Pot rice dinner with kids at Gim Myeongju, a Bucheon Korean restaurant

When eating out with a child, choosing the menu is secretly the hardest part, isn’t it? 😂 It has to satisfy the adults’ tastes, the child needs to be able to eat well, and it’s even better if a good variety of side dishes comes with it. This time, our family of four went to Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang Bucheon Main Branch for dinner. We ordered the charcoal-grilled pork, and to give you the conclusion first: it was such a satisfying meal because even our child ate so well! Above all, every single banchan (Korean side dish) was delicious, so it felt like, “I’m so glad we came out for a Korean set meal.” It was a great restaurant in Bucheon. 😊

Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang Bucheon Main Branch for family dining

Just right for a family meal out

We visited on a weekday evening. There is parking beneath the building, and the restaurant is up the stairs. The place was bigger than I expected, even from the outside. Since it was a weekday evening when we went, it was relatively quiet and we could eat at a relaxed pace. It seems to get busy on weekends, though, as there was also a separate waiting area next to the main entrance.

If you are visiting on a weekend or during peak mealtimes, I think it would be best to allow yourself a little extra time.

• Location: 59 Gilju-ro 560beon-gil, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: 10:30–21:00
• Parking: Free

The dining room and self-service corner

Once inside, the restaurant was spacious, just as it looked from outside! The tables were not packed tightly together, and there were plenty of tables for larger groups, so it looked good for a family meal. The atmosphere did not feel burdensome even for a family outing with a child like ours. 😊 There was also a self-service corner on one side where you could help yourself to rice and side dishes.

The menu said that extra rice, side dishes, and water are available at the self-service corner, and that cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) can be refilled too. After the meal, I also noticed a coffee vending machine by the exit where you could get yourself a cup. ☕️

Korean set meals with freshly cooked pot rice

Looking at the menu, the basic Tteuranchae set meal was ₩13,000 per person, and you could also order individual dishes alongside it. There were options such as borigulbi (dried yellow corvina), soy-marinated crab, charcoal-grilled pork, cockle salad, and grilled mackerel. When you order a set meal, you can enjoy it with freshly cooked dolsotbap (pot rice). The menu also said that the pot rice is made fresh after ordering, with about 15 minutes of care put into it. Our family chose the charcoal-grilled pork that day. 🥩

A spread that kept me reaching for the banchan

When the full spread arrived, this is exactly the joy of a Korean set meal, haha. With assorted side dishes—seasoned vegetables, kimchi, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), fresh kimchi, and more—coming all at once, it was fun choosing a little of this and that throughout a bowl of rice. But the thing I surprisingly kept picking at was the seasoned spinach! It is not a flashy side dish, but the fragrant sesame-oil aroma came through just right, and the pleasantly salty seasoning was so well balanced that I kept reaching for it with my chopsticks.

You might think, “How different can spinach be?” But you know how, when even a basic side dish is delicious, it makes you trust all the food more? 😂 The fresh kimchi was also exactly to my taste! Its crisp texture and seasoning worked so well together; it was delicious with rice and paired beautifully with the pork too. In the end, we kept refilling the fresh kimchi, haha.

Charcoal-grilled pork that the child enjoyed too

And then there was the charcoal-grilled pork as the main dish! It arrived generously piled on a hot iron plate with onions, and I loved the subtle charcoal aroma from the meat. The seasoning was not overly intense either, so it was perfect with rice. What I especially loved that day was how well our child ate! ❤️ When you take a child to a Korean set-meal restaurant, there can be lots of side dishes but somehow nothing the child will actually eat. Here, though, the child had the charcoal-grilled pork with rice and ate it so well. I had a piece of pork topped with fresh kimchi, added some seasoned vegetable side dishes too… Eating it like that really reminded me why a full Korean meal is so comforting and filling. 😋

Savory stew and nurungji to finish

The stew that came with the meal was nice and hot too. A spoonful of broth while eating the meat, followed by another bite of rice—just perfect! With dolsotbap, after you scoop out the rice and pour in water, you can enjoy warm, savory nurungji (scorched rice) at the end, right? 🤎 Even after filling up on meat and side dishes, having that warm nurungji at the end made it feel like I had truly eaten a proper meal.

If you are looking for a family meal in Bucheon

After visiting as a family of four, I thought Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang Bucheon Main Branch was a good choice not only for a meal with your parents, but also for a family meal out with a child. The charcoal-grilled pork, the main dish, was delicious, but what stayed with me more was how tasty every single side dish was. Especially the seasoned spinach and fresh kimchi! They looked ordinary, but I kept reaching for them, haha. Above all, our child ate the charcoal-grilled pork so well, and as a mom, that alone made me happy. 😂 It was relatively relaxed on the weekday evening we visited, but seeing the separate waiting area made me think weekends are probably busier, so I recommend going with a little extra time. If you are looking for a place in Bucheon where you can enjoy a generous meal of assorted side dishes, warm pot rice, and meat, it would be a good place to visit with your family. 😊