Two pork dishes with a coworker at lunch: Boriook Main Branch, Suwon

It's hard to have a wide variety of side dishes at home, so whenever I eat out, I try to find a restaurant that lets me enjoy plenty of them!! One of the best value spots near my workplace is Boriook.

<Hours> 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM

1pm with a coworker: the barley rice spot near Mangpo Station

This is one of the restaurants I visit now and then for lunch with coworkers. Today, for a slightly late lunch, we headed to Boriook, the barley rice restaurant near Mangpo Station, around 1pm.

Boriook occupies its own standalone building! There's space for about 8 cars right in front of the restaurant~ and every time I open the door and step inside, I'm struck again by how spacious, clean, and pleasant the dining space is!!

It's funny how our minds work — we like what's familiar and comfortable. So today too, we sat at the same spot we always sit in when we visit!!

Ordering gochujang pork and soy sauce pork sets from the kiosk

We ordered using the kiosk!! Today we chose a gochujang pork set and a soy sauce pork set.

Once you order, they give you a big bowl of barley rice, a soup bowl, and a large plate. You take that large plate to the salad bar!!

Ah... there's both white rice and barley rice, so you can help yourself to more if you want!!

The side dish self-serve bar: from namul to vegetable fritters

At the salad bar, as always, a variety of neatly arranged side dishes greet me.

Honestly, making side dishes one by one at home takes a lot of attention, energy, and time, and above all it's hard to make just enough for one meal—

—so visiting an unlimited barley rice place like Boriook, where you can freely eat all the side dishes you've been craving, feels really great!!

One thing to always watch out for at an all-you-can-eat restaurant is self-control—only take as much as you'll eat, and stop before you're overly full!! If you get too excited and pile up too much, you'll end up leaving food, which creates food waste!! And if you eat too much, you'll gain weight! Anyway!! Moderation in everything is best!!

Boriook's side dishes are made with really fresh ingredients, so their colors are lovely and the flavors aren't harsh at all—if you eat in moderation, this place will leave your stomach feeling very comfortable!!

How to make barley rice bibimbap

After putting a variety of vegetables—bean sprouts, mushrooms, bracken fern, radish salad, lotus root, sautéed potatoes, seaweed stem, bok choy, and more—into the bowl along with barley rice,

you squeeze in a good amount of the gochujang and sesame oil set out at every table,

mix it all together diligently!! and you've got a truly delicious bibimbap!!!

How do the two pork dishes and doenjang stew taste?

Both the soy sauce and gochujang stir-fried pork had zero gamy meat smell, and the seasoning was well-balanced and soaked in nicely—it went really well with the bibimbap!!

Personally, the biggest reason I love Boriook's doenjang (soybean paste) stew is that it doesn't have that harsh seasoning taste!! It's clean and genuinely savory!!

One of the great things about coming to Boriook is that you get to eat a variety of fried vegetables. And they're served piping hot!! And crispy!!

My coworker and I kept saying "this is so good" the whole time we ate...

Dessert: two kinds of ppeongtwigi and plum tea

After a delicious meal, dessert is ready too!! Two kinds of ppeongtwigi!! And plum tea...

Since we were going to a café for coffee afterward, we skipped the tea, but I grabbed one of each ppeongtwigi to cleanse my palate!! Ppeongtwigi has a wholesome taste too~~ and we headed to the café feeling pleasantly full~~

Boriook, a great restaurant near Mangpo Station in Suwon, is good to visit with coworkers, even better with parents, and I think it'd also suit homemakers who occasionally don't feel like cooking, visiting with their families!! Kids would probably enjoy picking their own side dishes too!