In Seongan-dong, over in Jung-gu, Ulsan, there’s a big restaurant that locals all seem to know by its duck bulgogi. It’s called Solbat Garden (솔밭가든).
I went while trying to pick a spot for a family dinner — somewhere with private rooms and easy parking — and ended up really glad I did. I’m not usually a duck person, but the marinated duck here has zero gaminess and that sweet-spicy sauce won me over completely.
The basics
- Address: 65 Hamwol 20-gil, Jung-gu, Ulsan (성안동 374-1)
- Phone: 052-243-5292 / 010-5080-5292
- Hours: Daily 11:30 – 22:00 (last order 21:00), open year-round
- Parking: A 30-car private lot across the street, plus a large open lot right out front
- Good to know: Groups, takeout, and reservations welcome. Private rooms, high chairs, restrooms inside (separate for men and women), accessible facilities.
If you end up wanting it again at home, they even sell a duck bulgogi meal kit through their Naver Smartstore (solbat1995).
📍 View Solbat Garden (솔밭가든) on Google Maps →
A quick travel tip: Google Maps can be unreliable for walking and transit directions in Korea, so I’d use Naver Map or KakaoMap to actually find the door. If you don’t have a car, the Kakao T app is the easiest way to grab a taxi here.
Parking is genuinely easy
Solbat Garden sits near the Seongan-dong police station, and the parking situation is one of its quiet strengths. There’s a roomy private lot across the street and another large open lot right in front, so even rolling up with a few cars isn’t a problem.
That said, at peak lunch and dinner hours even that big lot fills up, and a wait can form. You can book ahead through the CatchTable app or just call. I reserved for a weekend lunch and got seated right away.
The place is huge — a main hall, ondol (heated-floor) rooms, an annex, even a seminar room. Tables in the hall have partitions, so it still feels private, but for a family gathering or work dinner I’d reserve one of the rooms.
Here’s a fun detail: each table has two cooktops. One is a charcoal grill, the other a gas burner, so you can cook the marinated duck and a charcoal grill item side by side on the same table.
The menu
The lineup is wide enough that a group with different tastes can each find something. You can order from the tablet at your table or from a paper menu.
- Ori yangnyeom bulgogi (오리 수제 양념불고기, marinated duck, 1.2kg) — 49,000 won
- Saeng-ori sutbul gui (생오리 숯불구이, charcoal-grilled fresh duck, 200g) — 18,000 won
- Hanwoo sirloin rib meat platter (한우 등심 갈비살 모듬, 100g) — 24,000 won
- Hanwoo instant-marinated sirloin rib meat (한우 즉석양념 등심 갈비살 모듬, 110g) — 24,000 won
- Hanwoo yukhoe (한우육회, beef tartare, small) — 20,000 won
- Dodram fresh pork neck (도드람 생목살, per serving) — 15,000 won
- Dwaeji suje yangnyeom moksal (돼지 수제 양념목살, marinated pork neck, per serving) — 14,000 won
- Marinated beef rib meat (소양념갈비살, 250g) — 24,000 won
- Marinated beef short rib, large (소양념 갈비 대, 300g) — 24,000 won
- Special galbitang (특수제갈비탕, short rib soup) — 12,000 won
- Hanwoo gomtang (한우곰탕, beef bone soup) — 8,000 won
- Bibim gaori naengmyeon (비빔가오리냉면, spicy cold noodles with fermented skate) — 9,000 won
There’s also a lunch special until 3pm, on weekends and holidays too. Order a grilled item off the lunch menu and you get doenjang jjigae (soybean stew) with rice, or naengmyeon, free per person. It’s good value, which is why weekday lunches get busy.
One practical note for visitors: like almost everywhere in Korea, they take cards, so any internationally accepted card is fine. There’s no tipping here either — you don’t need to leave anything, and the staff might be a little puzzled if you try.
A generous spread of banchan
Sit down and they bring out a whole table of side dishes. The staff told me they prep these fresh every day, the way you’d cook for your own family.
Wrap lettuce, white kimchi, scallion salad, pickled onion, jangajji (장아찌, pickled vegetables), regular salad — there’s a lot. The warm japchae (잡채, glass noodles) is the standout; I cleared two plates of it just while the meat was cooking.
Pickled onion is the natural partner for duck, and asking for a little wasabi on the side made it even cleaner.
Ori yangnyeom bulgogi — the house signature
We started with the marinated duck (오리 수제 양념불고기). One 1.2kg pan, loaded with vegetables, is about right for four people with rice fried up at the end.
It comes piled with perilla leaves, onion, enoki and king oyster mushrooms, potato, and scallion, all sitting in a pool of sweet-spicy sauce. The staff crank up the heat and cook it to the right point for you, and the smell of that sauce alone gets the appetite going.
The color is red but it isn’t really hot — it leans sweet, mild enough for kids. No duck funk at all, and the sauce has that moreish quality without being aggressive.
Don’t skip the potato and mushrooms cooked down in the sauce and duck fat. The potato soaks up the seasoning and falls apart in your mouth; the mushrooms stay springy.
Always end with fried rice
Once the duck is mostly gone, fried rice is basically mandatory. Leave a little meat and sauce behind on purpose — the more that’s left, the better the rice.
You get rice with seaweed flakes, kimchi, chives, and extra sauce. The self-serve version is 2,000 won, and the extra sauce means it never comes out bland.
Mix it all, spread it flat on the pan, and let it sit on low heat until the bottom crisps up into a little crust — that part is the best bit. Full as I was, I kept scraping the pan.
There’s plenty beyond the duck
Solbat Garden is known for the duck bulgogi, but the rest of the meat holds its own.
The charcoal-grilled fresh duck (생오리 숯불구이) picks up a gentle smokiness with no gaminess — crisp at the edges, juicy inside. Plain pieces, one after another, kept disappearing.
With two cooktops per table, you can run the marinated duck and a charcoal grill platter at once. The hanwoo (Korean beef) sirloin rib platter and the marinated beef rib meat are nicely marbled and made for a group meal.
The house-marinated pork neck (돼지 수제 양념목살) is another favorite. It’s Korean pork aged in their own marinade, so well-seasoned that you don’t even need the dipping sauce — the savoriness is already there. Tender, never dry. Wrap a piece in perilla leaf with some white kimchi and it’s so good.
For something with a spoon, there’s the special galbitang (특수제갈비탕, short rib soup) and hanwoo gomtang (한우곰탕, beef bone soup). The broth is rich and savory from real meat stock, and a spoonful between bites of grilled meat resets your palate nicely.
If you like fermented skate, try the bibim gaori naengmyeon (비빔가오리냉면). The thin noodles soak up a sweet-tangy sauce, and the skate gives this little crunch — a good counterpoint to all the grilled meat.
Final thoughts
If a place can win over someone who doesn’t even like duck, that tells you something. Marinated duck with no funk, fried rice I couldn’t leave alone, a wide range of meats and soups, and a big spread of banchan on top. With the large lot and private rooms, it’s an easy call for a family gathering or a group dinner.
If you’re weighing up where to eat around Jung-gu in Ulsan, this one’s worth the trip.
Location / Getting there
It’s the big white building on Hamwol 20-gil, near the Seongan-dong police station. With the private lot across the street and the one out front, it’s an easy drive — and reserving ahead means you skip the wait.