Korean BBQ with parents after AK Plaza, Suwon Station: Ssosam 208

I'd been to AK Plaza near Suwon Station, and in the evening I suddenly wanted meat, so my mom, my dad and I went to Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch (쏘삼208 수원역점). If you're looking for a good-value Korean BBQ place near Suwon Station where the staff grill for you, I'd recommend it.

Where is Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch, and where do you park?

Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch is about a 2–3 minute walk from Exit 13 or Exit 12 of Suwon Station. It's an easy walk from the station or from AK Plaza, so access is great.

For parking, you can use the Hwanggeum parking lot right behind the restaurant, which gives you 2 hours of free parking, so that's convenient. Lots of restaurants near Suwon Station are hard to park at, so I was really happy that this one is easy.

Is Ssosam 208 good for a family dinner or a work get-together?

The restaurant is bigger than I expected, with roomy spacing between tables and big tables, so I think it would work well for group gatherings and company dinners. The weather had warmed up when we went, so the folding doors were wide open, and thanks to that it felt airy and cool to eat there, which made it even better.

Overall it's clean and comfortable, so it's also a good spot for a family meal.

Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch menu and prices

• Mixed stone plate (small) ₩35,500
• Mixed stone plate (medium) ₩48,500
• Pork belly / pork neck ₩15,000
• Cheon-gyeopsal (thousand-layer pork) ₩18,000
• Cheek-and-neck cut (bol-hangjeong kkotsal) ₩14,000
• Chewy pork skin ₩8,000
• Daegu original makchang (grilled pork intestine) ₩16,000
• Spicy pork ribs in a pot (yangpuni maeun deungkalbi) ₩32,000
• Lava fondue cheese ₩5,000
• Basalt snowflake kimchi fried rice ₩6,000
• Spicy fire lava stir-fried noodles / cold buckwheat-style noodles (mul naengmyeon) ₩6,500
• Flying fish roe steamed egg / Cheongdo wild water dropwort ₩4,500
• Grilling cheese + rice cake pork belly (tteoksam) ₩4,500
• Beef belly soybean paste stew ₩3,000
• Special cold soba (naengmomil) ₩7,000
• Paldo bibim noodles ₩4,000
• Steamed rice ₩1,000

What are the free kimchi rice noodles like?

At first you get a variety of sauces for dipping, shredded scallion salad, myeongina (wild garlic-chive pickle), and as a standard freebie, kimchi rice noodle soup, which is seriously good. You get one free refill, and it was a great appetizer while we waited for the pork belly.

Medium mixed stone plate and the staff-grilled volcano grill

The medium mixed stone plate we ordered is ₩48,500 and comes with 250g of pork belly, 150g of pork neck and 100g of cheon-gyeopsal (thousand-layer pork), which is pretty good value.

The meat is grilled on a volcano-shaped grill, and since the staff grill it for you, we could just relax and eat it right when it was cooked best. I loved that.

Lava fondue cheese free with a Naver receipt review

The side I really want to recommend is the lava fondue cheese! You get it as a freebie if you write a Naver receipt review, so definitely join in and try it! The fondue bubbles like boiling lava, so it looks like it'd be spicy, but it's actually a nutty, smooth cheese fondue, and dipping the meat in it gave it even more flavor, so it was extra delicious.

Extras: Cheongdo minari and grilled cheese with rice cake pork belly

Partway through we also added Cheongdo wild water dropwort (minari) and the grilling cheese + rice cake pork belly (tteoksam). Grilling the minari along with the meat added a fragrant note and cut the richness of the pork, and the rice cake pork belly and grilled cheese pair so well with pork belly that I don't even need to say more.. T_T

How do the pork belly, pork neck and cheon-gyeopsal taste?

The pork belly was crispy outside and juicy inside, the pork neck wasn't dry at all but tender, and the cheon-gyeopsal was chewy and tasty too, so I enjoyed all three cuts.

Finishing with basalt snowflake kimchi fried rice

I ordered the basalt snowflake kimchi fried rice (₩6,000) when we were nearly done with the meat. It comes out already cooked, and the staff just top it with cheese and seaweed flakes at the end. Eating it right as the cheese melts is a foolproof way to finish after the meat!

If you're looking for a great-value place to eat near Suwon Station, this is a pork belly spot I'd recommend!

Verdict: who is Ssosam 208 Suwon Station Branch for?

• Close to Suwon Station so access is easy, and the good value makes it satisfying for the price
• The staff grill the meat, so it's easy to relax and eat
• The restaurant is spacious and clean, so it's good for group dinners too
• Parking is offered and easy, so it's a good pick for Suwon Station company dinners, gatherings and family meals