Acorn jelly with a baby at a Suwon Korean restaurant: Boriook Main

When I eat out with my baby, along with the menu I always check whether there's a baby chair and whether there are side dishes my baby can actually eat. This time I visited Boriook Main Branch, a Mangpo Station restaurant popular for its buffet-style spread.

At first I thought, "a barley rice buffet — probably like a regular Korean buffet place?" But once I got there it was way cleaner and the menu was more varied than I expected. A place where you mix barley rice with tons of namul and go back for the freshly fried fritters again and again! Here's my review with my baby, plus the menu, prices, and parking.

Where is Boriook Main Branch, and does it have parking and a baby chair?

Boriook Main Branch is near Mangpo Station, so it's also a go-to Mangpo Station restaurant for nearby office workers at lunch. We drove there with our baby, and there's parking for about 6 cars right in front of the store. That said, with so many lunch customers, the dedicated parking fills up fast.

When the lot is full, some people park along the roadside nearby, so if you're driving it's probably easier to avoid the lunch rush. As a parent with a baby, I was also glad they had a baby chair ready.

How much does a set meal cost at Boriook Main Branch?

• Barley rice set ₩13,000
• Mackerel set ₩15,000
• Grilled soy sauce pork set ₩16,000
• Grilled gochujang pork set ₩16,000
• Preschool/child (ages 6-12) ₩5,000

I originally assumed "barley rice buffet" meant a cheap Korean buffet, but it's actually a bit different from a typical Korean buffet — you order a set, and then take as many side dishes as you want.

We ordered the barley rice set and the mackerel set. Barley rice and stew come with every set as standard, and the mackerel set also came with a good-sized grilled mackerel.

On top of that, you can help yourself buffet-style to various namul, side dishes, and fritters — trying it in person, I felt it was pretty good value. Maybe that's why the place was packed with office workers at lunchtime.

Namul side dishes and freshly fried fritters at the self-serve bar

What satisfied me most was definitely the variety of side dishes! From pan-fried tofu to japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) to all kinds of namul, there were more varieties than I expected.

As a rookie homemaker who finds even making one namul dish at home a hassle haha, I loved being able to load up on all sorts of namul I never bother cooking at home.

Piling on tons of namul plus barley rice, gochujang (red chili paste), and sesame oil, then mixing it all up — genuinely delicious!

Every table had gochujang and sesame oil ready, so you could add as much as you liked to suit your taste. Both barley rice and white rice were refillable too, so there was no need to pile your bowl too high at the start — just add more as you go.

My surprise favorite was the fritters. There were several kinds — sweet pumpkin, eggplant, pepper — and when I visited they were freshly fried, warm and crispy, genuinely delicious. The batter was clean and the ingredients were substantial, like they'd just come out of fresh oil, so I ended up going back for more.

There's also plum tea, coffee, and more for dessert! Boriook lets you eat well from start to finish.

Eating at Boriook Main Branch with a baby: hooked on acorn jelly

Since we went with our baby this time, I was curious whether there'd be anything for her to eat. It turned out there was more than I expected — my baby completely fell for the acorn jelly and ate it all by herself haha.

With mom and dad mixing barley rice with namul and our baby happily eating acorn jelly beside us, it felt like a relatively relaxed meal for once.

Honestly, before visiting I expected something a bit dated because of the name "barley rice buffet." But it turned out to be clean, the food was neat, and the variety of side dishes was so much wider than I expected — my satisfaction was way higher than anticipated.

What I think makes Boriook special is that it's not a huge sprawling buffet with everything under the sun — instead you get all the namul and Korean side dishes that go well with barley rice, as much as you want. Ordering one main like mackerel, then loading up on namul-filled barley rice with warm stew and freshly fried fritters made for a really satisfying meal.

If you're looking for a Mangpo Station restaurant to bring your parents to, somewhere easy to take a baby, or a good-value lunch spot, Boriook Main Branch is a place I'd want to visit again.