Suwon Korean restaurant for grilled mackerel: Boriook Main Branch

Boriook Main Branch exterior and parking

Boriook Main Branch (보리옥 본점), a popular spot in Mangpo, has such a clean exterior—just what you'd expect from a newly opened restaurant. You can park right in front of the restaurant, too.

We arrived around 11? and were able to park right away. After noon, double parking starts, but it seemed the staff ask for understanding in advance.

There were already people here, too. I saw a mother-of-pearl cabinet for the first time in ages? It looked so luxurious. It reminded me of the wardrobe that is still at my maternal grandmother's house, haha.

Grilled mackerel and pork set menu prices

Boriook Main Branch, a Korean set-meal restaurant in Suwon, specializes in Korean food and barley rice, including grilled mackerel, soy-sauce pork, and gochujang pork. It had been a while since I had wanted mackerel and pork. Of course, I was also really craving all those fresh vegetables~~^^

• Grilled mackerel set (half fish): ₩15,000
• Charcoal-grilled gochujang pork set: ₩16,000
• Total: ₩31,000

The self-serve bar for vegetables and side dishes

At Boriook Main Branch, an unlimited barley-rice buffet in Mangpo, Suwon, there are lots of side dishes to go with your meal, from assorted seasoned vegetables to fried items, braised tofu, and japchae (stir-fried glass noodles). There were wrap vegetables, acorn jelly, and fresh kimchi, too, which I loved.

I was so pleased because there were lots of side dishes and vegetables that are hard to make one by one at home. There were two kinds of rice, and desserts such as coffee and maesil plum drink were ready as well.

Barley-rice bibimbap and our ordered dishes

Sesame oil and gochujang are set out on the table first. Once you order, they bring bowls and barley rice, but the serving of barley rice is not huge, so you can bring more from the self-serve bar.

My wife brought back a heaping plate of ingredients for bibimbap, and I brought a few side dishes. I picked up fried items, braised tofu, and japchae. The fried items were crisp rather than soggy, and the japchae was delicious. The braised tofu was a little spicy, but so good.

The grilled mackerel and doenjang stew arrived. The stew felt somewhere between doenjang soup and cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew)? I absolutely love cheonggukjang, so it suited my taste perfectly.

The charcoal-grilled gochujang pork was not spicy, and it had just the right smoky flavor. There was no gamey meat smell and it was not tough, so it was just right to eat. You could tell me this was a pork specialty restaurant and I'd believe it? Haha.

Barley rice, fresh vegetables and ingredients, nicely grilled mackerel, charcoal-grilled gochujang pork with seriously great smoky flavor, and doenjang stew with that cheonggukjang-like taste~~! Having all of this for ₩31,000 really felt like great value. And it's unlimited refill~~~~!!!

Add the vegetables we brought back, gochujang, and sesame oil, then mix it all up nicely. I accidentally added too much gochujang, so it was spicy. What do you do then~~?? Add more rice, haha.

I especially loved the charcoal-grilled gochujang pork and doenjang stew. They were exactly my style~! They would be delicious even with plain white rice. And with so many ingredients, there was no way the bibimbap could be anything but good, haha.

Finishing with hangwa and sikhye dessert

Boriook Main Branch has hangwa (traditional Korean confections), puffed rice snacks, and coffee for dessert. Dessert is self-serve too, so you can take as much as you like, haha.

I had hangwa, puffed rice snacks, and sikhye (sweet rice punch), hehe. They were nicely sweet.

Boriook Main Branch, an unlimited barley-rice buffet in Mangpo, Suwon, is a place where you can enjoy tasty bibimbap with fresh ingredients at an affordable price, along with charcoal-grilled gochujang pork, grilled mackerel, and doenjang stew. Since everything is unlimited refill, you can bring back more side dishes and vegetables whenever you need them—I got so full because of that. The space is roomy, so it seems suitable for group gatherings, too. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a wholesome meal~~^^