Busan pork ribs with cold kimchi noodles: Choryang Hyeongje Galbi

Today I visited Choryang Hyeongje Galbi (초량형제갈비) in the Choryang galbi alley. If you've been looking for pork ribs in Busan, you've probably heard of this place. We went on a Saturday evening, just the two of us!

How long is the Saturday evening wait? 15 minutes via Table-ing

Maybe because it was a Saturday evening, there was one party ahead of us when we arrived. Choryang Hyeongje Galbi uses Table-ing, so you just put your name in on the app in front of the restaurant. We waited about 15 minutes before getting seated.

The interior had 2-top and 4-top tables! There were a lot of coworkers and families dining together :)

Choryang Hyeongje Galbi menu and what two people ordered

The main meat options were pork ribs, pork belly, pork neck, and fresh (unseasoned) pork ribs, and for meals there was kimchi kalguksu (noodle soup), doenjang stew, steamed egg, rice, cold kimchi noodles, seafood ramen, and more. We started by ordering three servings of fresh pork ribs and a zero-sugar cola.

Side dishes and free wild ginseng on the table

Even before the meat arrived, side dishes started appearing one by one, and the spread was more generous than I expected.

There was scallion kimchi, pickled angelica root, wood ear mushroom, aged kimchi, chive kimchi, white kimchi, garlic, ssamjang (dipping sauce), pan-fried jijim, and steamed egg.

And along with the lettuce for wraps, they even gave us wild ginseng. We came for meat, but with wild ginseng too it felt like a proper tonic meal, haha.

The steamed egg came out still bubbling, so we ate it hot right away 😋

Oh, by the way, the zero-sugar cola here comes in a plastic bottle, haha. That's such a nice touch,,❣️

Fresh pork ribs grilled for you from start to finish

Finally, the fresh pork ribs arrived! I could tell right away just from looking at the meat that it was really fresh.

What I loved most was that the staff grilled the meat completely from start to finish! We just had to sit back and eat, which was really nice.

For the first bite, I tried the meat plain with nothing on it 🍖 I could really taste the clean, mild flavor of the meat itself, and the more I chewed, the more the juices came out with a rich, savory taste.

Eating it with chive kimchi added a spicy kick that paired well with the meat and really woke up my appetite.

The scallion kimchi was tangy and spicy, perfect for a clean bite, and the aged kimchi added a whole different depth of flavor.

We wrapped meat in lettuce with garlic and ssamjang, and tried all kinds of combinations, so the meat disappeared fast 😎 In the end it was so good we ended up adding two more servings of seasoned pork ribs :)

Marinated pork ribs vs fresh pork ribs: what is the difference?

The seasoned pork ribs came with their own dipping sauce, and dipping them in it gave a sweet, savory flavor that was also delicious.

If the fresh pork ribs are about tasting the clean flavor of the meat itself, the seasoned pork ribs dipped in sauce give a completely different feeling!

Having both kinds of meat together was great since each had its own charm. And after all that meat, of course we had to have a proper meal too! We ordered doenjang stew and cold kimchi noodles ❣️

The 3,000 won doenjang stew and the cold kimchi noodles

The doenjang stew is ₩3,000, but the portion was genuinely huge.

When I first saw it, I thought, 'is this really only ₩3,000?' It was plenty for the two of us, and with thinly sliced mushrooms and soft tofu inside, the flavor was also really good.

But that really wasn't the end. After eating the cold kimchi noodles, I was genuinely amazed 🫢 It was so good that 'wow, this is what noodles should taste like' just came out of my mouth. The cold broth blended beautifully with the kimchi, and after all that meat, it cleansed my palate while somehow making me want more and more.

Honestly, they could open a whole restaurant just for this cold kimchi noodle dish... if there's a secret recipe, I kind of want to steal it, haha. Even now while writing this post I can still taste it, so out of everything I ate at Choryang Hyeongje Galbi, this cold kimchi noodle dish is the one that stuck with me the most.

Going for lunch: the 'Hyeongje Lunch Table' set

For those visiting at lunchtime, this is worth knowing too. From 11am to 2:30pm, they sell a menu called the 'Hyeongje Lunch Table,' which comes with pork, doenjang stew, and rice together. It's a great option if you don't want to wait until dinner!

Is Choryang Hyeongje Galbi in the Choryang galbi alley worth a return visit?

Eating here this time, I got to enjoy everything generously, from the meat to the side dishes. The fresh pork ribs were delicious eaten plain, and the seasoned pork ribs dipped in the sweet sauce had a different charm of their own. On top of that, a hearty bowl of doenjang stew, and finishing off cleanly with the cold kimchi noodles!

If a friend visiting Busan said they wanted meat, I'd want to bring them here — that's how satisfied I was. For anyone who loves meat, or who's looking for a place to eat in the Choryang galbi alley, I'd recommend putting Choryang Hyeongje Galbi on your list :)