Baby-friendly kimchi jjigae restaurant in Gojan-dong, Ansan: Choburi

I recently went back again — with my husband and baby this time — to Choburi Kimchi Jjigae, a go-to restaurant in Gojan-dong, Ansan.

This is a place where even the gardenia-yellow stone-pot rice is delicious.

Location, hours, and parking at Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch

The restaurant is fairly close to Gojan Station on Line 4, so if you're coming without a car, public transit is the way to go. We drove and parked nearby in a paid lot.

There's also a Lotte Hi-Mart and an NC Department Store nearby, so it was nice to window-shop after the meal to help digest.

The restaurant is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., with a break time from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. and last order at 8:30 p.m. It's closed for the upcoming Chuseok holiday, September 24 to 26 — worth keeping in mind.

Self-serve ice cream and coffee corner, plus the self-serve bar

Walking into the store, the first thing that caught my eye on the right was the ice cream and coffee corner haha. Such a thoughtful touch to make sure you can grab dessert too.

There's strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream — something kids and adults alike would love. On the right side you can also help yourself to Americano or Maxim mix coffee, so you can pick whatever you like for dessert.

A closer look at the extra self-serve bar

Before we even sat down, there was another self-serve area to check out. Here you could refill rice, and there were stir-fried fish cakes and pickled peppers too. If your broth runs low while eating the kimchi jjigae, you can top it up here and add ramyeon noodles to boil it back up. I also spotted sesame oil and soy sauce.

Baby-friendly? Baby chairs and cushioned booth seating

Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch has baby chairs, making it a good spot for a family meal with little ones in tow. We sat at a table in the back, and the cushioned booth seating made it really comfortable.

Menu and ordering — stone-pot rice and stew set for two, ₩28,000

Each table orders via a tablet PC. We got the signature stone-pot rice and stew set for two, which comes with 3 perilla oil fried eggs, unlimited ramyeon noodles, and your choice of one drink. It was ₩28,000.

But we thought, wouldn't that be a bit lacking on its own? So we added the giant Bongpyeong buckwheat chive pancake, ₩8,000, which we'd had before. It's made with domestic buckwheat flour. Think of it as Korean-style gorgonzola pizza, haha.

There were also other options like kimchi jeonbyeong (fried kimchi dumpling wrap), loaded toppings, and a pancake-plus-makgeolli set. Especially that last one — one pancake with a bottle of makgeolli for ₩10,000 is such a good deal, haha. Great for a drink with friends.

For alcohol, there was also soju and beer, and the Kooksoondang rice makgeolli looked tasty too, haha. Since we drove, we ordered two cans of Zero Coke instead.

Tasting the kimchi jjigae, stone-pot rice, and buckwheat pancake

The star of the meal, kimchi jjigae, arrived. They say it's best to start on high heat — level 9 — then lower it to level 3 once it's simmering down, which is when it tastes best. It comes out already partly cooked, so you don't want to reduce it too much, haha.

Then the stone-pot rice and 3 perilla oil fried eggs we'd been waiting for arrived. The basic side dishes were roasted seaweed, pickled peppers, and stir-fried fish cake.

The perilla oil fried eggs were soft-yolked, so they were incredibly smooth, moist, and nutty, haha. The aroma was fantastic too — my husband polished off two of them in no time, haha. They said it's also great spooned over the rice.

The buckwheat pancake we ordered as a side arrived, and it's genuinely huge. Piled high with chives, and dipping it in soy sauce adds even more nuttiness. The portion was so big we ended up leaving a bit — sniff.

At this Gojan-dong restaurant, the gardenia-infused stone-pot rice is also excellent — the golden color and fluffy grains paired perfectly with the stew broth. Scoop out the rice, then pour hot water into the pot to enjoy sungnyung (scorched rice tea) afterward.

After digging into the rice for a while, we noticed the broth was drying up, so we added more stock.

Then we added ramyeon noodles and brought it back up to a rolling boil at level 7 to 9. Adding the noodles gives the broth a whole new dimension of flavor.

The stone-pot rice at this Gojan-dong, Ansan restaurant was excellent right to the end — the sungnyung made from the hot water poured into the pot paired perfectly with kimchi or meat from the stew. I found myself scraping the pot clean, haha. Two adults, plus the pancake, left us thoroughly full. It's a great spot for a weekend family meal.

A look inside Choburi Kimchi Jjigae Gojan Main Branch

Here's the interior of the Gojan Main Branch. The tables are spaced really far apart, aren't they? That spacing made the whole meal feel relaxed. There were pairs like us, but plenty of families too, and even some solo diners. It looked like a place that could easily handle group gatherings as well.

The window seats seemed popular too — if you reserve ahead on Naver, they give you a free side of silver ear mushroom. My other half and I were glad we'd booked in advance. We said we'd try the jeonbyeong next time, haha.

If you're looking for a good restaurant in Gojan-dong, Ansan, I'd recommend this place. One more note: the restroom is located inside the building.

Address: 111~113, 145-7 Gwangdeok3-ro, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea