Pyeongtaek charcoal galbi restaurant, 8 banchan at lunch: Ihwajeong

Where is Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi, and where do you park?

Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi is a charcoal pork galbi restaurant at 1662 Manse-ro, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do. There's a spacious parking lot right in front that's free to use.

I was craving charcoal-grilled galbi (ribs) after a while, so I went to Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi, a well-known spot on Manse-ro in Pyeongtaek! There's a big parking lot right in front, so parking was really convenient haha.

Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi is located on the 2nd floor! Take the stairs or the elevator up and the entrance is right there haha.

Inside the second-floor hall: room for group meals

With easy parking and a spacious interior, it's great for group gatherings or company dinners too! I visited for a weekend lunch and saw a lot of families there haha. The tables were spaced well apart too, so it was comfortable to eat 😊

What's on the menu at Ihwajeong

The main menu has pork yangnyeom-gui (seasoned grilled pork), pork yangnyeom-galbi (seasoned pork ribs), and beef galbisal, and the side menu has mul-naengmyeon (cold noodle soup), bibim-naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles), and doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew)!

What's at the self-serve bar?

The self-serve bar was neatly stocked with onions, lettuce, sauces, ssamjang (dipping paste), small plates, scissors, tongs, and more haha.

If a side dish isn't at the self-serve bar, you can just ask a staff member directly haha.

The 8 banchan sides, yangnyeom-gejang included

The basic banchan (side dishes) included japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), salad, potato salad, mu-saengchae (spicy radish salad), pickled onions, pickled garlic scapes, seasoned lettuce, and even yangnyeom-gejang (seasoned raw crab) haha.

Can't believe they even give you yangnyeom-gejang as a basic side dish,,♥ Just the right amount of spicy, no fishy taste at all, and packed with crab meat — so good,,! I feel like I could finish a whole bowl of rice with just this haha.

You know you're supposed to eat the salad first before the meal, right? The vegetables here were fresh and the dressing was so good♥

With japchae and potato salad on the table too, this seems like a great place to visit with kids haha.

Two servings of pork yangnyeom-gui plus one of pork yangnyeom-galbi

At Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi, I ordered 2 servings of pork yangnyeom-gui and 1 serving of pork yangnyeom-galbi, for 3 servings total. The portions were way bigger than I expected!

Pork yangnyeom-gui made with 100% pork neck

Ihwajeong's pork yangnyeom-gui is made with thick, tender 100% pork neck meat!

The meat is a thick 2cm cut, so it's full of juice and flavor haha. It's tender, not chewy at all, so it's easy for kids or elderly family members to eat too 👍

144-hour cross-aged pork yangnyeom-galbi

The pork yangnyeom-galbi uses cuts full of juice and flavor, cross-aged for 144 hours in a special pear-based marinade, so the meat comes out tender with the seasoning soaked all the way through haha.

The meat was so tender, not bland and not too salty, the savory flavor was insane,,,🫶🏻 The seasoning was just right, so I really enjoyed it haha.

Wrap it up like this with mu-saengchae and pickled onions,,,♥ Looking at the photo again makes me want to eat it again 😂

How strong is the charcoal aroma?

Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi uses twice-burned charcoal and rice husk smoking, so the meat picks up that deep, smoky charcoal flavor with a subtle charcoal aroma — I really enjoyed it haha.

Bibim-naengmyeon to finish the galbi

Bi-naeng with galbi! You know bibim-naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles) is a must when you're eating galbi, right??

You know wrapping galbi in that sweet-spicy bi-naeng is so good, right!? The noodles here were moist and not too intense, so they went really well with the galbi ❤️

Who should visit Ihwajeong

• Anyone looking for a spot for a family gathering
• Anyone looking for a galbi restaurant on Manse-ro
• Anyone looking for a galbi restaurant in Sosabeol

If you're looking for a good restaurant on Manse-ro in Pyeongtaek, definitely give Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi a visit♥