Daejeon barley rice dinner with birthday discount: Baengnyeon Boribap

Today I'm writing about a Sintanjin, Daedeok, Daejeon spot — the flagship branch of Baengnyeon Boribap (백년보리밥)!

Where is Baengnyeon Boribap, and is there parking? 358 Sintanjin-ro, 30 cars

The flagship Baengnyeon Boribap is on the 1st floor of 358 Sintanjin-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon. It's open daily 11:00–20:30, with a break time from 15:00–17:00 and last order at 19:40. There's parking for up to 30 cars right in front, and the bathrooms were super clean too.

Parking fit up to 30 cars in front of the restaurant! It seemed like it could easily handle group visits too. The lot was spacious so parking was a breeze! It's located near a highway exit, so it's easy to get to even from far away — we actually stopped by mid-trip, haha.

There was a separate, comfortable waiting area right by the entrance — like a little lobby!

Baengnyeon Boribap's self-serve banchan bar: what's in the 12-dish spread

At Baengnyeon Boribap, you order a main dish and then serve yourself the rest of the side dishes! The number of banchan (side dishes) was close to 12 kinds.

The banchan included japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), lettuce wraps, garlic, ssamjang (dipping sauce), cabbage salad, acorn jelly, sautéed mushrooms, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi),

sautéed eggplant, quail eggs braised in soy sauce, spicy radish salad, bracken fern, and seasoned bean sprouts! It's actually hard to get such a variety of side dishes at home, so having nearly 12 dishes laid out so lavishly, with plenty of the braised-quail-egg meat too, felt seriously generous, haha.

Is the seating at Baengnyeon Boribap good for family gatherings?

Inside, Baengnyeon Boribap is set up mostly with 4-6 person tables spaced apart for privacy — perfect for family gatherings! There was a group of family guests dining together who pulled extra chairs over to combine tables, and I noticed they were blowing out candles on a cake for someone's birthday, lol. It really seemed perfect for a family meal out!

On the left is the banchan my boyfriend served himself, and on the right is mine + braised quail eggs, haha. Just from the photo it might look like a small amount, but — since the main dish itself already comes as pretty much a full bowl of soup plus a pork cutlet or grilled fish — you really should be conservative and take less! You'll definitely end up full and leaving food behind. It's buffet-style, so it feels bad to over-serve yourself and then leave it..!

Siraegi bone soup mackerel set and cheonggukjang pork cutlet set, 14,900 won each

We ordered one siraegi bone soup barley rice mackerel set at ₩14,900 and one aged kimchi cheonggukjang barley rice pork cutlet set at ₩14,900! I mean... is this pricing even real...?

I expected the bone soup (haejangguk) to come in a smaller bowl, like a school-lunch-sized portion. But it came out as a full, proper bowl — the same size you'd get ordering one bowl at a neighborhood bone soup place! And a bowl like that usually runs ₩13,000–15,000 on its own around the neighborhood! But here it's ₩14,900 and you also get grilled mackerel on the side, plus access to the 12-dish banchan bar — the value felt insane!

The cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) also came out in a full, soup-bowl-sized portion, and the pork cutlet came as two whole pieces — so much that even my boyfriend, who's a genuinely big eater, ended up leaving a little behind. The portions are seriously huge!

A group shot of everything once it arrived — insane, honestly lol. This is exactly what people mean when they say the table legs are about to break under the food! Unless you're a serious big eater, if you pile on too much banchan you'll probably leave some behind, so I'd recommend everyone be conservative and go back for seconds even if it's a bit of a hassle. But no matter how huge the portions are, the banchan is so well made that you can't help but go back for a second round, haha.

And even though this was a Monday evening, the dining room filled up almost completely once dinner time hit..! It really seems like a famous restaurant in Daejeon, haha.

Free misugaru and coffee, plus 10% off for pregnant guests, soldiers and birthdays

Another thing I loved about Baengnyeon Boribap is that the roasted grain tea (misugaru) and coffee you can drink on your way out are free! I never really get to drink misugaru at home these days..! We each grabbed a cup on the way out, haha. Little touches like this really make the experience feel that much better >_<

They also sell snacks cheaply — just ₩2,000 a bag! And you can even taste them before buying, which was nice! Plus something that felt really thoughtful (?) lol — they keep a first-aid kit on hand and will give you medicine if you say you're not feeling well! And since so many guests seem to celebrate birthdays here, they even lend out birthday decorations, haha. Wouldn't a birthday party at a place like this feel amazing? >_<

• Pregnant guests
• Soldiers
• Birthday celebrants

Tables dining with any of these guests get an extra 10% off...! I was already surprised at how cheap and generous the regular prices were, but with discounts like this on top, there's no reason not to come back and become a regular..! If you're visiting Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, I'd definitely recommend stopping by the Baengnyeon Boribap flagship branch! 🤤🤍