. If I'd come with a second person, ordering both the squid stir-fry and the pork stir-fry to mix together would have been even better.

The pork stir-fry came out in its own pot, full of smoky char! I really enjoyed it, both wrapped in greens and eaten with rice.

Let me try a wrap piled high with pork stir-fry.

The rice that comes with the ssambap isn't a regular bowl of rice but stone-pot rice. Once the stone-pot rice arrives, you scoop the rice out into a bowl first, then pour water into the stone pot.

After thoroughly enjoying the pork stir-fry, squid stir-fry, grilled atka mackerel, and wrap greens, I finished with the nicely soaked nurungji. Even though I was already full, the warm nurungji somehow kept going down.

Does Simhaksan Deulkkot Ssambap suit a family meal in Paju?

On my way out after a satisfying meal, I got a lottery ticket too, from a Naver review event they were running. If I win, I think I'll have to come back to Deulkkot Ssambap for a meal once a month.

Deulkkot Ssambap is great for visiting with friends your own age, but personally, I felt it would also suit a family meal in Paju with parents. From wrap greens to pork stir-fry, squid stir-fry, doenjang jjigae, gangdoenjang, grilled fish, and stone-pot rice, there's a lot on the menu that people of any generation can comfortably enjoy.

If you're planning an outing to Paju and looking for a Korean restaurant to take your parents to, this is a place I'd recommend.