Yeolmu kimchi refills at a Yeongtong, Suwon barley rice spot: Boriook

What kind of restaurant is Boriook Main Branch?

These days I find it's better to eat until moderately full rather than stuffed! My basal metabolic rate keeps dropping, and whenever I go to a buffet restaurant near Mangpo Station I end up eating until I'm bursting and regretting it the moment I walk out.

Today I visited Boriook Main Branch (보리옥 본점). It's located at 99 Yeongtong-ro 200beon-gil, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do — this place is popular, so it's always crowded!!

How many parking spots does Boriook have?

Boriook Main Branch has about 6-7 parking spots in front of the restaurant, which isn't as many as you'd expect. I didn't drive there myself, but since it can be hard to get out once you're in, I'd recommend avoiding the lunch and dinner peak hours if possible, or taking public transit instead-!!

Looks like everyone else came looking for a good Korean set-meal restaurant in Suwon too!! The place was packed to the point that if you show up right at lunchtime, you'll basically have to wait.

The calm interior atmosphere feels like the kind of Korean restaurant older folks would love too.

Boriook Main Branch prices: 29,000 won for two

The most basic option, the barley rice set, is ₩13,000, which is a pretty decent price.

On top of that, for just ₩2,000-3,000 more you get a set with either half a grilled mackerel or grilled gochujang pork, so I'd recommend adding an order of the gochujang pork.

That comes out to about ₩29,000 for two people, which is basically the price of one buffet meal for two people to eat, haha.

What is on the self-serve bar?

Now it's time to explain why Boriook Main Branch is known as a good Korean set-meal restaurant in Suwon. Besides the cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) and barley rice that come as the basic setting, you can help yourself to as much food as you want from this separately arranged self-serve bar.

You'd be mistaken to think a low price means low food quality. There's a huge variety, from healthy namul (seasoned vegetables) to acorn jelly to all kinds of wrap greens. These are ingredients that taste even better mixed into barley rice — honestly, eating like this felt like the shortest path to taking care of your health.

On top of that, they bring out all kinds of fritters fried fresh in real time, and the batter was so savory that I really enjoyed them!!

They do give you an initial serving of barley rice, but it's a bit small for an adult man, so you'll definitely need to go scoop more, haha (still, I finished every last grain).

Load up on bean sprouts, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), lotus root, bracken fern and other bibimbap ingredients and you're reeaady to eat.

Japchae and namul side dishes

Doesn't the japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) look incredibly appetizing with those colors?? It really did taste great too, hahaha.

The glass noodles were boiled just right — chewy, and seasoned with just the right amount of saltiness, so I finished all of it.

Such vivid colors make it look so tasty. They say you eat with your eyes first too, haha.

Five-colored namul, bracken fern, acorn jelly, oyster mushrooms — even after eating so much you're stuffed, it digests really well, which felt like the true mark of a good Korean set-meal restaurant in Suwon.

Grilled gochujang pork and barley bibimbap

Here's the grilled pork bulgogi that came out along with the basic side dish setting.

Eating only namul side dishes felt a bit lacking, so we ordered the stir-fried pork, and the subtle smoky charred flavor was really delicious.

Pile in plenty of namul, add a generous amount of gochujang, mix it all together — and you're ready to fully enjoy Boriook Main Branch!!

My wife was busy loading up her own namul too, mixing it in with her cute little hands♡

My basic Boriook set didn't have enough rice, so I scooped one big spoonful more and added it in.

True to a proper Korean table, they also served a generous bowl of well-simmered, savory cheonggukjang, broth and all, prepared with real care.

It was moderately spicy, and since the pork also doubled as a side dish for the bibimbap, it was really easy to eat.

Every spoonful went down so smoothly, spreading happiness through my mouth with each bite~☆

Yeolmu kimchi refills and half a grilled mackerel

The yeolmu kimchi in particular was my favorite food of the meal. If you go to Boriook Main Branch, make sure you refill this yeolmu kimchi again and again~~

The half mackerel disappeared the moment it hit the table, haha.

Barley gangjeong for dessert

True to a barley-themed set-meal restaurant, even the final dessert was barley gangjeong (crispy barley puff snack)!! I ate three pieces by myself — it was a bit like Jolly Pong cereal, but with its own distinct sweetness that made it even tastier?? That's the kind of flavor it was, haha. I plan to come back for more if I'm ever in the area^^