Pyeongtaek pork galbi grilled with rice straw, ₩17,000: Ihwajeong

I had a delicious family meal at Ihwajeong, a Pyeongtaek pork galbi favorite that marinates its meat with pear so it's not too sweet and stays nice and healthy to eat. The interior is clean, and the banchan (side dishes) come out generously too, so it's a great spot to enjoy both the meat and the sides.

Where is Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi, and is there parking?

Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi is located at 1662 Manse-ro, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do, and it's open weekdays 16:00–22:00, weekends 10:00–22:00. It's on a food street right in front of an IC, so it's easy to get to from anywhere. Plus the parking lot is huge, so parking is a breeze.

There's a hanjeongsik (Korean set-meal) place upstairs and a shabu-shabu place next door, so this stretch is packed with menus perfect for family gatherings — and out of all of them, I went to Ihwajeong Charcoal Pork Galbi. Meat is meat, after all!

Inside Ihwajeong: seating and the self-bar

The inside of Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi is bigger and more pleasant than you'd expect, great for a comfortable meal. I visited on a weekend so it was packed, which meant I couldn't get a separate shot of the interior.

Since the pear marinade is this place's signature, there's a nice pear-tree-themed interior starting right at the entrance.

There's also a self-bar you can use, and plenty of staff on hand, so everything felt easy and comfortable.

Ihwajeong menu: marinated pork bulgogi and marinated pork galbi

Here's the menu. There's beef galbi too, but true to a Pyeongtaek pork galbi favorite, the marinated pork skewers and marinated pork galbi are the best sellers! We ordered three servings of the signature dish too!

Free banchan refills at Ihwajeong, extra charge only for marinated crab

This place is also perfect for a Pyeongtaek family gathering because the banchan come out really generously, like this. Only the marinated crab is an extra charge — everything else is free to refill~

A fancy salad and pickled onions~

Japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) and pickled vegetables, of course,

and even fresh vegetable salad and potato salad — this Pyeongtaek spot feels like you've walked into a hanjeongsik restaurant.

₩17,000 marinated pork galbi grilled with rice straw for charcoal aroma

Doesn't the meat look especially thick and delicious?! It's ₩17,000 and it was thick and genuinely tasty. The marbling looked just right too.

On top of that, the charcoal was genuinely piping hot~ The meat can burn easily so you have to keep flipping it, which makes it even tastier~! And at the very start, they tossed in something like rice straw to boost the charcoal aroma even more~ I love that kind of thoughtful touch~

The meat has scoring cuts so it cooks through evenly on the inside, but since it's marinated, you need to flip it often so it doesn't burn, and toward the end keep rolling it around so it picks up that charcoal aroma — that makes it even tastier~!

Do that and you get pieces like these — Pyeongtaek pork galbi cooked through without burning. It's great being able to eat it right away while it's hot.

The fire is pretty strong so you have to flip carefully~ But whenever it looked like it might burn, a staff member came by and turned the heat down for us haha.

Eating it wrapped in dressed lettuce is my favorite. Since it's marinated galbi, eating it with vegetables balances it out a bit and makes it even tastier. The marinade wasn't too strong, so it was easy to enjoy.

With so many customers, the meat and vegetables stay fresh too — it's a Pyeongtaek favorite I go back to often~! I actually saw a lot of families there too.

Doenjang stew with pork: mild enough for kids

On top of everything else, their doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) has meat in it too~ Adding meat naturally deepens the broth~ With the sweetness of the vegetables plus the depth of the meat, it's even more delicious paired with the doenjang stew.

Perfect for finishing off with rice and the tofu and meat~ It wasn't very spicy either, so it was a doenjang stew even a kid who's just starting to handle spicy food could enjoy~!

Is Ihwajeong worth a fourth visit? Final verdict

This is now my fourth visit to this Pyeongtaek pork galbi favorite, and Ihwajeong Charcoal-Grilled Pork Galbi's pork galbi, marinated with pear, isn't too sweet, and you even get to finish with a pear slush — making it a great full-course spot for a Pyeongtaek family outing~