Samgyeopsal 100g for ₩6,000 at Don Gukbap, Buk-gu, Daegu

I visited a genuinely kind restaurant — great prices, generous portions, and friendly service all in one. ₩6,000 pork belly, a janchi guksu (feast noodles) piled with boiled pork, and a gukbap (soup with rice) with a bowl overflowing with meat — this place in Goseong-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu was as generous in flavor as it was in portions.

Here's my honest review of Don Gukbap, a value-for-money spot near Bukgucheong (Daegu's Buk-gu District Office) where you can eat a hearty meal without breaking the bank.

Don Gukbap's hours and location

• 🕒 Daily 10:00–22:00 (break time 15:00–16:00 Mon–Fri, no break on weekends)
• 🏠 8 Oksan-ro 7-gil, Buk-gu, Daegu, South Korea (Don Gukbap)

How far from Bukgucheong Station — the exterior

The restaurant sits in an alley right across from the Buk-gu District Office. It's an easy 3-minute walk from Bukgucheong Station on Daegu Subway Line 3, so access is great. It has that warm, old-school local-favorite vibe you'd expect from a spot regulars keep coming back to. There's no dedicated parking, so you'll need to park along the street.

Domestic pork belly for ₩6,000 per 100g — genuinely cheap given today's prices. I came for gukbap but suddenly wanted pork belly too. And now I'm curious about the janchi guksu topped with boiled pork. Alright, let's go in.

An interior that works fine for solo diners too

The space isn't huge, but it's kept nice and clean. It's small but has a cozy comfort to it. With tables for 6, 4, and 2, solo dining doesn't feel awkward at all, and groups are welcome too. Customers kept streaming in the whole time I was there — must be a local favorite. Glad I found this place.

The menu, prices, and self-serve bar

The grilled meat prices are seriously cheap. Pork cheek is ₩5,000 per serving, the chewy cut is ₩5,500, and neck meat or pork belly is ₩6,000. Since there were four of us, we ordered a variety. Four servings of raw pork belly, and even four servings only came to ₩24,000!! Great value. We also ordered a lean pork gukbap and janchi guksu to go with it.

On top of the cheap grilled meat prices, there's even a self-serve bar — sundae (blood sausage) innards and tteokbokki. The tteokbokki is delicious. I grabbed a small plate just to try, and my kid and I finished it without leaving anything behind.

What we ordered — four servings of raw pork belly

They brought out the side dishes first. The fresh kimchi and onion sauce were tasty. That sauce was tangy and so good — perfect with the meat!

Then the four servings of raw pork belly arrived, plated with zucchini, pink sausage, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, onions, and fermented shrimp sauce adding pops of color. I didn't expect much from the presentation at a neighborhood old-school joint, but seeing the plate they served made me happy.

They turned on the flame and grilled it sizzling for us. The colorful toppings scattered on top made it look even more appetizing.

Whoa, that color is insane. The smell while the pork belly cooked was seriously amazing. They sizzled it up and cut it into bite-sized pieces for us.

Once it's grilled this perfectly,

I ate it with the onion sauce, with the fresh kimchi, and wrapped in a lettuce leaf with garlic on top — one bite, yum! The ratio of fat to lean meat was just right. And once we finished the meat, the staff told us fried rice was included — how great is that?! It made me wonder if there was even anything left in our stomachs... Since we'd already ordered gukbap, we politely declined the fried rice. I'll try it next time I visit.

Lean pork gukbap, a bowl overflowing with meat

This is the lean pork gukbap. It came out bubbling away in a hot stone bowl, looking so appetizing. Honestly, I gave it a stir with my spoon and there was meat filling the whole bowl. It's been a long time since I've seen a gukbap place give this much meat without holding back.

There's plenty of glass noodles in there too. Seasoned to taste with salted shrimp, and slurped down with a bowl of rice for a filling meal! There was so much meat that just eating that alone filled me up.

Janchi guksu topped with boiled pork, ₩6,000

This is the janchi guksu topped with boiled pork. The portion was seriously massive — if I'd known it would be this much, I would've just ordered one dish instead of two. The bowl felt heavy and the portion looked doubled, so I worried whether I could finish it all. I didn't want to leave anything unfinished, so...

The broth was mild, which I loved even more. Stirring in a spoonful of the seasoning sauce they gave us brought the seasoning to just the right level! There were four glossy slices of boiled pork on top. With regular janchi guksu going for ₩6,000–7,000 these days, getting this much meat piled on for just ₩6,000 is total incredible value, everyone!

Final verdict

With such generous portions across the whole menu, my first impression was that this is a genuinely kind restaurant. The staff and ajumma (auntie) serving us were so friendly that it made sense why they'd have so many regulars. Meat priced at ₩6,000 per serving is hard to find anywhere else these days. And even though it wasn't labeled a double portion, the gukbap was still served heaping and generous, with a natural flavor built on the ingredients themselves rather than anything overly seasoned or artificial. This was Don Gukbap, a favorite in Goseong-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu.