Budget Korean BBQ near Ajou Univ., Suwon: ₩5,000 lunch at Sarangjip

What is Sarangjip? A pork kimchi grill restaurant near Ajou University in Suwon

Sarangjip is a pork kimchi grill restaurant on Ajuro 39beon-gil in Paldal-gu, Suwon, near Ajou University. It's open daily 11:00–22:00 (last order 21:30), with a break time from 14:30–16:30, and parking is at a public lot with the first hour free.

Sarangjip 💗 is already famous as a meat restaurant near Ajou University, and I'd heard a lot about it, but I never had a reason to go nearby, so I kept thinking I'd get to it someday. Recently I had an errand in the area, so I stopped by for lunch.

Inside Sarangjip: seating and atmosphere

The inside of Sarangjip had a pretty strong retro vibe. The space is spacious and the tables are set fairly far apart, which personally I found very satisfying. The seats were comfortable too, so eating there was easy!! Being so close to Ajou University, there were a lot of (presumably) students even on a weekend, plus plenty of other guests too.

Sarangjip menu and prices: why the ₩5,000 lunch special wins

Sarangjip has its menu posted on the wall so you can take it all in at a glance!! The pork kimchi grill in the small size (for 2) was ₩19,000, but what really made me think 'this place is insane value' was the lunch special menu..!!! You could enjoy meat kimchi fried rice for a mere ₩5,000, lunch only. That's peak value for money~

Of course there's a T-order kiosk on the table, so we could order comfortably right from our seats. You could even request extra side dishes through T-order — super convenient 👍

These are the basic side dishes — garlic is brought out if you ask for it. The bean sprout soup was spicier than expected, in a really good way!

My partner is drinking soda again today~ (let's cut back.)

How does the small pork kimchi grill (₩19,000) taste?

Pork kimchi grill (small)

And here comes today's main dish, pork kimchi grill!! It tastes just like when your mom stir-fries kimchi and pork in a frying pan 💗. It comes already fully cooked, so there's no waiting around — you can dig right in.

No artificial spiciness, just the right amount of heat and delicious. It'd work great as a side with rice or as anju (drinking food) — good for day or night, basically.

The meat is good on its own, but it tastes even better with the kimchi and onion.

They also post a guide for how to eat it best, so give it a try!

Of course I followed the eating guide plus piled on some corn kernels for good measure. A corn lover can't resist.

Steamed egg at Sarangjip for ₩3,000

Steamed egg

Our ordered steamed egg made an appearance too 💛. So many places charge ₩5,000–6,000 for steamed egg these days, but here you get a fluffy, unburnt, delicious version for just ₩3,000. In every way, this place nails value for money!

Finishing fried rice tip: save 5 spoonfuls of pork

If you're planning to have the fried rice at Sarangjip, you should leave about 5 spoonfuls of meat behind for the best result. I wanted to eat it all, but I held back... for the sake of good fried rice.

Finishing fried rice

Mix the rice into the leftover pork kimchi, top with seaweed flakes, and you've got amazing fried rice!!

The fried rice already comes fully made so you can eat it right away, but if you like nurungji (crispy scorched rice), they say to leave the burner on for about 30 seconds before eating.

Is the extra egg in the fried rice worth it?

One tip here — the lunch menu has an option to add an egg (not sure if it's available at dinner too, ㅠㅠ). We hadn't ordered the lunch special, but I asked if we could still add an egg and they said yes, so I ordered it right away!! Then I topped the fried rice with that egg.

Mix it all together with the fried rice and... it's amazing 💛. Truly the best of the best... definitely order the extra egg.

I ate the fried rice plain, then wrapped some in perilla leaves too — that's me, enjoying it every which way! If you're looking for a great-value meat restaurant near Ajou University, I'd recommend this place without hesitation!