Yongin Korean restaurant with a 12-banchan late lunch: Sotbap Hansang

I'd been craving braised beef short rib (소갈비찜) so badly that I went to Sotbap Hansang, and honestly every single banchan was delicious and the main dish didn't have a hint of MSG flavor — so today I'm introducing this Korean restaurant in Yongin where both the side dishes and the main were great.

Sotbap Hansang hours, parking and how to get there

Sotbap Hansang is at 68-1 Sangdeok-ro, Idong-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, and it's open from 10 AM to 9 PM. On-site parking is available.

• Hours: 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
• Break time: not stated in the original post
• Parking: on-site parking available

To get to Sotbap Hansang, drive in from the Yongin University side and just follow the signposts in!

Still busy at 3 p.m.: inside Sotbap Hansang

The inside of Sotbap Hansang feels like an upscale Korean restaurant (한정식). From the moment you walk in, it gives off that 'this is a good place' vibe — really the feel of a traditional, established Korean restaurant, so I had high expectations. We went for a late lunch at 3, and there were still quite a lot of customers! There's always a reason when a place is busy. The interior is also spacious, so it seems great for groups too!

The 1,000-won unstaffed café next door

Once you're done eating, there's a café right next to the inside of Sotbap Hansang! Coffee is only ₩1,000! It's an unmanned café with a nice atmosphere too, so instead of spending money at some other café, this is the perfect spot to relax with a cup of coffee!

The braised beef short rib set for two, 56,000 won: the full table

What we ordered at Sotbap Hansang was the braised beef short rib set for two, ₩28,000 each, for a total of ₩56,000.

The table was fully spread out. Wow, I was surprised that literally every single banchan was delicious, without exception. Not the kind of flavor drenched in MSG — it really tasted like grandma's home cooking, so I kept eating and even went back to the self-serve bar for refills.

Self-serve sweet pumpkin porridge and seaweed soup

There was pumpkin porridge and seaweed soup at the self-serve bar, so I scooped some up — and it wasn't just plain sweet pumpkin porridge, it had sticky rice mixed in, giving it an elevated flavor that I really love.

The portion of braised beef short rib was really large even though it was meant for two, and we both ate until we were stuffed! Usually when there are lots of banchan, the main dish portion is small, but at Sotbap Hansang both the main and the side dishes were seriously generous! And the flavor was great too.

How tender are the braised beef short ribs?

The beef short rib pieces were huge, and the meat came off the bone so easily! When the meat separates that easily, you know it's been simmered and braised just right. Truly tender meat falls off with just chopsticks. The seasoning wasn't salty — it was sweet, and the flavor had soaked well into the meat.

There was a reason the owner told us the soy crab and braised beef short rib were the signature dishes! There were big chunks of radish and carrot inside too, so you could eat the vegetables tender and slightly salty!

The banchan lineup: barley and yeolmu radish kimchi was the surprise

On the left side they arrange napa cabbage kimchi, acorn jelly (도토리묵), barley-yeolmu kimchi (보리열무김치), japchae (glass noodles), and seaweed — and wow, is it even possible for every single one of these to be delicious? I don't usually like acorn jelly much, but the toppings on top went so well with it, and the acorn jelly itself was clearly high quality, not cheap, so I enjoyed it even more!

At first glance I thought the barley-yeolmu kimchi had garlic in it, but it turned out to be barley. Oh, a combination I'd never seen before, I thought as I tried it — and it turned out the nutty flavor of the barley and the refreshing taste of the young radish greens (yeolmu) went together so harmoniously that I kept eating it. I'd only ever had the red, seasoned version of yeolmu kimchi, so this was the first time I'd seen a white version! Barley-yeolmu kimchi, big thumbs up!

On the right-hand side, the garlic scapes win

On the right side they served garlic scapes (마늘쫑), seasoned mushrooms, seasoned bracken fern, grilled flounder, seasoned perilla leaves, and seasoned bamboo shoots — honestly, I think you could get full just eating the banchan alone. My personal favorite was the garlic scapes! But honestly everything was so good that ranking them barely means anything. Just trust me and try them all.

Pot rice, sungnyung (toasted rice tea) and the forest view

Then the pot rice (솥밥) arrives — when you open the pot, perfectly cooked rice comes out, and you can even make sungnyung (scorched rice tea) with it! You eat pot rice for the sungnyung, honestly, haha. The rice portion was big, filling a whole bowl generously.

While eating, the view by the window was all green forest, so the scenery was lovely too — it really felt like being at an upscale Korean restaurant, so I got a moment of healing even at lunchtime!

How about trying a full Korean restaurant (한정식) meal at Sotbap Hansang, where you can enjoy all these banchan together with pot rice!?

Soy crab, salmon marinade, shrimp marinade, and more are also available for takeout!

What I liked about Sotbap Hansang

Generous from the banchan to the braised beef short rib, with a real homemade taste

• A genuinely great restaurant with a home-cooked taste, not an MSG flavor
• The braised beef short rib is really tender and the portion is large
• You can get more banchan from the self-serve bar
• Pumpkin porridge and seaweed soup are also available at the self-serve bar

This is my honest review after a delicious meal at Sotbap Hansang 💗