Paju Outlet dinner with baby chair and kids menu: Simhaksan Deulkkot

Looking for a place to eat near the Paju Outlet

As the weather's been getting nicer lately, I've really been craving a drive just outside Seoul, you know? So the easiest near-Seoul drive destination..! I went to the Paju Outlet!

Visiting on a weekday meant not too many people around, the weather was breezy, everything was perfect... but I had to eat, right?! Honestly there are plenty of places to eat near the Paju Outlet, but it's always such a struggle figuring out which one will actually be good!

That struggle got solved by Simhaksan Deulkkot Ssambap, a Paju Outlet restaurant I visited. It's located really close to the Lotte Outlet, so no matter where you're coming from, it doesn't mess up your route!

Here's the exterior of Deulkkot Ssambap. The brick building with the font and the name Deulkkot Ssambap really suit each other, I think. There's quite a lot of parking space out front. I imagine it might get a bit busy on weekends~! After parking nicely, I went inside.

As soon as I walked in, I spotted celebrity autographs. There was one from the idol group IZ*ONE!! A restaurant idols have visited~~ I also saw actor autographs.. Having signatures like this hanging up is basically proof it's a good restaurant.

Seating, dining with a baby, and the kids menu

I sat down at a table with high hopes. Most of the tables seat four, and it looks like groups could be accommodated by pushing tables together. There were also baby chairs and a kids menu. There was even a menu called Spam Egg Rice! Haha.

Now that I've given birth myself, I find myself looking a lot more closely at restaurants and menus that work for eating with a baby — something I never paid attention to before giving birth!

Here's the interior. Since I visited a bit early on a weekday evening it looks pretty empty, but from other people's reviews, it seems like on weekends every table fills up and there's even a wait. And even at this early weekday dinner hour, a few other families were seated too.

The difference between deul jeongsik and kkot jeongsik

There are two set menus, and I ordered the deul jeongsik (field set). It's 20,000 won, and the difference from the kkot jeongsik (flower set) is a fish dish. We don't really eat fish dishes much so we just went with the deul jeongsik, but seeing the table next to us picking apart mackerel made me suddenly think maybe I should've gotten the kkot jeongsik instead... haha. Next time I visit I'll have to try the kkot jeongsik.

Sweet pumpkin porridge and side dishes

Everything gets set up one by one, and the first thing they bring out is sweet pumpkin porridge! Nice and light to have before the meal. The side dishes also come out in generous variety, and every single one was so tasty.. Now that I'm a homemaker myself, I kept thinking, how are they so good at making side dishes..? Ugh, haha. If I could cook well too I'd really be a great mom, ugh.

The texture of the hot-pot rice

Next came the hot-pot rice! If you look up reviews of Deulkkot Ssambap, there's especially a lot of praise for this stone pot rice, and eating it myself, it really is different from the rice I make at home.. haha. Totally firm and chewy, exactly the sticky rice texture I love!! Genuinely so good......! Honestly I could've easily finished a whole bowl just with the side dishes alone.

Doenjang stew made with house-fermented soybean paste

This one's the doenjang (soybean paste) stew, and honestly I don't usually expect much from the stews or soups that come with set meals, but this was so good I was genuinely surprised, like something from a specialty doenjang restaurant. Turns out both the ssam and the doenjang are made in-house! I put the stew on the burner to heat and went to check out the self-serve bar.

Self-serve ssam vegetable bar

Here's the self-serve bar. You bring your own ssam (wrap) vegetables from here, and they were stored fresh and there were lots of varieties. I don't usually get to eat this much green veg, so it was such a welcome sight..!

Mixing stir-fried pork and stir-fried squid

The main dishes, stir-fried pork and stir-fried squid, arrived. The portions were bigger than I expected, which surprised me. There was a note saying it tastes better mixed together, and mixing them really did taste better!

Finishing with sungnyung

Once you finish the rice, you can have sungnyung (scorched rice water) like this. This is also a real treat~~~!! I cleaned the whole thing up completely...!!

Looking for a good place to eat near the Paju Outlet? If you're craving Korean food, I definitely recommend Deulkkot Ssambap!