31 side dishes, cold spicy pork lunch at Masan Ssamjangjip, Changwon

I've been eating a lot of Western, Japanese, and Chinese food lately, so I was really craving Korean food. I heard there's a hanjeongsik (Korean set-meal) restaurant near Masan's Daetgeori that people line up for, so I went to check it out.

To cut to the chase: there were satisfying parts, but also a few disappointing ones.

This is my honest review of Masan Ssamjangjip, a hanjeongsik restaurant in Masan's Daetgeori that I visited through a mix of sponsorship and paying my own way.

*Taste is subjective.

Location, parking, and how to get to Masan Ssamjangjip

Masan Ssamjangjip, the line-up spot in Changwon's Masan Daetgeori, specializes in hanjeongsik. It's near 3·15 Marine Park, so it's an easy stop for anyone out for a stroll.

There doesn't seem to be dedicated parking, so you'll need to use a nearby public lot — the 3·15 Marine Park parking lot was free. But finding a spot there is a bit of a gamble.

Luckily I found a spot at the marine park lot, parked, and headed to Masan Ssamjangjip, known for its spread of over 30 side dishes. It's on the 2nd floor, and the stairs are a bit steep.

A retro interior where you take off your shoes

The interior had a slightly unusual layout. Room-style restaurants where you remove your shoes are getting rare these days, but here you have to take your shoes off to enter.

There were standalone 4-person tables as well as an area where several 4-person tables were pushed together. It seemed meant for groups, but even non-group diners end up seated side by side there.

With the retro decor — a mother-of-pearl cabinet and little trinkets hanging from the ceiling of the hall — I imagine our parents' generation would feel a wave of nostalgia.

Free self-serve Hangang ramyeon

Interestingly, at Masan Ssamjangjip, this Daetgeori hanjeongsik spot, you can cook your own Hangang ramyeon (instant noodles) at a self-serve station. There were 3-4 types of ramyeon to choose from, and it's free.

I figured that at a proper hanjeongsik place, the food itself would fill you up so much that few people would have room for ramyeon on top. But apparently just like there's a separate 'stomach' for dessert or drinks, there's a separate ramyeon stomach too — nearly every table had a pot of it. And even my partner, who didn't finish the served food, ate ramyeon anyway...

The dessert self-bar wasn't refilled

This is the area marked as a self-bar, mainly stocked with desserts for after the meal. The photo below was taken around 1pm, when I arrived.

Even though there were empty tables, they weren't cleared and turned over quickly, so we waited a long time. We waited about 30 minutes and finished our meal past 2pm, but unfortunately the dessert self-bar hadn't been refilled, so there was barely anything left — just a few grapes and some pineapple. This is something the restaurant should pay attention to, so I'm noting it here.

(Photo below taken around 1pm on arrival)

Near the self-bar, staff were busily plating the side dishes to be served. I snapped a photo of what was coming out beforehand.

Masan Ssamjangjip menu and prices

• Spicy pork set (제육정식) ₩14,900
• Braised beef rib set (소갈비찜정식) ₩20,000
• Grilled mackerel set (고등어구이정식) ₩17,000
• Extra rice ₩2,000

The spicy pork set seemed to be the signature dish. Rice is included in the sets, but an extra bowl costs ₩2,000, which surprised me. These days even hot-pot rice (sotbap) runs about ₩2,000, so ₩2,000 for just an extra bowl of rice felt steep. I've rarely seen extra rice priced at ₩1,500, let alone ₩2,000 — it really hit me how much prices have gone up lately. Anyway, it was a shock.

31 side dishes, but the serving method felt inefficient

The basic side dish of acorn jelly salad (dotorimuk-muchim) was sweet and tangy, and quite good.

The chive pancake (buchujeon) wasn't bad either.

Below are the basic side dishes that came out first. They bring the dishes over on a tray and then transfer each one onto the table individually, which makes serving inefficient and takes a really long time.

And below is everything laid out, excluding rice. I counted the dishes in the photo — there are 31 in total.

Apparently the seaweed soup (miyeokguk) that appeared in other bloggers' older posts isn't served anymore. Instead, we got doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew). It's a seafood doenjang stew generously loaded with tofu and crab.

Why the main spicy pork stir-fry fell short

Since I took part partly as a sponsored reviewer and partly paying my own way, I feel a bit cautious about judging, but there were definitely both good and disappointing parts.

The main dish, spicy pork stir-fry (jeyuk-bokkeum), simply wasn't warm. Side dishes not being hot is one thing, but this is the main course. And at ₩14,900 per person, it's not exactly a cheap meal, so it felt like the pork wasn't stir-fried fresh but was made in a big batch ahead of time and just plated.

The meat quality wasn't great either — there were a lot of small fragments, and it didn't showcase the ingredient's own flavor, drowned instead in sauce. The sauce itself was just so-so for my taste. My family who came along agreed it fell short of expectations.

Since the restaurant proudly puts 'ssamjang' (seasoned soybean paste) in its name, I tried the spicy pork with the ssamjang. The ssamjang itself tasted fine, but the main dish was so underwhelming that it couldn't really save the pairing.

Seafood doenjang jjigae

The doenjang jjigae with crab in it. Generously loaded with tofu and crab. The taste was about average. I expected seaweed soup, but that's no longer served.

Here are the main side dishes aside from the vegetable namul: spicy pork stir-fry, acorn jelly salad, tofu kimchi, and chive pancake.

Hangang ramyeon — everyone at every table seemed to be eating it. I really wondered why people order ramyeon at a hanjeongsik place...

Final honest verdict

It's known as a Masan Daetgeori spot people line up for, and while the side dishes weren't bad, I didn't feel they were especially delicious either. Just my personal opinion, but I wondered if reducing the number of side dishes and focusing more on the main dish might work better.

If anyone visits after reading this post, I hope your experience at this Masan Daetgeori restaurant turns out better than mine.

Masan Ssamjangjip info

• Address: 65 Haean-daero, 2nd floor, Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:00-21:00, with a break time, closed every Tuesday
• Group seating, takeout, delivery, reservations, walk-ins, high chairs available