Yongin noodle restaurant with free baby rice: Yubok Kalguksu

Today I was scrambling for something to do with my baby, but the weather was so nice we decided to go to the Korean Folk Village. We were leaving around 11am, so we figured we'd grab lunch nearby first, and that's how we found Yubok Kalguksu, a restaurant near the Korean Folk Village.

Where is Yubok Kalguksu, and is there parking?

Yubok Kalguksu Yongin Korean Folk Village Branch has a nice spacious parking lot right in front. Even though it was still a bit early for lunch, there were already quite a lot of cars there. (Already famous as a Yongin kalguksu spot?) It was drizzling a little too, which is perfect kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup) weather... hehe.

What makes the pufferfish broth different?

Apparently Yubok Kalguksu uses a broth made from pufferfish. Whoa... that's so interesting. I've seen plenty of places using seafood or meat broths, but this is my first time seeing pufferfish!!!🐡

A roomy dining room that works with a baby

The restaurant is really spacious. You do have to be careful when the hot kalguksu comes out, but with all that space there's no risk of bumping into anything, which is reassuring as a mom haha.

Let's sit down quickly and order, I'm so hungry... The tables are nice and wide too, which is great! We usually end up using a lot of small side plates because of the baby, and it gets chaotic if the table is too small, ugh.

Pufferfish seafood kalguksu set, 15,000 won, with free baby rice

We'll get the kalguksu set. Seems like it's the most popular order.

Pufferfish seafood kalguksu set — ₩15,000

To me, a restaurant with a free baby rice bowl is the best kind of restaurant, and they had one — thank you so much.

Barley rice with stir-fried jjukkumi (baby octopus)

Barley rice and stir-fried jjukkumi (baby octopus) come with the noodle set. Eating just kalguksu alone can feel a bit lacking, so the rice fills you up and protects your stomach.

You mix the barley rice with radish salad and jjukkumi, all stirred together. The seasoning is seriously so good, just the right amount of sweet and spicy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it... I'm a rice person, not a noodle person, so I prefer this to the kalguksu itself.

See the jjukkumi flipped over there?🐙 Ugh, I want to eat this again already... us women just crave spicy food like this when the hormones take over. It was genuinely delicious. My husband said it was really good too.

Clear kalguksu with clams, oysters and sea squirts

The kalguksu arrived..!! But seriously, look at all that seafood. The amount of clams, oysters, and stone flower shells (oman-dungi) is insane. I kept popping open clam after clam ..♡

The 3-minute hourglass: when to take your first bite

Yubok Kalguksu's nice touch — they give you an hourglass! Wait 3 minutes, then turn down the heat and dig in ⏳

My little one was totally obsessed with the hourglass haha. Thanks to that, our screen time went down. We waited together with the baby before eating!

Since it's a clear broth kalguksu, the baby could eat it too. With regular kalguksu you usually have to keep checking when it's okay to eat, but at Yubok Kalguksu the hourglass decides the timing for you, which is so convenient haha.

Free baby rice topped with sesame oil and furikake

Even the baby rice wasn't just plain rice — they sprinkled it with sesame oil and furikake haha. So I could feed her easily without needing seaweed!! I bet it would've been great with a side of savory pancake too.

Self-serve bar and pufferfish broth sold to take home

Kimchi and seasoned radish are at the self-serve bar, so help yourself to as much as you like! The kimchi has that fresh geotjeori vibe I love. (Baby tableware is here too.)

This pufferfish broth is seriously so clean and refreshing. They also sell it separately to take home! Since pufferfish broth itself isn't easy to find, buying some seems like a great idea.

Coffee and snacks at the dessert corner

After eating our fill, we checked out the dessert corner with coffee and snacks — couldn't eat much since we were so full, but I still made sure to grab something. The jjukkumi barley rice and clear kalguksu seem popular, since a lot of other families with babies were there too, just like us.

If you want to eat kalguksu with your baby, or need to sort out lunch before heading to the Korean Folk Village, how about visiting Yubok Kalguksu, a restaurant in Bora-dong near the Korean Folk Village in Yongin?