Yeonnam-dong Korean BBQ lunch with Mom: black beef and wine, Hwaseol

I went on a date to Hongdae with my mom and stopped by Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom (화설 연남본점), a beef place near Yeonnam-dong 🙌 Corkage is free, the atmosphere is lovely and the meat was good, so it's a great spot in Yeonnam-dong for a date meal of beef with a glass of wine :-)

Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom: location, hours and parking

Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom is in Yeonnam-dong, a 9-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hongik Univ. Station. It's open Mon–Fri 16:00–01:00 and Sat–Sun 12:00–24:00, you can reserve through Naver, and there's parking for 1 car in front of the restaurant.

What's the atmosphere like at Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom?

Hwaseol is in Yeonnam-dong, a 9-minute walk from Exit 3 of Hongik Univ. Station.

The inside is clean and has the feel of a BBQ restaurant that works well for a date. It's mostly 4-person tables, and I liked that the tables were roomy.

Lots of famous people must have visited, because the walls are covered in celebrity autographs! We got there right at the 12:00 Saturday opening so it was empty, but by about 12:30 the place was packed.

We sat at a window seat overlooking the Yeonnam-dong street.

I had made a reservation, and there was a thank-you card on the table, which put me in a good mood the moment we sat down :-)

Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom menu and prices

At Hwaseol you can eat both hanbon (Korean pork) and hanwoo (Korean beef). Just finish the beef and move on to the pork, naturally… 🙋‍♀️

Main menu

• Hwaseol Hanbon Assorted Pork Set: ₩69,000 (550g)
• Hanbon galbi-samgyeopsal (pork belly with rib meat): ₩17,000 (150g)
• Hwaseol 1% Black Beef Set: ₩109,000
• 1% Wagyu flower cut: ₩35,000 (120g)
• Hanwoo 2+ rib eye: ₩49,000 (120g)
• Croissant shrimp roll, plain/marinated: ₩25,000
• Hanbon snowflake pork neck: ₩17,000 (150g)
• Hanbon galmaegisal (pork skirt): ₩19,000 (150g)
• Beef rib meat, plain/marinated: ₩21,000
• 1% Wagyu sirloin: ₩34,000 (120g)
• Hanwoo suyuk muchim (sliced boiled beef salad): ₩25,000
• Hwaseol flower cut cake: ₩200,000

The sides include ramen, naengmyeon (cold noodles) and stews, and for drinks they sell wine by the bottle, plus highballs, glasses of wine and more. Corkage is free, so it's also great for bringing whatever drink you like‼️

Side menu

• Sanchae yukhoe bibimbap (mountain greens and beef tartare rice bowl): ₩12,000
• Iljum doenjang sulbap (soybean paste rice): ₩10,000
• Chadol samgyeop ramen (brisket and pork belly ramen): ₩11,000
• Hwaseol naengmyeon (soup/spicy): ₩8,000
• Hanwoo iljum doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew): ₩9,000
• Instant pot rice: ₩3,000
• Extra king oyster mushroom/lemon: ₩2,000
• Brown rice: ₩1,000

Drinks

• Soju: ₩6,000
• Beer: ₩6,000
• Fruit soju: ₩6,500
• Hwayo / Iljum Jinro: ₩28,000
• Soft drinks (cola/cider/tonic): ₩2,000
• Hwaseol bokbunja (Korean black raspberry) highball: ₩9,000
• Highball: ₩8,000
• Glass of wine: ₩8,000
• Corkage: free

Two of us ordered the Hwaseol 1% Black Beef Set and glasses of wine

The two of us ordered the Hwaseol 1% Black Beef Set (₩109,000) and 2 glasses of wine (₩8,000 each) 🙋‍♀️

The basic side dishes include sauces, spring onion salad, pickles, marinated raw crab (yangnyeom gejang), seaweed, sweet potato mousse and more.

We ordered two glasses of wine for a light drink ✌️

The Hwaseol black beef set combines black beef flower cut, wagyu sirloin and rib meat. It was my first time trying heugu (black cattle). They told us it's a hanwoo variety, a premium breed mostly raised on Jeju Island!

How should you eat the black beef flower cut?

The black beef set starts with the flower cut on the grill. True to the name, the marbling really stands out.

They recommended dipping the first bite in salt, then having it on seaweed with wasabi, so I did exactly that, and the nutty seaweed goes surprisingly well with the flower cut. Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom grills all the meat for you, so the meal was relaxed! It felt a bit like eating yakiniku (Japanese grilled meat)…?

Wagyu sirloin with basil pesto

Next up was the wagyu sirloin 🙌 It's thicker, and it was definitely juicier.

One of the sauces was basil pesto, so I tried it with the meat, and the fragrant basil goes so well with the rich, nutty beef.

Last, the rib meat and the set's doenjang stew

The black beef set ends with grilled rib meat. It's richer, so I ate it with the outside crisped up, and it was clean-tasting and delicious.

The rib meat was fairly thick, which I was happy with, and it wasn't tough at all.

This is the doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) included in the black beef set. It tasted of hearty homemade doenjang, with plenty of tofu and other ingredients.

I even got ramen for joining the review event..😖 We ate really well.

Who I'd recommend Hwaseol Yeonnam-bonjeom to

• A great atmosphere, so I recommend it as a BBQ spot for dates
• Free corkage and glasses of wine are a plus
• A place to enjoy tasty beef without fuss

• Anyone looking for a date meal near Yeonnam-dong
• Anyone looking for a pleasant BBQ restaurant in Yeonnam-dong
• Anyone in Hongdae looking for a BBQ place with a private feel
• Anyone looking for good hanwoo and hanbon in Yeonnam-dong