Bucheon charcoal-grill BBQ for family dinners: Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan

Why we chose Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan near Sinjung-dong Station for a family dinner

This month's family gathering spot was decided as Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan Sinjung-dong Station Branch, behind the Lotte Department Store near Sinjung-dong Station in Bucheon. I remembered the ads and flyers this restaurant had been putting out, saying they'd given up on drink margins — and I was secretly curious just how cheap it had to be for them to say that. So this month's family meal was decided!

Location 1137-6 Jung-dong, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Hours Daily 12:00 - 24:00 (last order 23:00) Parking Nearby public parking lot

While wondering where to have this month's family meal, I got curious about the meat restaurant that had been advertising that it gave up on drink margins, so I decided to visit. A flyer had been stuck on our front door for a while after the restaurant newly opened, stirring my curiosity — so it was nice to finally solve the mystery today haha.

Thursday at 5pm: how big the dining room is and how it feels

Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan Sinjung-dong Station Branch was, wow, the most overwhelming in size out of all the Korean BBQ places I've visited. Even though we came fairly early, at 5pm on a Thursday, there were already tables that had clearly been going strong for a while.

It was already known as a Sinjung-dong Station favorite for giving up on drink margins, and on top of that they had free corkage and even a beverage review event going on. There were four of us, so we ordered the Bangatgan A Set.

Self-serve drink fridge prices: imported beer 2,500 won, domestic liquor 1,500 won

Gogi Gubneun Bangatgan's drink fridge is ₩2,500 for imported beer and ₩1,500 for domestic liquor and beverages. Since drinks, beverages, and side dishes are all self-serve, we could just open the fridge ourselves and grab whatever we wanted.

After ordering, I was so curious how cheap it could be that they'd advertise giving up on drink margins that I ran straight to the fridge! You know how it is when you're drinking and ordering more, but the staff are busy or your order gets missed and it's a little disappointing? Well here, before you even run dry, you can just open the fridge yourself and grab another one hahaha. So good. Usually the drink fridge feels like a privilege only regulars get to open, but I felt like a regular from my very first visit haha.

And it really is true. My father-in-law, who runs a mart, saw it and said, wow, they really did give up on drink margins. Imported beer ₩2,500. Domestic liquor and beverages ₩1,500.

My father-in-law and I started with beer first. I had a Stella, he had a Hoegaarden haha. I used to love the fruity aroma of Hoegaarden, but now it tastes too sweet to me, which makes me sad. The older I get, the less I like sweet flavors. I was so touched that Stella was only ₩2,500. How much is Stella usually elsewhere? Like ₩8,000? Then I guess I'll have two more, hahaha.

Before the meat came out, we grabbed a few sauces, scissors, and small plates according to each family member's taste. Since everything is self-serve, it's so convenient not having to call the staff over for every little thing haha.

What comes in the Bangatgan A Set, and the bill for four

The Bangatgan A Set is pork belly, pork neck, pork jowl, and smoked makchang, totaling 1kg 50g. All that for ₩59,000, which is already cheap even before counting the drinks. Even after grabbing a few more bottles of soju and beer, the total came to under ₩100,000. When the four of us usually go to a Korean BBQ place, it's normally around ₩150,000, so the whole giving-up-on-drink-margins pricing was a real bargain.

Adding doenjang jjigae and naengmyeon, and grilling over charcoal

Eating this much meat, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) was a must, so we ordered one extra. It was around ₩5,000–6,000, and it seemed to come with half a block of tofu. We ate a ton of tofu and it kept coming, which was so nice haha. We also ordered naengmyeon (cold noodles) and ate it, but I forgot to take a photo because I was devouring it too fast.

And the meat wasn't grilled over gas — there was charcoal under the grill plate, so the meat had a smoky, fire-grilled taste and was so delicious! At first when we walked in, I assumed it was just a regular gas grill, but then I noticed the charcoal underneath and went ooooh. I'd been begging my husband Jojo forever to go eat meat grilled over charcoal, and somehow my wish came true, hahaha.