Suwon pork BBQ with staff grilling: Ssosam 208 Suwon Station

Staff-grilled pork on Suwon Station Rodeo Street

If you are looking for a great pork spot on Suwon Station Rodeo Street where the staff grill everything for you, I recommend this place right away~ It is Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch (쏘삼208 수원역점). Ssosam 208 uses a specially made grill where the fat naturally runs downward and moistens the kimchi, and it serves pork options from samgyeopsal (pork belly) and cheongyeopsal to pork neck and pork ribs~ Parking is available too, with two hours free at Hwangje Parking Lot right behind it. I will put detailed parking photos at the bottom of the post~

Ssosam 208, a great restaurant near Suwon Station, was quite close—just 130 m from Exit 13. Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch occupies the first floor of a standalone two-story building~ There is also a smoking area near the restaurant, so it seems like a good spot for anyone who absolutely needs a cigarette after drinking!

When I walked inside, there were so many staff members. Since they grill the meat for you, I guess a lot of staff are needed. It is a barbecue restaurant, but as you can see from the floor, it had been cleaned so well that there was not even a speck of grease.

Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch menu and prices

• Stone-grill sets: small assorted stone grill 360g ₩35,500 (pork belly 160g, pork neck 100g, cheongyeop pork 100g); medium assorted stone grill 500g ₩48,500 (pork belly 250g, pork neck 150g, cheongyeop pork 100g)
• Heritage pork à la carte: pork belly and pork neck 160g each ₩15,000; cheongyeop pork 160g ₩18,000; pork jowl 150g ₩14,000; Daegu-style makchang 180g ₩16,000; chewy pork skin 150g ₩8,000
• Volcano meals: spicy pork back ribs for two ₩32,000; beef brisket doenjang-jjigae (soybean-paste stew) ₩3,000; spicy lava stir-fried noodles ₩6,500; basalt snow-kimchi fried rice ₩6,000; mul-naengmyeon (cold broth noodles) and cold soba ₩6,500 each; Paldo bibim noodles ₩4,500; flying-fish-roe steamed egg ₩4,500; rice ₩1,000
• Sides: Cheongdo stone parsley ₩4,500; five grillable cheeses and five rice-cake wraps ₩4,500; grilled handmade tofu ₩2,000; lava fondue cheese ₩5,000

Here is the explanation of the basic table setting! It comes with shredded green onion, myeonginamul (pickled garlic leaves), and six different sauces. Unusually, kimchi rice noodles come as a side dish here, so they were great for taking the edge off before the meat was cooked. The broth was refreshing too, so I think it would pair nicely with drinks~

The medium assorted stone-grill set and current events

Ssosam 208 near Suwon Station is running various events! If you make a Naver reservation and receive a coupon, you can choose either beef brisket doenjang-jjigae or spicy pork jowl flower meat for free. I ordered the spicy pork jowl flower meat. Also, a Naver receipt review gets you lava fondue sauce, which amplifies the savory flavor of the meat. It is ₩5,000 when ordered separately without the event, so I recommend doing the review event~

I ordered the medium assorted stone-grill set, 500g for ₩48,500~ It is a great-value set with 250g pork belly, 150g pork neck, and 100g cheongyeop pork. Extra kimchi and bottled water are both free.

Meat grilled after checking the temperature

It was so nice that the staff grilled for us, because we could comfortably talk among ourselves. Like professionals, they cooked the meat perfectly without burning it and at the right temperature. I did not know what the 208 in Ssosam 208 meant, but apparently 208°C is the grill temperature at which the meat tastes best. That is why they named it 208. The staff checked it with a thermometer before grilling.

There were plenty of sauces, so I could dip the meat however I liked. But my recommendation is definitely wrapping it with kimchi. Since the meat cooks at the top of the sloped grill, the fat naturally runs down, and with kimchi sitting there, it all mixes together and gets beautifully golden brown haha.

I also dipped it in the lava fondue cheese, and cheese fanatics would go wild for it. It had a slight rosé-like flavor, with a subtly deep cheese flavor too, so it went really well~

A generously sized flying-fish-roe steamed egg

My regular readers probably all know how much I love steamed egg, but the portion here is no joke.. It was really huge, about twice the size of a bowl of rice~ Since it was flying-fish-roe steamed egg, the roe popped in the middle as I ate it, which made it extra special hehe.

We were on a diet, so we had planned to eat only this and go home, but the meat quality was so good that we ordered one more serving ㅠ I added one serving of pork neck for ₩15,000, and the staff came over and grilled it for us again ><

As you can see, the pork neck had almost no fat and was mostly lean meat, so I heard it is an excellent protein source for people dieting~

Details that eased worries about odors and parking

Time to introduce the advantages of Ssosam 208, a great pork restaurant near Suwon Station~ First, I hesitate to go to barbecue restaurants in nice bags and coats because I worry they will absorb odors, but the chairs here have storage compartments, so I did not have to worry about that. Second, the rice was black rice rather than white rice, which was nice for blood-sugar health. Third, the restrooms were separated by gender and kept very clean. Fourth, extra bottled water was free, and they gave us Icis bottled water~

Two hours free at Hwangje Parking Lot

This is Hwangje Parking Lot! You park here, then tell the counter your license plate number when paying and they register it~ As you can see, there was plenty of space even in the evening hehe.

Hours are 15:30–02:00, last order is at 01:00, and there is no break time.

It was close to Suwon Station subway station and had its own parking, including two hours free, so it was very easy to visit. The friendly staff handled the grilling from start to finish, letting us eat comfortably. There are various free events for doenjang-jjigae, extra meat, and more—and most of all, I was satisfied with the meat quality, so I am 100% willing to come back!!