Sangwangsimni Station Korean BBQ: 550g pork set at Yukseong

Living near Wangsimni, I thought I'd been to pretty much every decent BBQ spot around here — but this time I found a place I'd genuinely call the number one Korean BBQ restaurant in Wangsimni. Quality meat, delicious side dishes, generous portions, and friendly service — nothing was missing. This is Yukseong. Let's go!

Where Yukseong is and when it opens

• 📍 6 minutes from Sangwangsimni Station Exit 4
• ⏰ Tue–Sat 16:00–23:00 (last order 22:00)
• ⏰ Sun 16:00–22:00 (last order 21:00)
• Closed Mondays

Yukseong's storefront and parking near Sangwangsimni Station

I'd heard this place ranks in the top two Korean BBQ restaurants in Wangsimni, so I was excited even before walking in. Tigers seem to be Yukseong's whole thing — they're not just on the sign but decorating the interior everywhere, haha.

There was a menu board displayed out front too. If you're waiting for a table, it's a good idea to look it over and decide what to order ahead of time.

🅿️ No parking on-site — use the paid lot in front of the restaurant (spaces are limited, so public transit is recommended).

Full even on a Sunday evening: why you need a reservation

Here's the inside of Yukseong. From the outside I expected a pretty cramped interior, but there were actually quite a lot of seats. Still, we showed up around 7pm on a Sunday and... it was packed. Most restaurants are quiet on Sunday evenings, but Yukseong is the exception, apparently! A lot of groups had to turn away because it was fully booked.

So if you're planning to visit Yukseong, I'd recommend booking through Naver reservations. If Naver reservations are closed, calling ahead might still get you a table. We loved it so much we booked again for the following week on the spot, haha.

Eco-friendly corn charcoal on the grill

Yukseong grills over eco-friendly corn fuel, which apparently takes about 10 minutes to heat up! The upside of corn fuel is that it produces much less smoke than traditional fuel, which is both better for the environment and makes for a much more pleasant dining experience. There's also the appeal of that corn-smoked aroma — the natural sweetness and smokiness bring out the flavor of the meat and vegetables even more.

The restroom at Yukseong

The restroom is just outside the restaurant.

It's separated by gender, so it's easy to use comfortably :)

What we ordered at Yukseong and what it cost

Here's what we ordered…!!!

• ✔️ Pork set – ₩56,000
• ✔️ Mother-in-law's rice – ₩1,000
• ✔️ BBQ-style cold noodles – ₩6,000

Every table has pepper and salt. Since the staff season the meat while grilling for you, we didn't really need to use them.

Side dishes: spicy radish salad and beef radish soup

I think the delicious side dishes are part of why this place is so famous in Wangsimni. The spicy radish salad (muchimchae) and beef radish soup were seriously good. The radish salad was sweet, spicy, and crunchy — so good I wanted to pack it up to take home.

Inside the 550g pork set: neck, skirt steak and belly

Here comes the main event — the pork set!! It's a 550g set made up of pork neck, skirt steak (gabrisal), and pork belly.

Yukseong says its meat is cross-aged for tenderness and depth of flavor. They told us the meat was in such great condition that day that it'd taste good "even grilled with your foot," lol. Makes sense, since it's prime-grade pork — great marbling, juicy, top-tier flavor.

A professional griller cooks the pork at your table

The last make-or-break step at any BBQ place is the grilling. Even the best meat won't taste its best if it's overcooked, but here a dedicated griller handles it for you.

All we had to do was sit back and watch the skilled grilling. Once again, you can really tell the difference an expert makes.

The welcome drink before the meal

Yukseong has so many appealing details, and another one is the welcome drink. You get a free glass of wine or a bottle of liquor. We each had a glass — white for one of us, red for the other. Having an aperitif really does wake up your appetite... it really works.

While we sipped our drinks, the pork neck was cooking beautifully!! The owner told us that pork quality has gotten so good these days that it's best eaten just moderately cooked rather than overdone — that's what makes it most tender.

Badly cooked pork neck can be so dry it hurts your jaw... but this looked tender at a glance. Side note — the owner at Yukseong is genuinely so kind. That kind of warm, comfortable service is exactly why regulars keep coming back!!! No matter how good the food is, unfriendly service makes you not want to return — but this place nails both taste and service.

The pork neck was finally ready. One bite and I'd made my decision — this is my new go-to Korean BBQ spot in Wangsimni. The juiciness and tenderness are honestly ridiculous!!!!!!!

It was hard to pick a bad sauce — I tried garlic sauce, then wasabi, then radish salad on top, mixing it up different ways.

Pork can get greasy, but paired with all the different side dishes, it never got repetitive. Since there were only two of us, the pork set was plenty — but if we could've added more, I would've ordered extra skirt steak. It was seriously insane.

They even carefully cut up the grilled king oyster mushrooms for us. They said they're juiciest right when they're hot enough to burn the roof of your mouth, lol.

1,000 won mother-in-law's heaped rice and cold noodles

My friend always likes to order rice with the meal, and she did the same this time — I had no idea it would come as such a towering bowl. For just ₩1,000, no less, lol. (She normally never leaves rice behind, but this time she did leave a bit.)

It was so good I had to photograph the whole spread. This is officially my regular spot now...

Since the meat and side dishes were so good, I figured the noodles would be too, so we ordered them. Sure enough, that visual with the ice slush floating on top screamed "can't possibly be bad."

Both the spicy and cold-broth versions looked great, so we went with the cold broth (mul-naengmyeon) and asked for extra chili paste (dadegi). Adding the chili paste made it exactly my style.

The noodles come in a generous 200g portion — plenty to share between two people. Great taste, great portion size, everything about it was great.

Is Yukseong worth it? Final verdict

It felt like such a happy meal, like finding a genuinely great restaurant after a long time. I've tried several Korean BBQ places around Wangsimni, and this is, by my own standard, easily the best. There are quite a lot of seats and it seems well-suited to group tables too, so it'd be great for a work dinner or a club gathering. I still can't stop thinking about the taste and want to go back as soon as possible. It's not just the food — the service is what really makes me want to return. If you're looking for Korean BBQ around Wangsimni or Hanyang University, I highly recommend Yukseong!