Solo dining kimchi jjigae restaurant in Gojan-dong, Ansan: Choburi

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch

It got suddenly hot again ☠️ At times like this you'd think 'fight fire with fire'... but honestly I just wanted delicious kimchi jjigae, so I went to a kimchi jjigae place in Gojan-dong near Gojan Station :)

Where is Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch? Behind BYC at 25-si Plaza

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch is located in the backstreet behind the BYC building on the main road at the 25-hour plaza in Gojan-dong.

The first 3 parties on an opening run also get a free Bongpyeong chive buckwheat pancake, so it pays to get there early.

Police, military, and firefighters also get a free raw pork topping. And with slushie, coffee, and ice cream given for dessert on top of that, isn't this seriously such a generous place? haha

Can you eat alone? Choburi Kimchi Jjigae takes orders from one person

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch lets you order kimchi jjigae starting from just 1 person. A lot of kimchi jjigae places require 2 or more people to order, so it's really nice that this one works from 1. I went alone too! Haha~

They said it's been open around 2 years, but the interior is super clean! There were a lot of solo diners too.

Doing an opening run made for good photo conditions haha

If you run short on side dishes, rice, or broth, you can grab more from the self-service corner. I liked that everything from the rice to the side dish containers had lids on — with the bugs around in this kind of weather these days, that's something I personally care about a lot~

A certification for their Korean pork sales, and instructions on how to enjoy it best. I love kimchi jjigae with rich, reduced broth like this.

You can also buy a meal kit after eating.

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae menu, toppings and noodle add-ins

Kimchi jjigae is basically the main menu item, and for sides you can get a perilla oil fried egg / buckwheat kimchi jeonbyeong (rice paper roll) / chive buckwheat pancake.

For add-ins there's raw pork topping, silver ear mushroom topping, and fried tofu topping, and the ramyeon noodle add-in is unlimited refill!!! Stone-pot rice also comes standard when you order the stew, and if that's not enough, rice is unlimited too 👀

What comes with the meal: the basic table setting

The side dishes came out looking really neat. Doesn't the pickled hot pepper look so appetizing? 😘

Kimchi jjigae with raw pork topping and gardenia stone-pot rice, ready in 7 minutes

Added raw pork topping to the kimchi jjigae! A bubbling stew like this has to be eaten piping hot for the real flavor!

Big props for the fried egg drizzled generously with perilla oil! The gardenia stone-pot rice came out alongside it too.

Even the sides here look delicious, don't they? haha

First, boiled the kimchi jjigae for 7 minutes and took a bite! The broth was so reduced and rich, it was crazy delicious~ Spicy and piping hot!! 🥢 The moment I took a bite, I thought, ah, this is drinking food,,, I really craved a glass of soju,,, but I drove today so,,, pass!

My favorite combo of all — rice + kimchi jjigae + fried egg. Mixing it all up hearty and filling, love it.

Kimchi buckwheat jeonbyeong and the self-service vegetable broth

The spicy, crispy kimchi buckwheat jeonbyeong (rice paper roll) wasn't dry inside at all, nice and moist~ The filling was really packed full too, right? There's also dipping soy sauce at the self-service bar~ It's nice that all the kimchi at Choburi Kimchi Jjigae is domestic.

Isn't the broth super reduced? They said it's a vegetable broth made fresh every early morning, produced and used the same day.

Unlimited ramyeon noodle refills in the spicy kimchi broth

Couldn't resist the ramyeon noodles. Ah, this is seriously so spicy, seriously perfect drinking food, haha. I got careless while eating and choked, coughing for a good while haha 🫶 There are a lot of bland kimchi jjigae places out there, but this one's broth is so reduced and the seasoning is really rich!

The ramyeon noodles honestly look amazing~

Even the dessert is perfect!

Gotta digest, so I took a cup of ice cream for dessert and walked around the neighborhood 🫠

Verdict: an Ansan stone-pot rice spot that works for solo meals and solo drinks

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch is an Ansan stone-pot rice spot where everything from rice to ramyeon noodles is unlimited refill. Solo drinking and solo dining are both possible in Gojan-dong, so it seems like a great place to have a hearty bowl of stew with a drink~ The broth is spicy and rich, so it's also great for dinner. The kimchi buckwheat jeonbyeong is the best side too!! 😆