Charcoal pork galbi restaurant near Gyodae Station: Yuk Tongryeong

Pork galbi grilled over charcoal that kept its heat, paired with good-tasting rice — that was Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae Direct Store

I went with a friend to eat pork galbi at Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae Direct Store. It's a place where staff grill the meat over charcoal for you, and you can pair it with freshly cooked rice and doenjang stew (soybean paste stew). Parking is available too, so it was a good pick for a day when I wanted an easy Gyodae pork galbi restaurant.

Where is Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae Direct Store, and when is it open?

Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae Direct Store is on the 1st floor at 69 Banpo-daero 20-gil, Seocho-gu, about 426m from exit 14 of Gyodae Station. It's open daily from 11:30 to 22:30 (last order 22:00), with parking and group seating available, and the restroom is inside the store.

The restaurant sits on a building corner, so the exterior and entrance were easy to spot.

Parking is also available behind the store.

Inside, there were celebrity autographs on the wall along with various awards and certificates on display.

Inside Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae: seating, the meat aging room, and the on-site rice mill

Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae Direct Store is spacious, with partitions between tables that give a decent sense of separation from neighboring seats. Seating is plentiful, so it looked fine for a meal with a friend or for a larger group. Each table has its own hood, which cut down on smoke worries while eating charcoal-grilled meat at this Gyodae Station meat restaurant.

Toward the back of the store there was a separate meat-aging space, and you could also see a rice-milling area with several rice cookers set up. It stood out that this Gyodae restaurant pays attention to the rice, not just the meat.

What we ordered at Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae and what it cost

That day we ordered 250g of handmade Hanwoo pork galbi for two (₩36,000), doenjang stew (₩8,000), freshly cooked Paju hyangmi rice at ₩1,500 × 2 (₩3,000), and a Zero Coke and a Chilsung Cider at ₩2,000 each. The total came to ₩51,000.

The basic side dishes included pickled vegetables, pickled cucumber, and perilla leaves. Several sauces were provided to go with the meat, along with two kinds of salad.

The salad with mandarin oranges added a refreshing touch, nice to eat lightly before the meat started grilling.

Handmade Korean pork galbi grilled over charcoal by the staff

Soon the charcoal was brought out, and the staff placed the handmade Hanwoo pork galbi along with thick king oyster mushrooms onto the grill.

The meat was wide and fairly thick, and the staff member checked the grilling progress, flipping it and cutting it into bite-sized pieces.

Not having to keep an eye on the grilling myself made the meal a lot more relaxed.

Maybe because the charcoal was good quality, the heat stayed strong for quite a while. The charcoal-grilled galbi tasted especially good that day. The surface browned nicely and the marinade glazed over with a shine, and each bite carried both the sweet marinade and the charcoal aroma together. This is the kind of flavor that comes to mind when you want to properly enjoy charcoal-grilled galbi in Gyodae.

The staff member moved the well-cooked pieces to one side, which made it easy to eat at a leisurely pace. Since it's marinated meat that can burn easily, having someone manage the grilling meant we got to eat evenly cooked meat right up to the last piece. This should suit anyone looking for a Gyodae Station meat restaurant where staff grill for you.

Freshly milled Paju hyangmi rice with the charcoal-grilled galbi

Once the rice and side dishes arrived, the table was completely full. The freshly cooked Paju hyangmi rice had a nice sheen and the grains were moist. The rice itself tasted so good on its own that I was glad I'd ordered it.

Placing a piece of the browned, glazed pork galbi on top of the rice made the sweet marinade and rice work really well together. Adding a piece of king oyster mushroom on top brought a chewy texture to it as well.

Tojang stew on its own burner, simmering through the meal

The ₩8,000 doenjang stew was generously packed with tofu, potato, zucchini, and more. There was a separate burner on the table just for the stew, apart from the meat grill, so we could keep it simmering as we ate. Stew in a stone pot usually cools down fast, but here we could reheat it whenever it started to cool.

Being able to have hot soup with rice right up to the end of the meal was another convenient part of this Gyodae restaurant, Yuk Tongryeong.

Is Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae worth it near Gyodae Station?

The handmade Hanwoo pork galbi was easy to enjoy since the staff grilled it for us, and the charcoal held its heat for a long time. Paired with good-tasting Paju hyangmi rice and doenjang stew that could be reheated whenever needed, the meal felt satisfying and complete. If you want pork galbi, rice, and stew all in one place near Gyodae Station, or you're looking for a Gyodae restaurant where staff grill the meat for you, Yuk Tongryeong Gyodae Direct Store is worth considering.