Euljiro yukhoe restaurant with sea urchin and lemon soju: Yukhoegwan

What kind of place is Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro?

Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro (육회관 을지로점) is a yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) specialist in Euljiro 3-ga, said to serve fresh beef butchered the same day. I love yukhoe and I love sea urchin, so I'd been curious about this place for a while and finally went.

I enjoyed a generous spread of sea urchin and yukhoe, and finished with lemon soju made by squeezing fresh lemon myself. Conclusion first: sea urchin + yukhoe + wasabi in one bite, with a glass of lemon soju. That combo was the whole point of the day.

Basic info for Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro

• Address: 27 Euljiro 12-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea (1st floor)
• Hours: Mon–Sat 17:00 to 03:00 the next day, last order 02:10
• Closed: every Sunday
• Features: same-day butchered yukhoe / group seating available
• Space: 1st to 3rd floors, with a rooftop

It's a great spot in Euljiro 3-ga for yukhoe and a drink.

Exterior: a big sign that stands out in the Euljiro alley

Walking through the Euljiro alleys, you'll spot a huge Yukhoegwan Pocha sign. Big photos of the menu are displayed outside too, so the yukhoe and sea urchin caught my eye before I even went in. It fits the alley atmosphere of Euljiro 3-ga and feels just right for stepping in for a drink.

Is the inside spacious? Is there a rooftop?

Inside, it's quite a bit bigger than I expected from the outside. Wooden tables with strong red accents keep the pocha (Korean pub) feel while the whole place still looks clean.

With upper floors and a rooftop, it looks good for groups, and on a nice day a drink on the Euljiro 3-ga rooftop would probably be lovely.

Basic side dishes: starting with hot seaweed soup

When you sit down, miyeok-guk (seaweed soup) and a few simple side dishes come out first. A warm spoonful of soup before the cold yukhoe and sea urchin was gentle on the stomach. You can keep it on the burner, so it stays hot to the end, which I liked.

Sea urchin set, ₩37,000: unfair looks from the start

Sea urchin first! The sea urchin set at Yukhoegwan is ₩37,000, and the plate is piled with tempting sea urchin, deep in color and rich-looking just to see. A light dip in soy sauce is good, but it also comes with seaweed (gim), kelp-like gamtae (a fine seaweed) and rice, so you can combine things however you like.

That soft, rich sea urchin flavor spreads through your mouth. I already love sea urchin, so this alone satisfied me!

Same-day butchered yukhoe, ₩42,000: you can taste the freshness

Next came the same-day butchered yukhoe at ₩42,000. Yukhoegwan is a yukhoe specialist that says it uses beef butchered that day, and maybe that's why the color of the meat looked so vivid and fresh.

An egg yolk sits in the middle, with pear, seaweed, gamtae, cheese and more on the side, so it's fun to eat in several combinations rather than just one way. The yukhoe itself had no gamey smell and was clean, tender rather than chewy, with a nutty richness I liked.

The best combo at Yukhoegwan? Sea urchin + yukhoe + wasabi

★Writer's pick★ At Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro, sea urchin + yukhoe + wasabi was the tastiest combination. My favorite way: put yukhoe on gamtae or gim, pile on plenty of sea urchin, add a little wasabi on top, and eat it all in one bite.

The nutty, soft yukhoe gets the rich sea urchin on top, and the aroma of gamtae rises with it, so the combo is really good. The wasabi cleanly cuts the richness, so it's not heavy and the bite feels complete!

Each one on its own is delicious, but wrapping sea urchin and yukhoe together in one bite was my favorite. Please try this combo.

The fun of wrapping all sorts of things

The set comes with a variety of ingredients, so one bite in gim, the next in gamtae, then topped with pear or loaded with sea urchin, you can change the combo each time. So even with a decent amount of food, it never tasted the same to the end, which made it fun. Though I kept going back to yukhoe topped with sea urchin, haha.

First glass: a light highball

I started with a highball. It wasn't just sugary; the whiskey came through more strongly than I expected, which I liked. It also went well with rich-tasting food like yukhoe, so it was a good light first glass.

How do you drink Yukhoegwan's fresh lemon soju?

At Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro, when you order soju, you get fresh lemons along with a tool to squeeze them at the table. It's not just soju with lemon flavoring like elsewhere, and that was what I liked most that day.

You put the lemon in and press down to squeeze out the juice. This step is surprisingly fun and perfect for filming a video.

Lemon soju that's fresher because you squeeze it yourself

I squeezed fresh lemon into my soju and this was the real kick. The lemon aroma rushes up, softens soju's bitterness a bit, and the finish becomes much cleaner.

It's not a sweet lemon soju; the fresh lemon scent makes the soju clean, so it went really well with rich, nutty foods like yukhoe and sea urchin.

A bite of yukhoe, a glass of lemon soju

I started light with a highball, but in the end soju goes best with yukhoe. And with fresh lemon in it, it went down much cleaner than usual soju, so the drinks just kept flowing!

Verdict: yukhoe, sea urchin and lemon soju at Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro

• Clean, fresh taste from same-day butchered yukhoe
• Rich sea urchin and yukhoe together
• Recommended: gamtae + yukhoe + sea urchin + wasabi
• A spread you can wrap in many different ways
• A highball with strong whiskey flavor
• Lemon soju with lemons you squeeze yourself is the kick
• Spacious inside, with a rooftop, so good for gatherings

The yukhoe itself was fresh and good, but the combo I remember most is yukhoe and sea urchin on gamtae with a little wasabi. With the self-squeezed fresh lemon soju, the soju's bitterness was softer and the finish clean, so it matched the food really well.

If you're looking for a good place in Euljiro 3-ga, or somewhere in Euljiro for yukhoe and a drink, try Yukhoegwan Pocha Euljiro. I loved the sea urchin yukhoe combo and the lemon soju, so I'd happily go again!