Suwon : Yeonpu Galbi 연포갈비

22nd September 2012.
Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Galbi is a speciality of Suwon and on our visit to this city south of Seoul, we just had to try this iconic dish of Suwon also known for its Hwaseong Fortress.

We had our meal at the Yeonpu Galbi located very near Honghwamun. From its appearance I had a bad feelin that it is a tourist restaurant, not to mention of the sight of ang moh tourists emerging from the log-cabin like exterior of Yeonpu Galbi and the prices ain’t that cheap too.

However as the banchan and food arrive and filled our tables, it seemed all worthwhile. The Galbitang 갈비탕 also known as Beef Short Rib Soup was amazing. The soup was robust and rich in flavours without being too oily. The beef ribs were tender, not to mention quite a few of them too and there was glass noodles served in them.

The banchan, side dishes are quite decent too with a variety ranging from the sweet to savoury with the essential kimchi (not one but at least 3 kinds of them) and also lightly cooked vegetables, crabs seasoned with soy sauce (very yummy) and peaches topped with crushed nuts for a sweet ending to the meal.

Did I also mention these banchan are refillable?

But not before having the star dish of the day, the marinated galbi cooked on a hot grill with garlic and the best way to enjoy these is to wrap them up in fresh lettuce with some garlic and hot pepper sauce and savour them. It was simply aphrodisiac in a packet.

Or if you prefer something more Japanese style, they could dip the grilled meat in soy sauce with vinegar and onions.

The total cost for the meal, 4 galbitang and one platter of marinated meat was about 11000 KRW per person. Quite a steal considering the number of banchan. The restaurant however only had a subpar rating of 5.8/10 on Wingspoon but quite high rating on Trip Advisor. Perhaps there are better galbi out there? But for now, this is one of the best meals I had so far in Korea.

연포갈비
Yeonpu Galbi

경기도 수원시 팔달구 북수동 25-4