Unlimited banchan self-bar and charcoal pork near Bucheon Stadium

Today was one of those days when Korean set-meal food just hit the spot haha. There's a place I always go to when that craving strikes — Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang Bucheon Main Branch, a go-to restaurant near Bucheon Stadium Station. The side dishes come with unlimited refills, and given how many kinds there are, it's such good value that I went straight there.

Hours and location

• Hours: Daily 10:30–21:00 (last order 20:00)
• Address: 59 Gilju-ro 560beon-gil, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Getting there from Bucheon Stadium Station, and parking

Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang Bucheon Main Branch, a Korean restaurant favorite in Chunui-dong, Bucheon, is about a 15-minute walk from Bucheon Stadium Station or Kkachiul Station on Line 7, so the subway is an option too.

That said, most visitors come by car. There's a large parking lot, and staff manage parking on both weekdays and weekends, so it was easy and safe to park.

Exterior, interior, and weekday waits

Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang looks spacious at a glance haha. The restaurant is set up across the 2nd and 3rd floors, so you head in via the stairs on the right to get to the seating area.

This Bucheon Stadium Station favorite gets waits even on weekdays haha. We arrived around 11:30am and luckily got in without waiting, but about 15 minutes later a line had formed. If you'd rather skip waiting, I'd recommend showing up about 30 minutes before peak time!

There's an open hall, but also separated room-like spaces like this one, which looked great for family gatherings!

The unlimited banchan self-bar

And now for the highlight of this place — the self-service bar where you can refill every side dish that comes with the set meal haha.

Even if a dish ran low, staff refilled it quickly, which I loved haha. There were over ten kinds of side dishes at a glance, so we could eat generously!

Menu and what we ordered

• Tteuranchae Bapsang ₩13,000 x 3
• Charcoal-grilled pork ₩18,000

We ordered the Tteuranchae Bapsang, the basic set meal, according to headcount (the set comes with stone-pot rice, cheonggukjang, and healthy side dishes), and added a charcoal-grilled pork dish on top since it seemed good to have one single item too!

How the Tteuranchae Bapsang and charcoal-grilled pork tasted

With so many customers coming through, the food prep moved fast haha. The whole Tteuranchae Bapsang set was ready within 5 minutes of ordering!

Japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), fried eggplant, kimchi, burdock root, lettuce, siraegi (dried radish greens), perilla leaves, braised potatoes, scallion salad, doraji muchim (seasoned bellflower root), and more side dishes appeared,

and for things like dongchimi (watery radish kimchi), you can just grab it from the self-bar yourself if you want some! Note that japchae is kept in the kitchen for hygiene reasons, so just ask a staff member and they'll bring it right out.

Next up, the charcoal-grilled pork haha. Usually when I come here I eat mostly grilled fish, but this time I tried the meat too! It was thicker than expected but still on the lean side, so it was easy to digest, and there was a good amount of smoky char, which made the quality satisfying.

Stone-pot rice and dessert nurungji

The stone-pot rice included in the ₩13,000 Tteuranchae Bapsang haha. If you happen to run out while eating, you can refill it at the self-bar.

The rice had some stickiness to it, but being stone-pot rice it also had a nice fluffy texture haha. Once you've eaten some of the rice, you can pour water in to make nurungji (scorched rice tea) for dessert.

Can the cheonggukjang be refilled too?

Next, the cheonggukjang I tried haha. This can be refilled too, and they make a completely fresh batch for you, so if you're someone who loves soybean paste stew type dishes, this Chunui-dong Korean restaurant is a must-visit.

The cheonggukjang wasn't overpoweringly strong, so even people who don't usually like it could probably manage the seasoning. It also had plenty of napa cabbage and tofu inside, making it a refreshing and clean-tasting dish.

We wrapped up with the nurungji~ and by the way, there's a coffee machine on the way out, so we got to enjoy dessert coffee here too.

Final thoughts

I visited Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang, a Bucheon Korean restaurant favorite, because I was really craving a set-meal spread haha. It's located just outside Seoul so it wasn't hard to get to, and since you can't see any city skyline from there, it felt relaxing too. On top of that, the staff were so kind and quick to help that we could enjoy the meal comfortably, and I loved being able to enjoy so many side dishes that are hard to find elsewhere, all with unlimited refills at a reasonable price haha. If you're looking for a restaurant near Bucheon Stadium Station or a Korean restaurant in Chunui-dong, Gim Myeongju Tteuranchae Bapsang Bucheon Main Branch is worth a visit.