Suwon restaurant with refillable eggplant fritters and namul: Boriook

Boriook Main Branch is an all-you-can-eat barley rice set restaurant in Yeongtong-dong, Suwon. It's my go-to spot in Yeongtong and I've already lost count of how many times I've been back. I'm a certified barley rice fanatic who's tracked down every barley rice restaurant worth trying, and I can confidently say Boriook is the best all-you-can-eat barley rice place in Suwon.

Where is Boriook Main Branch? Parking and wait times

Boriook Main Branch sits behind the Mangpo Fantasium building, and there's parking right in front of the store, so it's very easy to get to.

There's often a wait during meal times, but the restaurant is big, so the line moves pretty fast.

You order through a tablet at the table, and pay at the counter on your way out.

How to order a Boriook set and use the self-serve bar

The Boriook set menu is barley rice with a choice of mackerel (half a fish), grilled soy sauce pork, or grilled gochujang pork — order one per person. Once you've ordered a set for everyone at the table, everything else is buffet-style at the self-serve corner, and you can go back for as much as you want!!

Once you order, they bring out the barley rice first, served in a big bowl so you can mix it into bibimbap. There's also extra barley rice or white rice ready to go depending on your preference, so you'll never run short.

Just the basic namul alone is this much~~ The lineup of namul changes depending on the season and what's available that day.

For side dishes there are seasonal fritters and japchae, and besides the basic soup you can also scoop up sungnyung. Note that some sides like braised tofu or muk-muchim (seasoned mung bean jelly) rotate!

The dessert corner: free snacks and drinks

Boriook even covers dessert in one stop — rice crackers and orangda (Korean crispy snack) for snacks, plus mix coffee, yulmu-cha (job's tears tea), maesil-cha (plum tea), peach iced tea, and Americano for drinks, all well stocked. Personally, the orangda and yulmu-cha were my favorites.

Barley rice with 8 kinds of namul and cheonggukjang stew

Here's the namul I brought back for my bibimbap — 8 kinds in total. This is about enough to mix for 2–3 servings, so keep that in mind when you're scooping!

While I was gathering food, the cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) showed up! It comes with the set, and mixing this into the bibimbap is seriously delicious.

I only grabbed as much side dish as I could eat, but honestly, Boriook is really a fritter powerhouse. This eggplant fritter is the best I've ever had!!

And here's the half mackerel that came with my mackerel set!

A full Korean spread for under 30,000 won for two

And here's the finished, generous spread. Ordering like this and piling on as much as you want, and it's still under ₩30,000 for two — the value here is insane.

They top the barley rice with each type of namul, all glossy from sesame or perilla oil, so it looks as good as it tastes.

The scissors trick that makes Boriook barley rice better

Drizzle on plenty of sesame oil and mix it up — it's just so good! Here's my own tip: grab the scissors from the self-serve corner and snip up the perilla leaves and lettuce, and cut the namul into more bite-sized pieces too, so it's easier to mix and eat. That makes for an even better bowl of barley rice.

Mackerel or grilled pork? Choosing a Boriook set menu

Ah, I come here often enough that I've tried the whole menu, and personally, grilled mackerel is my favorite. But the grilled pork series is genuinely delicious too. If you like that smoky charcoal flavor, you have to order the grilled pork set!!

And the vegetable fritters here are seriously the best. The batter is thin and shatters into a crisp crunch, and it pairs so well with the dipping sauce. The japchae is the thick, dense style, which is exactly my taste — I think I go back for seconds and thirds every single time!!

Another clean bowl today!! It looked like a lot when I scooped it, but it's so good it all goes in anyway^^ haha

Boriook, Suwon's all-you-can-eat barley rice restaurant — easy parking and great food, so I definitely recommend bringing your parents here.