Yangju galbi restaurant with both cold noodle styles: Manpo Garden

Manpo Garden / 28-37 Godeok-ro 355beon-gil, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do / Hours 11:00–22:00 / Parking available, takeout available

How to get to Manpo Garden in Yangju, and where to park

Manpo Garden is a hanwoo and hanpork galbi restaurant on Godeok-ro 355beon-gil in Yangju, Gyeonggi. I suddenly craved sweet galbi and finally went — a place I'd always wondered about while passing by!

It's close to my boyfriend's place so we walked, but there aren't many subway stations or buses nearby, so I'd recommend driving if you can. There's also parking space behind the restaurant, so the lot is quite spacious — even large vehicles can park without trouble.

What Manpo Garden looks like at dinner, and the private room

It was packed when I visited in the evening. The interior is spacious with plenty of tables, and there's a private room on one side if you want a quieter meal.

They have everything from hanwoo (Korean beef) to hanpork (Korean pork), and you can pick your cut directly from the meat display case near the entrance. I was there for the galbi and the case was empty when I visited, so no photo of that, haha.

What we ordered at Manpo Garden, and the weekday lunch special

You can order from the tablet on the table!

Handmade hanpork galbi, three servings Chamisul (soju)

If you visit on a weekday between 11 and 3, the lunch special lets you enjoy galbi plus doenjang sulbap (rice with soybean paste soup) and naengmyeon. The weekday lunch value is seriously good!! If your schedule allows, I highly, highly recommend the weekday lunch.

Yukjeon and yukhoe: the free side dishes at Manpo Garden

After we ordered, the galbi and side dishes arrived before the burner was even lit. Handmade hanpork galbi is ₩19,000 per serving, which seemed a bit pricey at first, until I saw the side dishes — then it made total sense.

The side dishes include yukjeon (pan-fried beef) and yukhoe (beef tartare), and when I spread out the tightly packed yukhoe, there was quite a lot of it — sizable pieces with just the right thickness. The yukjeon had gone cold but still tasted great even cold, and I was surprised the yukhoe was this good for a side dish. If you want more yukjeon or yukhoe, you can order extra — ₩6,000 for yukjeon, ₩5,000 for yukhoe! Great as an anju (drinking snack) too if you're full from the galbi but want one more soju.

Black sesame dressing salad, seasoned soft ginseng, and potato macaroni salad. I'm not usually a fan of macaroni salad, but the macaroni salad at Manpo Garden, a Yangju favorite, was genuinely good.

If the side dishes run low, you can get more from the self-service bar. There's also raw garlic, chili peppers, ssamjang (dipping sauce), and lettuce.

Grilling the handmade pork galbi and keeping it warm on the grate

Two servings of pork galbi came out as three big bone-in chunks. Galbi really is best grilled!

Once the meat is well grilled, you can move it onto the grate beside the burner so it doesn't burn while you eat. If it cools down a bit, just put it back on the burner to reheat!

I tried the meat plain, without dipping it in anything, and the seasoning had soaked in beautifully. The moment I took a bite I went, 'ooh, THIS is real pork galbi!!' and my boyfriend joked, is there such a thing as fake pork galbi, haha — sure there is, the kind that just pretends to be galbi! This handmade hanpork galbi tastes great plain, great with the seasoned lettuce salad, and great wrapped in a lettuce leaf too.

Mul naengmyeon and bibim naengmyeon: one each for two

After thoroughly picking the bones clean and adding one more serving of meat, we also ordered naengmyeon (cold noodles)! So glad there were two of us — no need to agonize over choosing between spicy and water naengmyeon!

The water naengmyeon had good seasoning without needing extra vinegar or mustard, and the broth was so good I got a refill of just the broth. The spicy naengmyeon had great umami and paired perfectly with the galbi. Guess spicy naengmyeon really is the way to go with galbi. The portion is about the size of a post-meal noodle course — perfect for finishing off the meal.

Ppeongseukeurim dessert and the verdict on Manpo Garden

A meal isn't truly finished without dessert! You can make your own ppeongseukeurim (puffed-rice and soft-serve ice cream dessert), and coffee is available too. Since it was evening we skipped the coffee, and I only meant to have a taste of the ppeongseukeurim since I was full — but the ice cream was so good!! One bite and my eyes went wide, and I ended up finishing the whole scoop I'd taken, haha.

The restaurant is spacious and comfortable, making it a great spot to bring your parents, and the handmade hanpork galbi was just so delicious. I fully recommend it as a Yangju must-visit for galbi. I need to come back with my parents soon!🍖