Late dinner till 10pm at a Gimpo charcoal galbi house: Galbigumteo

Every Thursday, we drop the baby off with my in-laws, and once my husband gets off work, the two of us go out for dinner together. When you're raising a kid, time to eat a slow meal together as a couple turns out to be more precious than you'd think, haha.

This week I was craving sweet pork ribs, so while looking up dinner spots in Pungmu-dong, Gimpo, I ended up at Galbigumteo Pungmu Station Branch (갈비굼터 풍무역점). There weren't many options for restaurants open late into the evening, but it turned out there was a charcoal galbi place right in Pungmu-dong, next to our neighborhood.

Where is Galbigumteo Pungmu Station Branch, and how late does it stay open?

Galbigumteo Pungmu Station Branch is located at 133 Pungmu-ro, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, and is open weekdays 11:30–22:00 and weekends 10:00–22:00. It's a standalone building right on the main road, so it wasn't hard to find.

• Address: 133 Pungmu-ro, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: Weekdays 11:30–22:00 / Weekends 10:00–22:00
• Parking: Available in front of the store and behind the building

Parking matters wherever you go, right? There was parking space both right in front of the store and behind the building, so we parked comfortably and headed in.

Maybe because we came on a weekday late evening, the restaurant was pretty quiet. I figured we'd have a peaceful meal, but a few groups came in even later than us. It seemed like a good spot for a late dinner if you're looking for somewhere to eat in Pungmu-dong, Gimpo.

Ordering two servings of house-marinated Korean king pork ribs

What we ordered: two servings of house-marinated Korean pork ribs, one bottle of soju for my husband, and a zero-sugar cider for me! Since pork ribs were the whole point of the trip from the start, we ordered without a second thought, haha.

Once we ordered, they brought out the charcoal first. The pork ribs came out right after, and the staff put the meat straight onto the grill before we even had a chance to take a photo. So sorry, no photo of two neat raw slabs of meat this time... haha.

Still, watching the pork ribs sizzle away over the charcoal, the sweet marinade smell made me want to dig in right away.

Seven side dishes, a self-serve bar, and lettuce on request

We got about 7 side dishes total. There was a separate self-serve bar, so we could freely grab whatever banchan (side dishes) we needed.

Lettuce wasn't at the self-serve bar — you had to ask the staff, and they'd bring it over. Honestly, I wished this one was at the self-serve bar! My husband and I love wrapping our meat in lettuce, so we go through a ton of it, haha. Asking for refills a few times made me feel a little self-conscious, even though the staff were kind about it, haha.

One fun thing at the self-serve bar was the kimchi pancake (kimchijeon) batter. It was ready to go, so you could fry as much as you wanted yourself. I fried one up while waiting for the meat, and there's something fun about frying it fresh and eating it hot and golden — it was so good, haha.

King pork ribs marinated in-house at Galbigumteo

The pork ribs here are house-marinated Korean pork ribs — instead of using a pre-made product from elsewhere, the restaurant marinates them in-house. Maybe that's why the meat was thick and felt freshly prepared. Marinated pork ribs burn quickly if you're not careful, so we kept flipping them front and back.

A well-cooked piece of ribs was good on its own, wrapped in lettuce, or eaten together with onion. It was a day when I was craving sweet pork ribs, and the charcoal-smoky ribs satisfied that craving completely.

Finishing with doenjang jjigae and cold mul naengmyeon

After eating a good amount of meat, we added some food too. I added rice to the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) that comes as a default, and my husband ordered mul naengmyeon (cold noodle soup). Eating meat and then rice with doenjang jjigae is a combo I can never give up, haha. A spoonful of rice with hot doenjang jjigae, followed by a piece of pork ribs, felt like a proper dinner.

The mul naengmyeon my husband ordered came with really refreshingly cold broth — not just a light slush, but broth that was quite substantially frozen, cold just to look at.

After the sweet pork ribs, a bite of the cold mul naengmyeon cleaned up the palate nicely, which paired well with the meat.

Sitting down with my husband without the baby, slowly grilling meat and chatting away, we finished off a satisfying dinner with kimchi pancake, doenjang jjigae, and mul naengmyeon on top of everything else. If you're craving sweet charcoal pork ribs, or looking for a dinner spot in Pungmu-dong, Gimpo that stays open late, give Galbigumteo Pungmu Station Branch a try. Parking was easy and we could eat late without any rush — an easygoing dinner out.