Gwangju lamb skewer restaurant with three-color guobaorou: Sinbaegok

My lamb skewer craving had built up. So it was time for a drive to Gwangju, Gyeonggi, for lamb skewers after far too long.

Sinbaegok Yang Kkochi in Gyeongan-dong

Hours and parking

• Closed Tuesday
• Mon–Fri 17:00–02:00
• Saturday 15:00–02:00
• Sunday 12:00–22:00
• Parking available; free corkage; Naver reservations; high chairs

Sinbaegok Yang Kkochi is in Gyeongan-dong, on Gwangju Rodeo Street—the busiest part of Gwangju and packed with bars.

The lot outside the restaurant building fits up to six cars, but it is not exclusive to the restaurant, so parking is not easy even on a weekday evening. We failed to park in the building that day too, sob. Instead, they support one hour at a parking lot a one-minute walk away, so I recommend parking there if you are planning a quick meal.

It is a fairly large lot opposite Inssaeng Beer, with plenty of spaces, so even nervous new drivers can park easily. At ₩1,500 for 30 minutes and ₩3,000 for an hour, the parking fee is not burdensome either.

Second-floor exterior and comfy sofa seating

Because it stays open until 2 a.m., this Gyeongan-dong favorite is packed when you go at the perfect time for a Thursday or Friday team dinner. It is on the second floor, so look carefully for the sign.

It is a restaurant with lamb skewers and all kinds of Chinese dishes, and it had the most comfortable seating of any lamb skewer place I have visited.

Every seat is a sofa, making it ideal for sitting around chatting, drinking, and eating for a long time. It is especially nice on cool days like these: the floor-to-ceiling windows open wide, giving it the feel of an upscale open-air pub! Watching the sunset slowly through the window, I could finally feel autumn approaching.

Lamb skewer and Chinese food menu prices

A serving of lamb skewers is 10 skewers for ₩17,000, a reasonable price that also makes this a nice choice for a family meal. There are so many choices that, if you cannot decide, you can simply order a set menu for your group size.

There are also plenty of Chinese drinking dishes with a smoky wok flavor that go beautifully with lamb, so browsing the menu was fun too. Along with easy choices like mala tofu, stir-fried tomato and egg, and fried rice, there are main dishes such as yuxiang rousi and dongpo pork, so it is fine to come with a friend who does not like lamb.

Receipt review event and self-service bar

They were running a Naver receipt-review event, and it was fun that you could draw a lottery for a free extra. Families with young children seemed to do it without fail.

The side dishes are the lamb-skewer-house essentials: zhacai pickles and peanuts. For more, just help yourself at the self-service bar. Disposable aprons and kimchi are self-service too. All the seasonings for dipping lamb skewers are on the table, and I loved being able to pile on as much cumin as I wanted.

Ordering original and seasoned lamb skewers

• Traditional original lamb skewers ₩17,000
• Flavorful seasoned lamb skewers ₩18,000
• Signature three-color guobaorou ₩25,000

The lamb skewers arrived quickly. One serving has 10 skewers, and every skewer was generously loaded with meat, so it felt like a plentiful portion.

You can get garlic free once, and it came as whole cloves, so I diligently peeled it while the charcoal was getting ready. Grilled garlic is essential with rich lamb skewers, so everyone should absolutely add it.

With other meats, you are too busy grilling to eat and talk at the same time. With lamb skewers, you just set them on the machine and they cook evenly on their own, which is so convenient.

The original skewers were clean and simple, without seasoning. The lamb quality was so good that there was none of that distinctive lamb smell—it almost felt like eating beef.

If lamb makes you hesitant, starting with the seasoned skewers would be a good idea. The plain ones already had no off smell because the meat was good, but the seasoning also cuts through the richness and is perfectly seasoned without needing extra spice dip.

Three-flavor guobaorou

There is one must-order dish at Sinbaegok Yang Kkochi: guobaorou (sweet-and-sour fried pork). What makes it special is that, rather than the usual guobaorou, it comes in three distinct versions.

They are chili, squid-ink black vinegar, and original, and every single one was delicious—no weak links at all. It looks great, comes in a generous portion, and is reasonably priced, so if you go with a group, I really recommend ordering this one.

While I was photographing the guobaorou, the lamb skewers had cooked before I knew it.

You know lamb is best when it has just come off the grill, hot and juicy. I set aside the crispy guobaorou for a moment and ate the lamb first.

Dabbing it generously in lamb's best friend, spice seasoning, lets the savory juices mingle in your mouth—it is delicious every time. My parents, who do not eat lamb often, were impressed by how good the meat was here and enjoyed it so much.

Squid-ink black vinegar and chili guobaorou

Back to the guobaorou: the squid-ink flavor was the most eye-catching of the three.

It was the most unusual and delicious of the three. It was originally sold only as part of the set, but they released it as an individual dish too. The tang of black vinegar, sweet sauce, and crackling squid-ink batter made it instantly clear why people wanted it as a standalone dish.

The chili sauce was less sweet than it looked and quite spicy, so it went nicely with the rich lamb. It is spicy enough to be a bit much for children, but for adults who enjoy drinks with spicy food, there could be nothing better. There were many rich dishes overall, yet this was the kind of spicy flavor that kept making me reach for more.

If those guobaorou variations are delicious, surely the base has to be good first, right? The original guobaorou was the classic sweet-and-tangy version we all know. Its batter was the thinnest and crispiest of the three, so even though it is fried, it never became cloying and I kept eating it.

Grilled garlic with lamb skewers

After eating the lamb, I threaded garlic onto the empty skewers and grilled it. Cooked gently around the edge, the skins slipped right off with chopsticks. The grilled garlic with lamb was so nutty and delicious.

After finishing the original skewers, we grilled the seasoned ones too. They were definitely bolder than the original, so I think we made the right call eating the mild ones first. This one practically announces, “I am beer food!”

The lamb was neatly trimmed and melted in my mouth, without a single tough bit. Looking at the photos makes me want to go eat it again.

Final thoughts

Top-notch lamb freshness. A great lamb restaurant that even my parents were satisfied with. I enjoyed this meal enough to think I would gladly come here again next time I am in Gyeongan-dong.