Daehwa Sikdang 대화식당

Daehwa Sikdang is a decades-old set-meal restaurant at 6-7 Jukdosijang 11-gil, deep inside an alley of Pohang's Jukdo Market. It serves one core menu, boribap jeongsik, so the number of diners is enough to start the order after seating. Rice may be white, barley, or a mixture of the two, allowing each person to choose a softer grain or a more pronounced chew. A broad bowl is filled at the table with bean sprouts, young-radish kimchi, seasoned namul, stir-fried garlic stems, and other banchan. Sesame oil and gochujang turn those ingredients into bibimbap. Tasting the vegetables separately before mixing reveals their individual seasoning, and anyone who does not want bibimbap may keep the rice and side dishes apart as a standard baekban. A plump grilled mackerel adds browned skin and oily flesh to the vegetable-centered rice. Doenjang stew brings a fairly assertive fermented-bean broth between bites of fish and mixed grain. Yeolmu water kimchi is cold and crisp, lowering the heat and salinity of the meal. Thick sungnyung arrives at the end with warm roasted-rice aroma. The current set costs 8,000 won, following earlier prices in the 6,000 to 7,000 won range and preserving the straightforward value structure of a market breakfast. The restaurant became known beyond Pohang after appearing in Heo Young-man's Sikgaek, but the actual meal remains simple: automatic set service, a chosen grain, vegetables mixed by the diner, one grilled fish, stew, water kimchi, and sungnyung. The location requires a walk from nearby public parking through the inner market lanes. Tables are small, and the tray and many dishes occupy most of their surface. Morning and weekend queues move through the compact room at a quick pace. Payment is cash only. Daehwa Sikdang is therefore closer to a brisk market meal than a leisurely course, with the full sequence arriving together and the diner controlling only the rice, the mixture of vegetables, and the order of fish, soup, and kimchi.