Japanese restaurant in Suyeong, Busan for karaage: Daidokoro

Gwangalli favorite for Japanese home-style meals, Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch: 台所

A longtime Japanese home-style favorite at the entrance to Gwangalli

Daidokoro Gwangalli Main Branch sits right at the entrance to Gwangalli. It’s a six-minute walk from Exit 5 of Geumnyeonsan Station. I’ve been a regular here since high school, hehe. I’m so happy it has done well for such a long time haha. It hurts my heart when I see places closing down ㅠ

Maybe because there’s often a wait, they thoughtfully even keep water outside. (There wasn’t any on this day, though...)

There was a Catchtable waiting machine. You can make reservations on weekdays too, and local office workers often reserve it—such a genuinely good restaurant!!

You can reserve it like this through Naver, so convenient, right...

Inside and the wait

The interior is compact but cozy. When I went at around 6 p.m. on a weekday, it was nearly full, and there was a short wait by the time I left. I also waited a little when I went around noon on a weekday. If you arrive right at meal time, you’ll often have to wait, so keep that in mind~!!

Set meals and combo sets

Daidokoro two-person set, ₩34,000: chicken karaage + pork cutlet curry set + chicken gyoza (4 pieces) + one Sprite. Daidokoro one-person set, ₩18,900: chicken karaage set + chicken gyoza (4 pieces) + one Sprite.

• Chicken karaage set ₩13,900
• Chicken nanban set ₩14,500
• Kkanpunggi set ₩13,900
• Pork cutlet curry set ₩13,900
• King prawn curry set ₩13,900
• Assorted croquette curry set ₩13,900
• Green mandarin cold udon ₩14,500
• Meat udon set meal ₩11,500
• Small draft beer ₩3,000
• Milk pudding ₩4,500

There are way more menu items than this!

Karaage set meal and chicken nanban set meal

↑ Chicken nanban set meal ₩11,500. ↓ Karaage set meal ₩11,900. There are set meals and combo sets; the combo sets come with a fried egg, curry sauce, and a croquette. I don’t enjoy curry all that much, so I always choose the set meal ~.~

The karaage set meal pairs tender fried chicken with rice—what more is there to say? It also comes with soup, sausage, radish, danmuji (yellow pickled radish), and kimchi. At first it can look like a small portion, but once you eat, it’s more filling than you’d think—that’s Daidokoro’s thing 😎 One bite of rice and karaage together is just sooo delicious...

Chicken nanban is karaage topped with sweet-and-tangy tartar sauce. It kind of feels like egg mayo...?! It has a softer flavor. They’re both good, but I personally prefer the clean, straightforward karaage!

It’s Japanese home-style food, but I love that they include kimchi and radish for Korean diners lol. Really, when you alternate karaage and radish, it totally refreshes your palate; take a look in high resolution... drool drool. Even picky people have agreed this place is delicious... hahaha. But this video was from a different day from the photos, and the danmuji was a different side dish?! I ate it, but I don’t know what it was called...

Daidokoro has little cute touches like this all around. Please don’t take them.

Shichimi (Japanese seven-spice blend), furikake (rice seasoning), and salad dressing are on the table too, so you can help yourself.

Daidokoro’s secret weapon: milk pudding

Daidokoro’s secret weapon is this milk pudding... 🍼 It’s seriously delicious... Maybe it’s even more tempting because it’s small haha. I don’t know what that topping is, but the combination is insane... It’s soft and sweet, with a rich, premium milk flavor. Sometimes I even get milk pudding to go ㅜㅠ (They sell it separately.)

They had a review event that day, so I got one more milk pudding. Yay.

This is the event they were running. They give you either assorted croquettes or milk pudding—doesn’t that feel like a bigger event than expected? Hahaha.

You can charge your devices here, too.

Daidokoro Wi-Fi!