Doenjang jjigae with beef brisket and egg meatballs: Cafe Dongi, Daegu

I finally took a trip to Dongseong-ro in Daegu after a while.

Great value, crowd-pleasing flavors, unlimited self-serve fried eggs, rice, and gim, plus an Excellent hygiene grade from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety — a place you can trust.

I went to Cafe Dongi, a Dongseong-ro favorite. Just like its name suggests, it has a real cafe vibe, which makes it great for student dates, and I saw a lot of families dining with kids too. Let me introduce it.

Cafe Dongi Dongseong-ro Main Branch: location and hours

To get to Cafe Dongi, you take an outdoor elevator up to the second floor. That was already unique, haha, kind of surprising and fun.

⏰️Hours⏰️ Weekdays 11:00–20:30 / Weekends 11:00–21:00

Signature menu lineup

🌱Signature menus🌱

• Grilled dwaeji bulgogi set
• Shoulder-cut Japanese curry set
• Beef brisket doenjang jjigae set
• Yeolmu bibimbap set
• Rich kimchi jjigae set
• Grilled jeyuk bokkeum set meal

A rice restaurant with a cafe-like second floor

Take the elevator up to the second floor and you'll find this Dongseong-ro favorite that really feels like a cafe.🫪 Honestly, I was surprised at first. The atmosphere wasn't like a typical rice restaurant at all — it was bright, clean, and calm, just like a cafe 👍🏻

You pay through the kiosk at each table, and tap pay is available too ⭐️ Just so you know, cash isn't accepted, but bank transfer is.

There are plenty of high chairs too. Since rice, gim, and fried eggs are unlimited, a lot of families with kids come here!

There was also a waiting area off to one side of the store. It looked like there could be a fair amount of waiting at peak times. I visited around 4:50 pm, before dinner rush, and it was still busy.

Prepaid meal pass for office workers

There was also a prepaid meal pass just for office workers — if I worked nearby, I'd probably come all the time. They give a free sweet and sour pork coupon as a sign-up gift, and you can even call ahead to preorder, so it'd be great for a quick lunch break. Great value too... no reason not to go❌️

What's at the self-serve bar

The self-serve zone had welcome tea, hutgae tea (raisin tree tea), and cold filtered water too. The hutgae tea can be served warm or cold depending on the season.

There was also tasty barley candy, haha. It seemed meant as a dessert, but we were hungry so we ate it before the rice even came out, lol.

Gim is at the self-serve bar too, haha. It was fresh gim, which made it even better. Right up my alley🫶

Self-serve fried egg zone

The self-serve fried egg zone had three burners in case things got busy, and there were clear instructions so even people who aren't great at frying eggs could follow along without trouble. I saw students doing it themselves too, haha.

A tasty fried egg in the making (thanks, maknae/youngest of the group)

Staff kept coming by to tidy up the self-serve bar, and the restaurant's hygiene grade was Excellent. It was nice to be able to eat there with confidence, haha.

Beef brisket doenjang jjigae rice table

Let me show you the meal our serving robot brought us.

This is the beef brisket doenjang jjigae. It came with pickled gungchae (a leafy vegetable), stir-fried fish cake, and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), and with gim and a fried egg on top, it made for a complete, satisfying meal.

It was a rich, savory doenjang jjigae packed with meat, enoki mushrooms, and tofu. I cleaned it right up, lol.

Solo-grill grilled jeyuk set meal

This is the solo-grill grilled jeyuk (spicy pork) set meal. It also came with three side dishes, and the jeyuk was served on a personal grill so you could keep it warm until the end, with omija tea (schisandra berry tea) as dessert.

Cabbage was grilled alongside it too, adding a crunchy texture to the slightly spicy sauce.

White rice with jeyuk... need I say more, T_T. The sauce paired perfectly with the rice, though it was a bit spicy, so it might be tough for kids.

Solo-grill grilled dwaeji bulgogi set meal

This is the solo-grill grilled dwaeji bulgogi (grilled pork) set meal. The side dishes, soup, and dessert were the same as before. It also came with three side dishes and was served on a personal grill so it stayed warm until the end, with omija tea for dessert too.

The dwaeji bulgogi came with shredded cabbage, and the cabbage, lightly cooked on the warm grill, had a great texture that went really well with the meat.

I piled it onto rice and ate every bite, haha. This dish has a crowd-pleasing sweet and salty flavor without spice, so it'd be great for kids.

Side dish: egg meatballs, ₩2,900

This is the egg meatballs we ordered as a side dish. It was ₩2,900 for 5 pieces — an easy price to justify for a group of two or three.

Basically donggeurangttaeng (Korean-style meat patties), and they were delicious. Really well-grilled, so tasty, haha. One bite in, I immediately said, 'Wow, that's well-grilled,' lol. Slightly crispy — loved it, haha.

Can't skip the gim either, haha. We didn't overdo it, just brought small amounts at a time, haha. The three of us went back three times, and it never got soggy, which was actually a plus. Bring it over in small batches, multiple times!

My husband even wrapped his food into neat little bundles, haha. Jeyuk is like soul food for guys, so he really dug in, lol.

Will I go back?

We really cleaned our plates, lol. Great value, fast service, and with fried eggs, gim, and barley candy for dessert all at the self-serve bar, it seemed like a great fit for student dates, office workers grabbing lunch nearby, and family outings with kids — a Dongseong-ro favorite. My companions and I agreed we'd definitely be back, 100% return rate. (We go to escape rooms in Daegu a lot, haha, so being able to eat fast matters, lol.) I recommend Cafe Dongi as a go-to rice restaurant in Dongseong-ro.