Suwon Station Korean BBQ: rice cake wraps, ₩4,500 roe egg, Ssosam 208

Today I finally had a meat night out with my husband, and we went to Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch (쏘삼208 수원역점), a well-known BBQ place near Suwon Station. I'd read reviews beforehand and they were so good that my expectations were high. And it turned out better than I'd hoped, for both of us.

What are Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch's hours and menu?

This Suwon Station BBQ place is open from 12 PM to 2 AM on weekends, so it works for lunch, dinner or a drink with friends. It also stays open late on weekdays, so it's an easy pick for get-togethers or company dinners.

Looking through the Ssosam 208 menu, there's aged pork belly and pork neck, plus a good variety of meal dishes and side dishes. I personally liked how many meal dishes there were.

What made me trust the place even more is that most of the pork is domestic. These days, taste matters when eating out, but I find myself checking the origin labels too. Knowing the pork is domestic let me enjoy the meal with peace of mind.

What are the seating and basic table setup like at Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch?

The seats are roomy and the tables are well spaced. Having visited, I think it would suit family meals as well as company dinners or wedding invitation get-togethers. It felt comfortable for a big group. We booked on Naver, and our table was already neatly set, so we could start eating right away without waiting. The basic setup focused less on flashy sides and more on a variety of sauces and seasonings that bring out the flavor of the meat itself.

Is the complimentary kimchi cold rice noodle soup refillable?

The kimchi cold rice noodle soup (kimchi-malli ssalguksu) comes with the basic table setup, and we were told we could get one refill. A staff member brought it over while we were still looking at the menu.

The quality was far better than you'd expect from a free side. The cold, tangy broth woke up my appetite, and it's a perfect light starter before the meat. It tasted good enough to be sold as a side menu item.

Ssosam 208 Naver review event and Naver booking perks

Ssosam 208 runs a Naver receipt review event, and if you write a review you get lava fondue sauce as a free service.

They place cheese fondue sauce in the middle of the restaurant's signature lava-shaped grill. The look was so unique and new that I found it fascinating.

When I dipped the meat in the lava fondue sauce, it wasn't heavy like ordinary cheese sauce. It was nutty with a slight kick of spice, which actually cut the greasiness of the meat. There was plenty of sauce too, so we never ran out before finishing the whole grill of meat.

With a Naver booking at Ssosam 208, you can choose either beef belly soybean paste stew (doenjang-jjigae) or 100g of bulhangjeong kkotsal, and we chose the stew. If you're planning a visit, I really recommend booking on Naver and using the coupon!! The stew was packed with tofu and other ingredients and was tasty and satisfying. BBQ restaurant stew never fails, does it? :)

What we ordered for two, and how much food it was

We wanted to try a bit of everything, so we ordered generously at Ssosam 208, not just the main meat but side dishes too. It turned out to be quite a lot for two people. Thinking back, it would have been enough for 3 to 4 people.

Do the staff grill the meat at Ssosam 208?

Yes! At Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch, the staff grill the meat for you from start to finish. When you grill it yourself you always burn a piece or two, but here they cook it to the best doneness and even push the finished meat to one side so it's easy to eat.

In particular, the meat fat running down the lava grill soaked into the kimchi, making the kimchi deeper and nuttier too.

Grill-it cheese and rice cake wraps: how to enjoy them

For a side we ordered the grill-it cheese plus rice cake wraps (tteok-ssam). It's not something you see easily at ordinary BBQ places, so I was curious, and I'm really glad I tried it. We'd kind of forgotten about it, and the owner said, "This is better grilled," and grilled each piece for us himself.

The golden grilled cheese was much nuttier, and the rice cake wraps were chewy and mild, pairing well with the meat. The combination with the lava fondue sauce was especially good. The fondue sauce cleanly cut through any richness. Personally, the rice cake wraps were totally my taste! Just don't grill them too long, since they can get hard. Eat them as soon as they're cooked just right haha

How do you get wrap vegetables?

At Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch, you request wrap vegetables separately on the tablet, and they were free. Partway through the meal I noticed there were no wrap vegetables and wondered, "Is there no ssam here?", and that's how it works. When I ordered, the lettuce came beautifully arranged like a bouquet, which put me in a good mood :)

₩4,500 steamed egg with flying fish roe: portion and taste

The steamed egg with flying fish roe (naechi-al gyeran-jjim) at Ssosam 208 is ₩4,500, and it was much bigger than I expected. It looked like it had 5 to 6 eggs in it, so both value and quality were great.

It was soft yet packed full, so my spoon kept going back. Unlike ordinary steamed egg, it didn't sink down over time and stayed moist and fluffy to the end. The roe was mostly at the bottom rather than on top, and I wished there'd been a little more, but it was still one of the side dishes I enjoyed most.

Finishing with basalt snowflake kimchi fried rice

Fried rice is the proper ending, of course! I was already really full, but I couldn't give up on fried rice, so I ordered one basalt snowflake kimchi fried rice (hyeonmuam nunkkot kimchi-bokkeumbap) from Ssosam 208.

The portion was more generous than I expected, and fried rice pressed down on the grill was the perfect finish. The crispy, scorched bits were a real treat. I also dipped the fried rice lightly in the lava fondue sauce, and surprisingly it went really well.

Is Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch worth going back to?

If you're looking for good pork belly near Suwon Station, a place for a company dinner, a family meal or a date, I think Ssosam 208 is worth a visit and you won't regret it. Next time I crave meat near Suwon Station, I'll definitely go back. Had a delicious meal again today ❣️