Friday dinner with kids at a Mangpo, Suwon Korean restaurant: Boriook

A Korean restaurant with an unlimited self-bar, barley rice, and cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) — Boriook.

Boriook Main Branch: a 13,000 won barley rice set within walking distance of Mangpo Station

Boriook Main Branch (보리옥 본점) sits at 99 Yeongtong-ro 200beon-gil, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, near the Mangpo Fantasium building, and serves barley rice hanjeongsik (Korean set meal). Order the ₩13,000 barley rice set and you get unlimited cheonggukjang, barley rice, and access to the self-bar.

I was looking for somewhere good value to eat Korean food near Mangpo Station, and that's how I found Boriook. With prices going up everywhere these days, getting unlimited cheonggukjang, barley rice, and self-bar access for ₩13,000 felt like real value. Boriook Main Branch is near Mangpo Fantasium, so it's an easy walk from Exit 1 of Mangpo Station. I always feel better when a restaurant is clean, and since this branch newly opened in March this year, the interior was spotless and the restrooms were tidy too.

Parking and wait times at Boriook Main Branch on a Friday evening

You can park in front of Boriook Main Branch, but the lot isn't huge, so if you're driving, it's best to time your visit around opening. There was signage noting that roadside parking nearby is also allowed.

You can park in front of the Boriook building, but since the lot isn't very big, I'd recommend arriving around opening time if you're driving. As the attached photo shows, roadside parking nearby is also allowed according to the signage. The restaurant sits between apartment complexes, so a lot of families seemed to walk in too. Especially since kids aged 6 to 12 only pay ₩5,000 for self-bar access, there were plenty of families with children.

There's often a wait, so waiting seats are set up near the entrance. When it's busy, you can join the queue through the CatchTable kiosk.

I went before 6pm for an early dinner, and even though it was a weekday, being Friday, the place gradually filled up. By the time I left, the restaurant was packed. With that many people, the food turnover was great and refills came fast.

When I stepped out around 6:30 after finishing the meal, I was surprised to see the street packed with cars. That's how popular this Korean restaurant near Mangpo Station is. It seemed like a great spot to bring family, and I thought it'd be especially nice to take my parents there.

Inside Boriook Main Branch: mother-of-pearl walls and brass bowls

Inside, the walls at Boriook Main Branch are decorated in a mother-of-pearl lacquerware style, and the tableware is brass — brass bowls and brass spoons. Several high chairs were also set up.

Being a Korean restaurant, the walls were decorated elegantly in a mother-of-pearl lacquerware style.

The brass bowls and brass spoons showed real attention to the tableware. Wet wipes, tissues, and a bottle opener were tucked in each table's drawer too.

A high chair is essential when you're out with kids, and several were available inside the restaurant. There were also multiple air conditioners running, so we finished our meal nice and cool.

What is on Boriook's self-bar, and how to order

At Boriook Main Branch, one menu item per person is required — you order via the table kiosk and pay at the counter on your way out. After ordering, they bring cheonggukjang and barley rice, and give you a large brass bowl to fill as much as you like from the self-bar: japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), namul (seasoned vegetables), kimchi, fritters, radish salad, mushrooms, and more.

First, let me drop in a mouth-watering food clip~

Just a reminder: one menu item per person is required, and you can order right at the table via kiosk. Payment happens at the counter when you leave.

Once you order, they bring out savory cheonggukjang and barley rice along with a large brass bowl, which you can fill freely with japchae, namul, kimchi, fritters, radish salad, mushrooms, and other hanjeongsik dishes.

Since it's buffet-style, just take small portions of whatever you want to try.

As you can see, there were so many delicious dishes~ You could also get extra refills of white rice or barley rice, and there was sungnyung (scorched rice tea) to scoop near the fritters too. The food tasted clean and light, so it digested really well.

Pork, self-bar dishes, cheonggukjang, and rice — the perfect table spread, right?! I thought it'd be great to bring my mom next time. Being Friday evening, there were so many families there.

Namul, fritters and house-made gochujang

The self-bar had a good variety of namul too — chwinamul (aster greens), gosari (bracken fern), doraji (bellflower root), bean sprouts, and more. Personally, the chwinamul and gosari were amazing mixed with rice~ The tofu is a bit spicy, so be careful if you're sensitive to heat. I love spicy food, so I enjoyed it a lot! The fritters and dipping soy sauce were genuinely delicious too. There were sweet potato, kabocha squash, lotus root, mushroom, and pepper fritters, and since they were freshly fried, there was no greasy oil smell — just clean and tasty.

By the way, the gochujang and sesame oil here are genuinely delicious — apparently they make the gochujang in-house.

The pork had a great smoky char too, and mixing it into bibimbap made it something special.

Barley rice bibimbap, finished with maesil tea

Piling various side dishes into one bowl and mixing it all together made a mouth-watering barley rice bibimbap! It was so good I finished my first bowl and went back to the self-bar for more barley rice. My family member with me got extra white rice, and said that was delicious too. (They usually have a small appetite, but they got so into eating that they ate way more than usual and ended up taking digestive medicine once we got home... haha)

A light drink is also included, so I finished off with a cup of maesil tea (plum tea).

Who is Boriook Main Branch best for?

Boriook Main Branch was a great Korean restaurant in Mangpo, Suwon to bring family, especially parents. I was impressed by the service — they suggested seats closer to the buffet for older guests so they wouldn't have to walk far.

If you're looking for a Korean restaurant to visit with family, I'd recommend Boriook~ Staff guided us to a seat smoothly and confidently right away. When I visited, I saw them seat older guests closer to the buffet so they wouldn't have to walk back and forth, which struck me as thoughtful and sharp service.

There was also a space like an outdoor terrace, and on a nice day it'd be perfect to sit there chatting over a cup of tea. (Some guests were stepping out just to take photos there~) I think a restaurant is a real find when it makes you think 'I want to bring someone here next time,' and I kept thinking I'd love to bring my parents here. It's that good and that generous — highly recommend!