Gwangju cutlet spot with lettuce-wrapped fish cutlet: Jinsim Wang

Sharing a spot I visited over the weekend!

Where is Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan, and how are parking and hours?

Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan, a well-known cutlet spot in Cheomdan, Gwangju, is on the 1st floor at 6 Cheomdangangbyeon-ro 87beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea. There's dedicated parking right next to the store, so parking was easy!

• Hours 11:00–21:00
• Break time 14:30–16:30
• Last order 20:30
• Open year-round

The place was seriously spacious!

Have you heard of ssam donkkaseu, haha? A place where you wrap your cutlet in lettuce

The interior was clean and had nice wide spacing between tables, haha

What we ordered and what's on the self-serve bar

At Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan we ordered the Jinsim Jjol Cheese Cutlet at 19,900 won and the Jinsim Fish Cutlet at 11,900 won. Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu has a self-serve bar, haha

We scooped the warm broth and soup ourselves right as we sat down, haha

Lettuce wraps, ssamjang (dipping paste), pickled radish, and kimchi were also set out, haha

They even had kids' tableware, so it's great to come with children, and the portions here are so big that you can take leftovers home yourself without feeling awkward about it, haha

First, the soup, haha — why is the soup always so good at cutlet places? A smooth, easy-to-drink soup that whets the appetite

A robot serves the food at Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu, haha — seeing not just dine-in customers but a nonstop stream of delivery orders coming in made me think, wow, this is really a true local favorite

And finally, the main dishes arrived! Ta-da, haha

Jinsim Fish Cutlet, 11,900 won: how big and how does it taste?

The one at the bottom is the cheese cutlet, and on top is the fish cutlet. The size is honestly insane, haha

First, the Jinsim Fish Cutlet! The fish cutlet came out huge, so it looked filling from the get-go. The surface was fried to a nice golden brown, and it came with tartar sauce on the side, which paired really well with it

They cut it into bite-sized pieces for us, haha. You first get that crispy breading like a regular pork cutlet, and the fish inside is soft and moist — the texture was really good!

Take a bite and you first feel the crispy coating, then the light, tender fish melts through afterward, haha

The distinctive fishy taste wasn't strong at all, it was light, so I think even people who don't usually eat fish cutlet could enjoy this without hesitation, not just fish cutlet fans

Dip it right into the tartar sauce! The savory, smooth tartar sauce goes really well with the fish cutlet

Add the tangy, savory sauce to the crispy coating and the flavor gets even richer, haha

The side dishes we grabbed from the self-serve bar earlier, haha

This was my first time eating it with lettuce wraps like this! Being able to eat unlimited fresh lettuce made it a real treat, haha — fish cutlet with ssamjang, who knew, haha

The salad cuts through the richness nicely, haha

Jinsim Jjol Cheese Cutlet, 19,900 won: cheese waterfall over jjolmyeon

Next up, jjolmyeon (chewy cold noodles) plus cheese cutlet! The cheese cutlet is stuffed with cheese inside, so the moment you cut it, the cheese stretches out looong, haha. It looks like a total cheese waterfall from the start!

And white rice, of course, can't be missing~

A really golden, crispy cheese cutlet, haha. You can choose to have the sauce poured on or served separately, and since I'm a dip-it-myself person, I asked for the sauce on the side, haha

Especially since this dish comes with jjolmyeon too — that's exactly the combo I love!

They cut the cutlet into easy-to-eat pieces

And I lifted it up to see how much cheese was packed inside — the cheese stretching out was seriously amazing, haha

One bite and you get the crispy coating and the savory, soft cheese all at once. The cheese is so rich that a savory flavor bursts out with every bite! The crispiness of the cutlet plus the soft, chewy texture of the cheese made the flavor really full, haha

But eating just the cheese cutlet nonstop can get a little heavy, right? So we paired it with the jjolmyeon that came alongside!

The jjolmyeon noodles were springy and chewy with great texture still intact. The tangy-sweet sauce soaked well into the noodles, so my appetite came right back the moment I took a bite, haha. The slightly spicy, tangy-sweet sauce spreads through your mouth and the chewy noodles pair really well with the cheese cutlet!

Ssam donkkaseu: wrapping the cutlet in lettuce

And then, the ssam donkkaseu I really wanted to try! You spread out the lettuce from the self-serve bar, place a piece of cutlet on it, add a little ssamjang, throw in some veggies to taste, then roll it up and pop it in your mouth!

The crispy cutlet plus the crunchy, fresh texture of the lettuce plus the salty umami of the ssamjang creates a totally different taste from eating the cutlet plain. In particular, the lettuce cuts right through the greasiness of the cutlet, making it much lighter and cleaner to eat!

Crunchy peppers too — big ones

And the salad, need I say more~~~

I always finish with rice and broth at the end

And thanks to the Naver review event, we also got a cool, refreshing cider on the house, haha

Who will like Jinsim Wang Donkkaseu Cheomdan

• Anyone looking for a great cutlet restaurant in Cheomdan
• Anyone looking for a great jjolmyeon spot in Cheomdan
• Fans of fish cutlet
• Fans of cheese cutlet
• Fans of ssam donkkaseu
• Anyone wanting a filling meal
• Anyone looking for a family dinner spot

That day I had the Jinsim Fish Cutlet and the jjolmyeon plus cheese cutlet, and since each had a clearly different flavor, ordering both to share let us enjoy a wider variety, haha