City Hall Seoul Korean BBQ emperor galbi set: Geumseong Hoegwan

It had been ages since I’d really craved beef, so I searched for somewhere with a lunch special and ended up at Geumseong Hoegwan Seoul City Hall Direct Branch, which has a nice variety of lunch-special menus.

Getting there from City Hall Station and Hoehyeon Station

Geumseong Hoegwan Seoul City Hall Direct Branch is about a 4-minute walk from Exit 7 of City Hall Station.

I took Line 4 and got off at Hoehyeon Station, and it took about 7 minutes on foot. Pass toward Namdaemun Market and head for Exit 3 of the Namdaemun-ro Underground Shopping Center to get there quickly!!

Lunch-hour seating and group dining tables

I arrived at noon, so it was bustling inside for lunch. Luckily, exactly one table was left, so I could go straight in. I recommend reserving in advance! Around 12:30, people streamed out and then it filled right back up. I think you’ll avoid waiting if you time it well or make a reservation.

There were several large tables inside, and I saw quite a few people having work group meals over lunch. The tables were so big that there was still plenty of room even with the grill and burner set up. Some tables had five or six people seated together.

Ordering the Emperor Galbi Set and large Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap

The menu is divided into mains, sides, lunch dishes, and alcohol. We decided on two servings of the Emperor Galbi Set from the lunch menu and a large Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap! When we ordered the Emperor Galbi Set for two, sundubu-jjigae came out on the house.

After ordering, the food came out right away.

A fried egg came with the banchan (Korean side dishes), too. An actual fried egg!! It had been a while since I’d seen one served at a Korean barbecue restaurant, so I was so happy haha. The dipping accompaniments for the meat were wasabi and salt.

Pleasantly spicy sundubu-jjigae

We let the sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew) boil, and it had such a pleasantly spicy kick. Not the harsh heat of capsaicin, but a clean, proper spice from Cheongyang chili peppers or chili oil—the kind of kick Koreans absolutely love!

Chewy emperor galbi lunch special

Two servings of the Emperor Galbi lunch special! It was 200 g, and that was plenty for us! Actually, we left a little behind.. Beef fills you up quickly even when you do not eat much. If you come with three or more people, I think two servings of Emperor Galbi plus some rice or noodle dishes would work nicely. Yukhoe bibimbap, doenjang-jjigae, naengmyeon, and so on..

The galbi meat was seriously so chewy and delicious. I definitely recommend it to anyone who prefers something with a good chew rather than meat that simply melts away! Maybe because the meat was such good quality, even I, who am not great at grilling meat, managed to cook it deliciously!

Large yukhoe bibimbap with a sesame oil aroma

The large yukhoe bibimbap! I am not usually someone who loves yukhoe (seasoned raw beef), but I suddenly felt like it, so I ordered it.

We added a whole bowl of rice and ate it that way. My friend does not like spicy food, so we mixed it without adding the sauce, but the yukhoe was already seasoned and it was honestly so good. It was yukhoe bibimbap with a gentle sesame oil aroma, and the sauce was so tasty that even I, someone who does not particularly like yukhoe bibimbap, kept saying how good it was. We also mixed in one of the fried eggs from the side dishes, and it was even better. If you like yukhoe bibimbap, definitely order this one!

I enjoyed it so much that I think I will come back next time. If you order four or more servings of the lunch-special Emperor Galbi Set, you get one serving free, so go as a group of five and enjoy it for less!