Yongin Korean restaurant with crispy fried flounder: Sotbap Hansang

I've been going on drives around Yongin lately and searching out tasty places, and this time I found a great restaurant in Cheoin-gu, Yongin with a rather unique atmosphere! It's Sotbap Hansang (솥밥한상)!

A unique exterior and reservoir view on a Yongin drive

Sotbap Hansang, a popular spot in Cheoin-gu, Yongin, has such a distinctive atmosphere! You can spot it at a glance even from far away, right? :)

Sotbap Hansang has a very large dedicated parking lot, which was so convenient!

More than anything, I was surprised when I parked and saw the reservoir! Rather than feeling like I'd simply come to a restaurant for a meal, it felt like I'd gone for a drive out into the countryside, which was lovely haha.

Even from the moment I entered from the parking lot, the building felt a little different from a typical Korean restaurant. It looked like a unique building from a fairy tale, and that somehow put me in an even better mood.

The garden is beautifully kept too, so it's somewhere you'll want to linger even after your meal. Personally, I'd recommend it as a Yongin driving destination for anyone who enjoys this kind of atmosphere!

Soy-marinated female crab set meal by the floor-to-ceiling windows

The signed autographs from celebrities caught my eye as soon as I came in! The seating was so neat, and the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows made the view outside especially soothing.

Here are Sotbap Hansang's menu items! That day, we ordered the soy-marinated female crab set meal for two and beef yukjeon (pan-fried battered beef slices).

The female crab set meal and beef yukjeon arrived! I tend to love sotbap (rice cooked in an individual pot) with Korean food, so I liked that this place served it just as its name suggests. And what I loved most here were the side dishes! Every single banchan (Korean side dish) on the full table spread was really delicious, so I kept reaching for a bit of this and that!

There is also a self-service bar, so you can bring back as much extra of any side dish as you like. If you love banchan, you'll be very happy here.

Soy-marinated female crab that wasn't too salty

The soy-marinated female crab looks insane, right? ㅠㅠㅠ The meat is so full, and those orange roe look incredibly delicious!

The beef yukjeon was thinly sliced too, and it looked delicious.

Time to open the pot rice. Seeing that little pot full of steaming hot rice when I lifted the lid reminded me that pot rice makes me happy from the very first glance haha.

What is there even to say… 🧡 Can you see all that roe and meat? Insane ㅠㅠㅠ

It really wasn't salty, and the seasoning was just right, which I loved. If you like soy-marinated crab, this is the kind of flavor that makes it hard to stop after just one bowl of rice?!

The pairing of beef yukjeon and soy-marinated blue crab was even better than I expected?!

The unexpectedly most memorable dish: fried flounder

The fried flounder was unexpectedly what I remembered most. Usually, when fried fish comes with Korean food, I just eat it as a perfectly fine side dish, but this fried flounder was among the crispier, tastier ones I've had!

It was crispy outside and tender inside, so I kept reaching for it more than I expected! It was delicious enough that I even considered ordering more later ㅠㅠ

Wrapping the wonderfully full soy-marinated crab in gim (roasted seaweed), scraping every bit from the crab shell, and eating it greedily with white rice. After finishing with sungnyung (toasted-rice tea) and the pumpkin porridge from the self-service bar, I was completely stuffed!

An unmanned café after the meal, too

Sotbap Hansang also has an unmanned café, and I loved that you can enjoy various café drinks at reasonable prices!

• The unique, fun exterior and garden make it feel like a little outing
• A wide range of side dishes that were all delicious
• Extra side dishes are available from the self-service bar
• The fried flounder among the standard side dishes was so delicious
• The soy-marinated female crab was delicious and not too salty
• There is even a café that is perfect for after the meal

If you're looking for a great Korean set meal in Yongin, Sotbap Hansang is somewhere you can enjoy pot rice, a main dish, and many side dishes all at once. It would be nice for a meal with your parents or a family dinner, and it's also a good place to stop when you're craving Korean food after a drive around Yongin! If you're visiting one of the nearby golf courses, I also recommend it when looking for a restaurant near Korea CC.