Daejeon yakiniku restaurant, per-cut grill service: Yakiniku Doryong

Today I want to introduce a Daejeon yakiniku spot where the taste, atmosphere, and grilling service were all perfect — Yakiniku Doryong.

Where is Yakiniku Doryong? Hours and parking in Doryong-dong, Daejeon

Yakiniku Doryong is at 1F E117, 19 Expo-ro 151beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, in the inner corridor shops on the first floor of the Housed Lafayette building, across from Smart City. Hours are Mon–Sat 17:00–23:00, last order 21:40, closed every Sunday. Parking is free for 4 hours at the building's lot.

There was so much presence out front that I felt like "this is the place!" just walking by. From the entrance it already felt upscale ,, 💫

What comes in the 280g two-person set, and why corkage is free

The menu at this Daejeon yakiniku spot basically has 2- and 3-person set menus, with slightly different gram amounts and meat compositions, so you can pick based on what you like. They mentioned the hanwoo (Korean beef) assortment composition might vary. There's also à la carte, sides, and a meal menu, so the range of choices is huge.

There were two of us, so we ordered the 280g 2-person set, which comes with beef tartare, beef tongue, hanwoo assortment (striploin, flat iron, brisket), and a choice of seasoned meat or special tripe. We chose special tripe!

Also, Yakiniku Doryong is ⭐️ corkage-free ⭐️ — places like this are so rare, so precious.. ❤️ Since corkage is free, bringing your own drink to pair with the delicious food would be great. And if you forget, the restaurant also sells several kinds of alcohol you can order alongside.

Side dishes and beef sashimi to start

We'd reserved ahead, and the tableware and little dishes set out for us were so cute I made a little bear shape out of them 🙂↔️

And here are the basic side dishes they served — aged kimchi, pickled radish, seasoned vegetables, salad, and wasabi to go with the delicious meat.

The salad came with a basil dressing, which was nice and different to eat before the main meal. The seasoned vegetables were fragrant too — was that a perilla oil scent? So good.

The first thing served was skirt steak beef tartare. The meat quality was so good it was incredibly tender, and the combo of soy sauce and truffle oil sauce with the cheese on top worked really well together. The moment it hit my mouth the truffle aroma spread through — it made me so happy.

Staff grilling each cut on the table's personal charcoal grill

Then came the beef tongue, hanwoo assortment (striploin, flat iron, brisket), and special tripe set on the table. Even at a glance the quality looked so good, my heart was racing.. 🤍

Each table has its own personal grill, and once it had heated up enough, they first placed mushrooms and potatoes on it.

Beef tongue

The first thing they grilled was beef tongue. I once went to a famous beef tongue place in Japan and it was so thick and chewy it kind of put me off, so I had a bit of a bias against it — but here it was sliced thin and cooked just right, with a great texture and a nutty flavor. I thought, this is what real beef tongue tastes like!

Striploin

Next was the plump striploin with crazy marbling. Just as thick as it looked, it had great bite and was packed with beefy flavor. It felt like eating a fancy steak? A light touch of wasabi made it even more delicious. My favorite cut 🫢 — turns out I love striploin!

In between they also gave us well-grilled potatoes and mushrooms, and since they were cooked over good charcoal, they were delicious too — a nice palate cleanser.

Flat iron

Not seasoned at all, but glistening with sheen — that was the flat iron. Thanks to the tendon running through the middle it had good chew, and the meat itself was so tender; the flat iron also had wonderful beefy aroma.

Brisket

The brisket had some fat on it. The staff told us it would be delicious with wasabi, so we tried it that way. This cut could easily be too rich with all that fat, but paired with wasabi it was well balanced. As soon as I bit into it the fat burst and it went down so smoothly.

Special tripe

And finally, they grilled the special tripe. I'm not usually a fan of fatty beef, so even at gopchang (grilled intestines) places I always love the special tripe most — and sure enough, a texture genius! The chewy-bouncy texture was great, and since it's the last, seasoned meat served, it also gave a nice sense of fullness at the very end :)

Is Yakiniku Doryong worth it for two? Our verdict

They even sent us off happily with chocolate at the end. It's been a while since I had such a high-quality meat feast for my mouth 🤍 At this Daejeon yakiniku spot, Yakiniku Doryong, they kept placing food on our plates and kindly explaining each cut, and thanks to the grilling service we could just relax and chat while eating comfortably — such a satisfying meal. Thanks for the food today!