Gimpo restaurant for spicy braised ribs under ₩50,000 for two: Jin

Bucheon's famous Jin Galmaegal has landed in Gimpo.

Location and hours of Jin Galmaegal Pungmu Branch in Gimpo

• 📍 Location: 19 Pungmu-ro 96beon-gil, 1-dong 102-ho, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 17:00–22:30
• 🚗 Parking: Outdoor lot behind the restaurant
• * Takeout available

The vibe inside — table spacing wide enough for a stroller

There were about 8–9 tables — I remember it being roughly 10. Lots of families, and lots of friends stopping by for a first round of drinks. The gaps between tables were noticeably wide, so a stroller got through with no trouble at all.

I'm a big fan of round Korean BBQ-style tables that come with a side table. More restaurants should pair round tables with side tables like this.

Even YG Entertainment sent congratulations on the Gimpo Jin Galmaegal opening — a very warm welcome indeed.

Menu at Jin Galmaegal Pungmu Branch and the single-portion option

The spicy braised pork back ribs in a big pot are the main dish, split into small and large sizes. What really convinced me this place knows what it's doing was seeing a single-portion add-on — a rib restaurant offering a single add-on portion means the owner truly gets food.

Every table has a kiosk. Pick your menu item and a spice-level screen pops up.

Add-in options and recommended combos

Add-ins include glass noodles, ramyeon noodles, mushrooms, rice cake, udon noodles, and soft tofu. Soft tofu isn't a default add-in, so you have to order it separately — and it's honestly this place's best-kept secret. I added glass noodles, mushrooms, and rice cake. The mushrooms were delicious too, encore encore 🎶

Oh, and the steamed egg here — it's not the kind that's watered down to look like a lot but actually skimps on egg. It's the real, packed-full kind your mom makes at home without holding back on eggs. Genuinely delicious.

Worth checking the receipt reviews too — the mini fried dumplings aren't even on the regular menu!

How much food do you get with the small size, and how's the meat?

I ordered the small size and there was still a ton of food. I normally think two people at a restaurant should order for three, but here two people could probably get away with just the two-person portion.

And look how packed with meat it is — the meat is genuinely tender. The sauce soaks all the way through, which usually means the texture suffers once it's fully seasoned, but not here — this place really is the real deal. Someone once recommended a spicy braised rib place in Jeju that was so forgettable I can't even remember the name. I guess those people just haven't had good spicy braised ribs before.

Wowowowowow. If this visual doesn't excite you, you're not Korean. If you haven't found your go-to spicy braised rib spot, come here.

On the basic side dishes — I grabbed the lettuce with my hands thinking it was for wrapping the meat, and only realized it wasn't once it was already in my mouth.

Is it okay to bring kids?

That generously portioned steamed egg I mentioned earlier is genuinely great. I figured this place would be good for kids, and sure enough — the family next to me with two little ones had the steamed egg and mini pork cutlets, both easy for the kids to eat. Watching an 18-month-old girl happily entertain herself with a single rib bone was so cute I wanted to take a photo.

The seaweed flake rice ball — I usually just shovel food in, but I actually ate this one nicely. Thanks, manager!

Fried rice, spice levels, and the final price

A n d ...

You have to get the fried rice. I already had plain rice and the seaweed rice ball, and I still ordered fried rice on top.

The braised ribs come in 3 spice levels: 1. Mild, 2. Medium, 3. Spicy. The manager can't handle spice so we went with level 1, and it turned out sweet-and-spicy in the best way — genuinely delicious. I like spicy food, so level 2 probably would've been perfectly spicy for me. I hear the true spice lovers go for level 3 and enjoy the fire-noodle-level pain, but personally, I'd rather eat without suffering, haha.

The price is also very reasonable. Two of us added add-ins with abandon, ate every kind of rice, piled on extra sides — and it still came in under ₩50,000. Great value for money.

Parking tip

Parking tip: just park at the No Brand parking lot and it'll cost you around ₩2,000 for the duration of your meal. If the back alley parking looks inconvenient, the No Brand lot is the move.