11am open galbi lunch with brisket doenjang rice in Yangju: Manpo

Today I went to lunch with a friend at "Manpo Garden" in Go-eup-dong, Yangju! We did an opening run right at 11am so we could eat comfortably before the crowds showed up!

Where Manpo Garden is, its 11am–10pm hours and parking

Manpo Garden is on the 1st floor at 28-37 Godeok-ro 355beon-gil, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, and it's open daily from 11:00 to 22:00. Group seating is available and they have high chairs for kids.

🚗 Parking in front of the restaurant, plus a large lot in back 🚗

How big is the dining room at Manpo Garden?

Since it's a standalone building, the inside was actually way bigger than I expected! The tables have plenty of space between them and there are separate private rooms too, so it seems good for company dinners or gatherings in Yangju! Seems like it'd be nice to come with kids too!

Near the entrance there was a separate meat display case! From samgyeopsal (pork belly) to hanwoo (Korean beef), everything was neatly displayed so you can look and choose yourself, and they even sell galbi gift sets on the side! 😊

Free side dishes at Manpo Garden: yukhoe and yukjeon

Yukhoe (raw beef tartare) and yukjeon (pan-fried beef) 💛🤎 — a side dish combo you don't see much at BBQ places these days! The yukjeon was seriously so good, especially eaten warm off the pan... 👍

What comes with the ₩19,000 lunch-special handmade galbi set

Since we came during lunch hours, we ordered the (lunch special) handmade galbi set (₩19,000 x2)! Getting galbi and a meal together made it perfect for lunch!

You can help yourself to extra side dishes at the self-serve bar! There's a good variety — kimchi, pickles, etc — so if you run low while eating meat, you can just go refill. But honestly the table was already so loaded that we had plenty to eat, so we didn't even bother refilling haha!

After being seated, the basic table setting alone was already so generous! Pickled onions, salad, scallion strips, kimchi, pickles — all kinds of sides that go well with meat came out. The table was fully spread even before the galbi arrived, so my friend and I sampled a bit of everything while waiting 😆

How the charcoal-grilled handmade galbi tastes

Finally, the main event — the handmade galbi! Grilled golden-brown over charcoal, the marinade was fully soaked in, sweet and salty in just the right balance — seriously so good 😆🤎 They cut it into easy-to-eat pieces and set it to the side so it wouldn't burn and stayed warm — I really loved that!

One bite with the pickled onion 😆 the combo was absolutely amazing! If you're hunting for a good Yangju galbi spot, the taste of the galbi is what matters most after all!

Chadol doenjang sulbap, brisket and soybean-paste rice for ₩8,000

Chadol (beef brisket) doenjang sulbap 👍🏻 for ₩8,000, it was loaded with ingredients and had a good amount of rice too..! Really delicious 🤎

Free dessert naengmyeon and the ppeongseukeurim corner

You can't skip naengmyeon (cold noodles) after eating meat! Here they serve

"dessert naengmyeon for free"! We each ordered a water naengmyeon and a spicy mixed naengmyeon and dug in again after finishing the galbi! haha

I thought that was the end after the naengmyeon, but there was a separate dessert corner too haha. You can put ice cream on ppeong-twigi (puffed rice cracker) to make "ppeongseukeurim," and they even had iced coffee ready, so we thoroughly enjoyed dessert to the very end before heading out 💛

A generous galbi meal with the "lunch special," from naengmyeon all the way to dessert! Manpo Garden, a Yangju galbi restaurant that's great for enjoying every course thoroughly!