Mangpo, Suwon Korean restaurant with cabbage wraps: Boriook Main

Today I'm bringing you a revisit to my favorite restaurant — one I kept thinking about after my last visit, so I ended up going back again. I recently started Pilates, and after working out, my whole body feels shaky, and for some reason I crave healthy, easy-on-the-stomach Korean food way more than anything greasy. A savory barley bibimbap loaded with vegetables flashed through my mind, so without hesitation I decided on Boriook for lunch and ran over!

What is Boriook Main Branch like inside, and is it easy with kids?

Boriook Main Branch has a very spacious dining room with generously spaced tables, so even during the busiest peak hours, it never felt cramped. There's a distinct comfortable feeling the moment you walk in.

Plus, there are plenty of high chairs available, so it looked really welcoming for families with young kids. I actually saw quite a few families with children there.

What is on the self-serve bar at Boriook?

One of Boriook's biggest strengths is its self-serve bar, which is as satisfying as a buffet. It's so well-stocked that I'd dare recommend it to anyone looking for a buffet-style restaurant near Mangpo Station.

• Japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), warm sungnyung (scorched rice tea), braised tofu, crispy seasonal fritters
• Assorted namul (seasoned vegetables) and wrap greens, dotorimuk (acorn jelly), kimchi
• Chapssal-bap (glutinous rice), barley rice, and ppeongtwigi (puffed rice snack) for dessert
• Drink corner: brewed coffee, yulmu-cha (job's tears tea), café latte, chilled plum tea, peach tea

You can go full course from main meal to dessert. There's japchae, puffed rice snacks, and glutinous rice that kids love too, so it's a lineup that satisfies everyone, young and old.

Barley rice set and soy sauce pork set: what comes with them?

On this visit to Boriook, we ordered one barley rice set and one soy sauce pork set. Last time I had the gochujang pork, and since the bibimbap sauce is also red, this time I switched up the combination a bit.

Once you order, they set the table with two bowls of barley rice, a plate for the self-serve bar, and a soup bowl.

I loaded my plate up neatly from the self-serve bar, and I ended up bringing back a table-breaking amount of food. (But even though it looked like a lot, it was so good that I ended up finishing it all!)

Barley bibimbap with seven kinds of namul: the gochujang and sesame oil make it

The moment I'd been looking forward to most — barley bibimbap time! You fill your barley rice bowl with whatever ingredients you like. I basically swept up almost every namul at Boriook's self-serve bar: gosari (bracken fern), bean sprouts, doraji (bellflower root), radish salad, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), chwinamul (aster greens), and sautéed mushrooms.

I drizzled on the gochujang and sesame oil sitting on the table and mixed it all up, and wow... the gochujang and sesame oil here are truly the real deal. The nutty flavor is on a whole different level from what you get at home — turns out Boriook makes all their ingredients and seasonings in-house! It didn't taste like MSG at all but like real handmade effort, so even after eating my fill, my stomach felt completely comfortable, not bloated. (Not saying I secretly mixed up half a bowl more because it was so good... okay, I'm saying it.)

How does the soy sauce pork stir-fry go with barley bibimbap?

Choosing the soy sauce pork stir-fry this time turned out to be an excellent decision! It pairs much better with barley bibimbap than the gochujang pork does. The seasoning wasn't too strong, and the smoky char flavor filling my mouth was just art.

Wrapping bites in the sweet boiled cabbage and fragrant perilla leaves made me feel healthier just eating it.

Is Boriook's cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) strong or mild?

Boriook's cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) isn't overly salty or pungent — its defining trait is a clean, mild taste, like a countryside doenjang stew. You know how, midway through eating bibimbap, when your throat starts to feel a bit stuck, a spoonful of savory cheonggukjang resets everything?

I grew up eating the strong Chungcheong-style cheonggukjang, so I'm used to bold flavors, but this one is mild enough that anyone can enjoy it without hesitation. Even my husband, who normally doesn't like cheonggukjang, happily fished out the well-seasoned tofu and ate it up!

I feel really happy that there's a Suwon Korean restaurant near home that feels more like homecooked food than my own mom's cooking. This time it was just my husband and me, but next time I definitely want to bring the kids along so the whole family can enjoy a hearty meal together.

Boriook Main Branch location, hours and a parking tip near Mangpo Station

• Address: 99 Yeongtong-ro 200beon-gil, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: 10:00 - 21:00 (break time 15:00 - 16:30 / last order 20:30)

There's parking for about 8 cars right in front of the restaurant. However, it's a double-parked structure, so you might have to step out mid-meal to move your car.

We arrived around 11:20am on a weekday, and it was already full! If that happens, don't panic — just pass Boriook and head toward 11 o'clock direction, where you can park comfortably on the roadside across from the CU convenience store. If you're planning a visit, definitely keep this parking info in mind!