Chicken nanban sets at a Gwangalli Beach Japanese diner: Daidokoro

Where is Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch?

Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch is a Japanese-style set-meal restaurant on the 2nd floor of an alley between the far end of Gwangalli Beach (toward Samik Beach) and Gyeongnyeolbisan Station. It's already well known among office workers around Gwangalli and Namcheon-dong.

Hi, this is Uto! It's been a while, so I wanted to introduce another Gwangalli favorite — this time one with a strong Japanese vibe. The sign is faded, so it can be tricky to spot on your first visit, but it's the kind of local Gwangalli spot that regulars keep coming back to.

Seating and how long is the wait at Daidokoro?

This Gwangalli favorite isn't huge, but it has a cozy vibe with about 7–8 tables. It gets busy, though, so waits can happen during lunch and evening peak hours. On my first visit at lunchtime, the wait was so long I gave up! This time I came in the evening and luckily there was a seat available 😋

What is on the Daidokoro menu?

The menu at this Gwangalli favorite ranges from various Japanese-style set meals (chicken nanban, beef udon, and more) to a sweet milk pudding for dessert, plus sweet and refreshing drinks like strawberry soda, mango milk, and plum ade. There are also plenty of set combos built around drinks and Kirin draft beer, so there's a lot to look through when choosing.

After some deliberation, we ordered a Kirin draft beer, a beef udon set, and a chicken nanban set.

Kirin draft beer and two set meals

The Kirin draft came out first after we ordered. The beer had a slightly deep golden color topped with creamy foam — perfect for winding down after a long day of studying and working, paired with dinner.

While chatting with my friend about our day, the food arrived before long. The one on top is the beef udon, and below it is the chicken nanban set.

Each set comes with cute little figurines placed on top as an accent, haha — the side dish bowls felt like fun little details too, as if the whole tray was its own little world.

Beef udon set

The beef udon set is topped with fragrant scallions, beef, and burdock root.

My friend ordered it, so I only had a bite, but the broth had deep flavor with a good meaty aroma. The burdock topping had nice texture too!

Chicken nanban set

This is the chicken nanban set I ordered — a dish we both raved about and ate happily.

Crispy fried chicken is topped with a soft egg-based white sauce. It's just the right amount of tangy and smooth — the sauce is honestly good enough to call the kick of the dish.

The set includes rice topped with a cute fried egg, plus small side dishes like croquette, ketchup sausage, kimchi, and gat kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi), along with a smooth cream curry sauce and a bite-sized sweet milk pudding. The composition was cute and satisfying.

The chicken nanban itself, the star of the set, came in a generous portion (looked like about 1 to 1.5 servings!), and both the sauce and the karaage (Japanese fried chicken) were in great condition.

The sauce is sweet and tangy with a soft eggy taste,

and the chicken — fried thin and crispy on the outside, moist inside — paired with it beautifully. The gat kimchi, with its distinctive aroma, made a great palate cleanser between bites. The curry sauce had a familiar flavor, softened further by the cream.

The a la carte chicken nanban had a different batter

We were enjoying the chicken nanban so much that we ordered an extra a la carte serving!

The a la carte chicken nanban came out with a different coating than the one in the set — slightly chewier, more like sweet and sour pork batter. I'm not sure if the coating differs depending on whether it's ordered as part of a set or a la carte, but that's how it came out on my visit, as shown in the photo above.

I was a little worried at first, but this coating had its own charm! It was a bit less crispy, but the chicken was juicier and the batter chewier, so overall it was still delicious. Most of all, the sauce was so good that we cleaned up this second order of chicken nanban too, haha.

Milk pudding for 4,500 won

After the two of us neatly polished off three servings, we finished with a sweet dessert pudding — and it turned out to be even better quality than expected. The smooth milk flavor, sweetness, and pleasant texture had us ordering an extra one.

The a la carte milk pudding is ₩4,500! It comes in a much bigger, palm-sized portion compared to the pudding included in the set, and the two of us demolished it too, haha. Even with a friend who doesn't eat much, we kept ordering more at this clean, delicious Gwangalli favorite.

Verdict on Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch

A standout Gwangalli spot for chicken nanban, with its thin crispy coating, juicy chicken, and that impressive soft egg sauce on top (the pudding is great too!). The cute Japanese-style atmosphere makes it taste even better. The chicken nanban was so much my type that I think this is a Gwangalli favorite I'll be coming back to.