Family dinner set meals at a Japanese home-style restaurant in Namcheon-dong, Busan: Daidokoro

The hardest part of a family dinner out is deciding on the menu... My husband loves chicken karaage, I love tonkatsu (Japanese pork cutlet), and our kid loves udon, so finding a place all three of us would like is surprisingly tricky, but this time we solved it in one spot. Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch (다이도코로 광안리본점), a long-standing Japanese restaurant in Namcheon-dong!

It's been selected by Blue Ribbon and has run in the same spot for 10 years, so I was curious, and I found it myself and felt so proud, haha. But then while eating I remembered a place I'd really enjoyed at Lotte Department Store Gwangbok? Turns out that was the Daidokoro Gwangbok branch. Hahaha

Here's the story of a very generous dinner out built around a crispy, tender karaage set.

Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch: location and visitor info

Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch is on the 2nd floor at 27 Namcheondong-ro 108beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan. Gwangalli Beach is a 2–3 minute walk away, so it's nice to stroll toward the sea after eating, and it's right at the entrance to the Namcheon-dong alleys that people now visit as "Bbangcheon-dong" (the bakery neighborhood), so it was easy to find. (There are lots of pretty cafés nearby too.)

• Name: Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch
• Address: 2F, 27 Namcheondong-ro 108beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan
• Hours: 11:00–21:00
• Weekday break time: 15:00–17:00
• Last order: 20:00
• Naver reservations accepted, CatchTable waitlist available

You can book ahead on Naver, and if you turn on Naver notifications for the store you get a free vegetable croquette, so keep that in mind before visiting. At busy times like weekends you can also join the waitlist on CatchTable, which is much more comfortable than waiting blind.

Where do you park?

There's no dedicated parking lot, so you'll need to use nearby paid parking. Golden Beach Parking and Namhae Parking are close by, and if you bring your parking receipt you can get ₩1,000 refunded!

Set menus that worked well for a family

For the three of us we ordered the Plum Set for Two at ₩39,500 (karaage set + tonkatsu curry + 4 pcs menbosha + 1 seasonal drink) and the Fried Tofu Udon Set at ₩11,500.

Daidokoro has all kinds of set combinations, which is great when you want to try a bit of everything.

And what our kid loved most was that the food comes out as one full spread on a single tray! Every little dish has side dishes and food nestled together, so you get excited before you even start eating, haha.

Like stepping into a little corner of Japan

Right from the entrance it felt like a restaurant tucked into some small alley in Japan. Inside it was even cuter, haha. Those uniquely Japanese, sentimental, charming little knick-knacks are literally everywhere, and every one is tiny, so my kid and I were busy just looking around.

"There's one here too!" — hunting for the little props was surprisingly fun.

Tables for two and four are separated, and there's a room at the back, so it looked good not just for family meals but for small gatherings too.

It was comfortable with a child, and since each person gets their own tray, the vibe wouldn't feel awkward at all for a solo meal in Namcheon-dong.

How the Plum Set for Two and fried tofu udon tasted

First to arrive was the plum ade!

Tangy and sweet, perfect for whetting the appetite before the meal. Then the food came out and it was so generous I thought, "Did we order too much?" haha. We started with the menbosha (shrimp toast) — crackling crisp on the outside!

Inside it was packed with juicy shrimp, a real treat as an appetizer. If you like chicken, I recommend this set!

My husband's favorite, the karaage, came out freshly fried and was crispiness itself!

It comes with a big heap of cabbage salad, and the salad dressing paired well with the karaage. He'd been going on about chicken all day and was very happy, haha. A bit of curry comes with it too, so it didn't feel like eating just one dish — you get to enjoy several flavors.

I'm team tonkatsu, of course, haha. Mine came with tonkatsu and curry, and this was actually the bigger portion.

Daidokoro's curry is apparently aged for 100 hours, and even I, who am usually bad at describing flavors, could clearly tell it was different from ordinary curry. Smooth but with a deep, weighty richness, like a stock simmered for ages!

On top sits a fried egg, which is cute all over again, hahaha. The tonkatsu was crispy outside with really tender meat inside. Even our kid, who doesn't usually eat tonkatsu, said it was tasty and shared it, which made it even better.

The Fried Tofu Udon Set we ordered for the kid was a hit too!

A big piece of fried tofu and vegetable tempura sit on top as garnish, and eating the tempura once it's dipped in the broth and gone soft was a treat of its own. The noodles were chewy, the tofu sweet and salty, and the portion generous, so it was great for a child.

If your child prefers warm broth and udon over anything spicy or strong, choosing a menu here will be easy. The milk pudding served as dessert at the end was nutty and sweet, a perfect finish to the meal. The three of us had a truly filling dinner out, haha.

This is exactly why Daidokoro worked when I was searching for a Japanese restaurant in Namcheon-dong and struggling with everyone's different tastes — tonkatsu, curry, karaage, udon. It doesn't specialize in just one dish; each person can pick the Japanese home-style meal they like, and since it's served as a single tray, there's no awkwardness coming alone either.

I'm thinking of sneaking in for a solo lunch next time, haha. It's a good stop before or after Gwangalli Beach or a Bbangcheon-dong wander, and with that charming Japanese feel, I'd also recommend it to anyone looking for a Japanese-food date spot in Namcheon-dong.