Gwanggyo Korean restaurant Bonghyejane: spicy octopus and pork cutlet

One of the biggest joys in my life these days is going out for dinner with my son after work, now that he's finally home after a while abroad. Deciding on the menu and the restaurant together every time has become my happiest kind of dilemma lately.

Why we chose Bonghyejane when one wanted pork cutlet and one wanted spicy food

My son wanted pork cutlet, and I was craving something spicy, so we couldn't quite agree. When a 30-something son and his 60-something mom go out to eat together, our cravings don't always line up, right? While my son was searching for pork cutlet places, he found that Gwanggyo Avenuefrance had a spot that served both pork cutlet and the octopus stir-fry I love, so we decided to head there.

That's how we ended up at Bonghyejane Jubang Gwanggyo Avenuefrance. The sign reading "Bonghyeja's Specialty Kitchen" caught my eye right away, so it wasn't hard to find.

Since it's inside Gwanggyo Avenuefrance, the whole area felt clean and pleasant, which put me at ease from the moment we walked over for dinner. Both my son and I are pretty extreme introverts who get a little worn out in chaotic places, haha.

What I liked most, especially on a day like this when one of us wanted pork cutlet and the other wanted spicy Korean food, was that we could each pick our own dish at the same restaurant.

Side dishes at Bonghyejane and the Naver reservation muksabal

Ordering was done through a tablet PC on the table. I liked being able to look through the menu slowly and pick what I wanted myself — it was actually simpler than having to tell a staff member our order item by item.

What we ordered was 1 charcoal-grilled whole octopus stir-fry, 1 Hyeja king pork cutlet, and 2 pollack roe fried mandu (dumplings). While we waited for the food, the basic side dishes that came out were white kimchi, bean sprouts, and pumpkin porridge.

The pumpkin porridge was warm and smooth with a subtle sweetness, good for nibbling on little by little before the meal. It wasn't strongly flavored — more like something that gently opened up your appetite.

The white kimchi was refreshing and clean-tasting, which paired well with the spicy octopus stir-fry, and the bean sprouts' crisp texture made them a nice thing to snack on in between bites.

And since we'd made a Naver reservation, we also received a free bowl of mukguksu as the reservation-event bonus. Mukguksu is a dish with cool broth and soft acorn jelly, and it went especially well with the spicy octopus stir-fry. Alternating between bites of octopus and mukguksu kept my palate feeling refreshed.

If you'd like to try the mukguksu, I'd recommend booking via Naver Reservations before you go. That said, the reservation event may vary depending on when you visit, so it's worth checking whether it's active when you make your booking.

With the side dishes and the event menu taken care of, we were finally ready to properly dig in.

How is the charcoal-grilled whole octopus stir-fry?

The dish I was most looking forward to that day was Bonghyejane Jubang's charcoal-grilled whole octopus stir-fry. I've always loved spicy food, so as soon as it arrived, my chopsticks naturally went straight for it.

Instead of finely chopped octopus, it came with whole pieces cut into bite-sized chunks, and each bite had that distinctive chewy octopus texture. The seasoning was on the spicy side, with a subtle charred, smoky flavor that seemed to come from being grilled over an open flame.

I like eating spicy sauces like this with rice, so I piled the octopus on top of my rice, and the seasoning went really well with it. My son isn't great with spicy food, so this dish basically became mine alone.

But honestly, that turned out to be a good thing that day. If we'd only ordered one dish, my son would've had a hard time with the spicy octopus stir-fry — but since we could each order what we wanted, the meal was so much easier. This makes me think that anyone looking for a Korean restaurant in Suwon's Gwanggyo area to visit with kids or family members with different tastes should check out the menu lineup here.

How big is the Hyeja king pork cutlet?

What my son had wanted from the very start was the Hyeja king pork cutlet. The moment it arrived, I understood exactly why the name includes "Hyeja" (meaning generous or a good deal) — the cutlet was big enough to nearly fill the entire plate.

I don't usually go out of my way to eat pork cutlet, so I wasn't planning on eating much of it at first. But watching my son enjoy it so much, I ended up trying a piece or two myself.

The outside was fried crisp, and the meat itself was fairly thick, so even one piece was quite filling. More than anything, the portion was huge. Between that and the octopus stir-fry, there was no way the two of us could finish it, so we ended up packing the leftover pork cutlet to take home.

But here's the funny part: that evening, after finishing his workout, my son ate the leftover pork cutlet again. What started as our dinner ended up being eaten a second time after the gym. So if two people are visiting, I'd say it's worth thinking about the portion sizes when ordering.

Pollack roe fried mandu as a side

Lastly, we ordered pollack roe fried mandu (dumplings) as a side. We got two and split them between us. The outside was fried and crisp, and the inside had that distinctive salty flavor of pollack roe. It was a good little bite to have between the main dishes.

Especially since we'd ordered the spicy octopus stir-fry alongside the mild pork cutlet, having a third flavor in the mix kept things from feeling monotonous.

That said, since we'd already ordered the octopus stir-fry and the king pork cutlet, the overall portion ended up being quite a lot. If two people are having a simple meal, I think one main dish plus one side like the pollack roe mandu would be plenty.

Tablet ordering and parking registration at Gwanggyo Lotte Mart

There was one more thing that made eating at Bonghyejane Jubang Gwanggyo Avenuefrance feel convenient. Since ordering was done via the tablet PC, we could take our time looking through the menu and deciding, and parking registration could also be handled directly at a kiosk inside the restaurant.

It was nice not having to ask a staff member to handle parking registration again after we finished eating — we could just take care of it ourselves.

Gwanggyo Avenuefrance overall is well-managed and the surrounding area is clean, so there was less of that chaotic or cluttered feeling when coming here for a meal. It also felt like a good place to look around a bit or stop by a café afterward, rather than just eating and leaving right away. So if you're looking for somewhere to eat at Gwanggyo Avenuefrance, I think this is a place worth considering for its location and surroundings too.

Is Bonghyejane a good choice when tastes differ?

After this meal, the most practical upside I noticed was exactly this. I wanted octopus stir-fry, and my son wanted pork cutlet. Just because a mom in her 60s and a son in his 30s are eating together doesn't mean our tastes are identical, right? But since one of us could pick spicy food and the other pork cutlet and still eat at the same table, neither of us had to give up what we actually wanted.

So if you're looking for a Korean restaurant in Suwon's Gwanggyo area to visit with family or friends whose food tastes differ from yours, I found this kind of menu lineup pretty practical. Especially when someone who loves spicy food is eating with someone who can barely handle it, it matters more to have a dish each person can actually enjoy than to force everyone onto the same menu. Ordering separately like we did really turned out to be more comfortable than I expected.

A dinner with Mom after a long time

What actually made this meal memorable was simply that it had been a while since my son and I had dinner together, just the two of us. After 2 years abroad, he was finally home, and we drove out after work to have dinner and came back with the leftover pork cutlet packed up.

It wasn't some specially planned outing, but looking back, it's these ordinary moments that end up staying with you the longest. My son got to eat the pork cutlet he'd wanted, and I got to eat my fill of the octopus stir-fry I love. The pork cutlet was too much for two people, so we packed the rest, and watching my son eat it again after his workout made me feel like our order that day had turned out pretty well.

If you're looking for somewhere to eat at Gwanggyo Avenuefrance with someone whose taste in food differs from yours, this kind of menu lineup is worth a look. Especially if you're searching for a Korean restaurant in the Gwanggyo area, being able to choose between a spicy Korean dish like the whole octopus stir-fry and a familiar favorite like the king pork cutlet, all at the same table, feels genuinely convenient.

That was especially true for us, since one of us wanted Korean food and the other wanted pork cutlet. Based on this visit, Bonghyejane Jubang Gwanggyo Avenuefrance is a place worth considering for anyone in Suwon's Gwanggyo area who's had trouble picking a restaurant because their family or friends have different tastes. And if you want to try the mukguksu, don't forget to check whether the Naver reservation event is running before you book.