Barley gulbi & cheonggukjang self-bar in Gwangju, Gyeonggi: Bomseol

I visited Bomseol, a quiet hanjeongsik (Korean set meal) restaurant in Gwangju, Gyeonggi. They make their barley gulbi (dried yellow croaker) and ganjang gejang (soy-marinated crab) with their own patented recipe, so I figured I'd get a healthy meal made with a master's touch~

Bomseol hours and parking

• Hours: Mon–Sun 11:00–20:30
• Break time 16:00–17:00
• Last order 19:45
• Closed Sept 24 (Thu) and 25 (Fri) 2026 for the Chuseok holiday (check Naver Map for any changes)
• Parking: available both below the building and in front of the restaurant

Parking at Bomseol in Gwangju, Gyeonggi

Bomseol is hard to reach on foot, but parking is easy. You can park underneath the building, or drive a bit further up the hill and park right in front of the restaurant. We parked under the building and walked up the stairs next to the parking lot.

This is what the parking lot in front of the building looks like. If you'd rather skip the stairs, just keep driving a little past where your navigation directs you — the route your GPS gives you ends at the lot below the building.

The atmosphere at Bomseol

The restaurant has a comfortable wood-toned, hanok-like feel, and with a mountain behind it and Gonjiam stream flowing out front, it also has a bit of a mountain-lodge vibe. We'd had a packed schedule that day and ended up eating dinner pretty late after running around all over, so it genuinely felt like catching our breath and eating a meal mid-hike, haha. One note: since there's a stream and mountain nearby, you might run into mosquitoes this time of year.

The rice, cheonggukjang, and side dish self-bar

Bomseol has a self-serve bar for rice, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew), and side dishes. They even set out sesame oil and seasoning sauce so you can toss the various namul (seasoned vegetables) into a bibimbap. I loved that you could freely help yourself to rice and cheonggukjang too, not just side dishes. (The cheonggukjang was really tasty... haha.)

You can also get side dishes, cheonggukjang, and barley gulbi to take home, and they sell snacks like barley crackers and popped corn too.

Bomseol's menu and the food itself

Here's the menu at Bomseol. The sign out front highlights ganjang gejang and barley gulbi, which must be the dishes made with their own patented recipe. So while we'd originally planned to order the Bomseol set for three, we ended up adding the barley gulbi too!

• Bomseol set for 2: ₩30,000
• Master-recipe barley gulbi: ₩27,000

The water they serve is tea water, and they even have baby-sized spoons on hand.

And the table was set in no time~😋 There was a great variety of side dishes, including some my kid could eat! Honestly, as long as there's fish, my kid will polish off a whole bowl of rice in no time!

Master-recipe barley gulbi and green tea water

The barley gulbi was bigger than I expected. Both the barley gulbi and the kodari (semi-dried pollack) were wonderfully chewy and firm! We even picked out every last bit of meat from the head. When you order barley gulbi, they also bring you green tea water — you can soak your rice in the tea water and top it with the fish, or dip the fish briefly in the tea water before laying it over your rice.

Bottomless cheonggukjang

Side dishes aside, this cheonggukjang was so good. If you like a strong, pungent flavor you might find it a bit mild, but for me it was exactly the right taste and aroma. And it's refillable too... how great is that. I basically made a beeline for the fish and the cheonggukjang that day, haha.

Stone-pot rice with bubbling scorched rice

Let me show you the stone-pot rice too~ The grains were so plump and delicious! Note that the stone-pot rice can take a bit of a wait — two of our three orders came out first, and one needed a little more steaming time so it arrived a bit later. Still, since there's rice at the self-bar and we could share what had already arrived, it wasn't a problem at all.

And this next photo is the scorched rice we ate after finishing our rice — honestly, was I the only one seeing this for the first time...? Even after we'd finished our rice, the scorched rice was still bubbling away inside the stone pot!🤩🤩 My kid also seemed to love the scorched rice bubbling in the tea water, going back for it even after finishing rice and moving on to juice, haha. ⚠️Just be careful — the lid gets hot when you open it!

Overall, none of the side dishes were sharp or overpowering — they're seasoned just right for making bibimbap. Now I understand why there's a barley bibimbap station at the self-bar. But if you want to make bibimbap, I'd recommend doing it quickly before you finish your rice! I really wanted to make one, but by the time I'd eaten the scorched rice too, I was too full. I'd actually recommend mixing it from the start! I bet cheonggukjang would go really well with the bibimbap too~ 😋

A café space for after your meal

After eating, we wandered around the area a bit. Having a coffee under the parasols while the sun's still out would be lovely!

There's a separate café-style space next to the dining area. I visited near closing time so I didn't get to use it, but it looks perfect for coffee and some popped corn or barley crackers as dessert after your meal!

Ever since having a baby, I find myself going to hanjeongsik restaurants a lot, and I was so happy that I got to try barley gulbi at Bomseol in Chowol, Gwangju. Even with the basic set, you can freely add more barley rice and cheonggukjang, which makes it a hanjeongsik restaurant in Gwangju, Gyeonggi with really good value.