Hwaseong gyukatsu restaurant with a double set and salmon: Sindong Lab

Second visit to Sindong Lab Hwaseong Bongdam Branch

Sindong Lab Hwaseong Bongdam Branch is a Japanese restaurant on Wau-ro in Bongdam, Hwaseong. Today's an honest review of Sindong Lab, a great spot to take a baby to in Hwaseong! This is already my second visit and it was so good I wanted to recommend it haha. Let's dive right into what we ate today~~

Where to park at Sindong Lab, and why the lot fills fast

🚗 Parking 🚗 You can park right in front of the store. If it's full, just tell the owner and they'll guide you. It's smaller than it looks, so new drivers be careful!! haha

You can park right in front of the store! It's wide but there aren't as many spots as you'd think! If there are a lot of cars, it can be hard to get in or out. New drivers, be careful!!!

The cute Sindong Lab character. Since it's a Japanese-based restaurant, doesn't the character give off a strong Japanese vibe too? The sign also says SINDONG LAB in big letters!!!! haha

Inside Sindong Lab: the dining room and waiting area

The whole place looks pretty spacious, right?! You can also feel the cute little details

When it's full, they've comfortably set up seats for waiting customers, which I think is so nice. Having this much of a wait means the owner must be doing great haha. Since waiting can be tiring, they even prepared a drink fridge — such a thoughtful touch. One per person so the person behind you gets one too, haha ~!!

There's an explanation posted out front too, and even that is cute ㅠㅠ. There was also plenty of room in the umbrella stand

I thought the pictures on the menu looked really delicious, and it turned out the actual food looked exactly like the photos ㅠㅠ, kind of embarrassing

This is the overall vibe of the place!! Huge, right? But the table spacing and the tables themselves are wide, so it's a really comfortable place to eat

Ordering at the table kiosk and how the table is set

Our table buddy for today! Every table has a kiosk, so you can order easily and even pay by card right there — how convenient is that ~!? Split payment is possible too, good good good ~~

At the seat, water, water cups, seasonings (salt, shichimi, soy sauce, tonkatsu sauce, etc.), and even hair ties were all set up. The salt shaker was Hello Kitty and I really wanted to use it haha,,,

Private reserved seats and the table for 8

This is a reserved seating area, available only if you book ahead. This spot is a bit more private, so if you want to sit here I'd really recommend reserving in advance!! There's also a table that seats 8 people, so check ahead before you visit!!

Why Sindong Lab works with a baby

They even have ice cream ready as dessert, so I thought — the kids will love this, but adults will too. There's a sink right next to the tables to wash your hands if they get sticky, which just confirmed this is a genuinely thoughtful place. They're also running a Naver review event!!!

Checking the vibe of the place once more!! Baby chairs are fully available too haha!!!

Sindong Lab menu and what we ordered

Food, food a la carte, drinks. There's so much on the menu I split it up a bit. The menu comes with photos too, which is nice. Take a good look and just order haha ʚ₍ᐢꕤ⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝ᐢ₎ɞ

• Sukiyaki set ₩14,900
• Added salmon (3 pieces) ₩6,000
• Gyukatsu double set ₩26,900
• Zero-sugar cola x2 ₩2,000

Order complete!!

After ordering, omija (five-flavor berry) tea and cream soup came out. Little appetizers like this are always nice ㅠㅠㅠ

We ate and waited, then the ordered food came out!

The visuals are so good ㅠㅠㅠ everything looks so delicious ㅜㅜㅜ

Gyukatsu double set, ₩26,900: how does it taste?

Let me show you the gyukatsu (beef cutlet) first — it came out as a full set like this!

Look at the color of the gyukatsu meat. The salad is nice and fresh too!!

They gave us kirimochi (grilled rice cake) too haha. This is the kind of small, cute touch I love about this place

Salmon, 3 pieces ...haha!!!! But it tasted really, really good

Sukiyaki set, ₩14,900: what comes with it and how to eat it

Here's what the sukiyaki set is made up of. Rice and even udon included — such a generous restaurant,,,

The amount of meat was quite generous too

It's shabu-shabu style — you just put it right into the burner and cook it. Add the veggies yourself and you're done!

The broth is on the salty side, so it's a dish you're meant to dip into the egg as you eat.

The broth had a lot of a bulgogi-like flavor, so I think even people who don't usually go for Japanese food would like this

Grilled the gyukatsu and brought it to my mouth. Put wasabi on it and — wow, that's the real deal, so good

Kept enjoying the sukiyaki the whole time. Dipped the salmon in soy sauce too — fresh and it just melts, so good

Ate the sukiyaki so happily haha. The vegetables were even tastier!!

Once the kirimochi is fully grilled, you have to dunk it deep into the jocheong (rice syrup). Highly, highly recommend this one!!

After finishing the meat, add the udon in haha. Don't worry, they refill both the flame and the broth partway through

The udon, the rice, the meat, the broth — this sukiyaki was so, so good!!

Free dessert ice cream: strawberry was the pick

After finishing everything, we had ice cream before heading out. Can't skip the ice cream ~!! Out of the 4 flavors, strawberry is the best, just so you know!!

Ate well and heading out - ̗̀ෆ(˶'ᵕ'˶)ෆ ̖́-