Giheung pork BBQ with kids and bibim naengmyeon: Dongbaek Hanokjip

This time I visited a Giheung favorite — Dongbaek Hanokjip Charcoal Grill Butcher Restaurant. It's a butcher-style place, so there's the fun of picking your own meat, and grilling it over charcoal gave it a slight camping vibe even though we were at a BBQ joint. There's a private room too, so it's easy to eat separately, and the pork neck, pork belly, and bibim naengmyeon we had that day were all pretty satisfying. Here's the review!

Where is Dongbaek Hanokjip, and what are the hours and parking?

Dongbaek Hanokjip Charcoal Grill Butcher Restaurant is at 221 Eondong-ro, 1st floor, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM, closed every Monday. There's a dedicated parking lot behind the store with plenty of space, a private room, and Naver Reservation is available.

Dongbaek Hanokjip recently renovated and reopened! It's a single-story hanok-style (traditional Korean house) BBQ restaurant, making it a great place to bring older family members for meat.

Beyond butcher-shop-style beef and pork, they also serve set meals like hanok bulgogi and cold noodles or yukhoe naengmyeon (raw beef cold noodles), all plated with a polished, high-end feel rather than a cheap one — apparently that's why it's popular even on weekdays.

Just remember to keep the Monday closure in mind!!

Parking and wait times at 5 p.m. on a weekend

First, parking, which matters if you're driving. Dongbaek Hanokjip's lot is fairly spacious, located behind the store. When booking a group meal, parking can be tricky if everyone drives separately, but here there was enough space that it wasn't a problem.

We went for an early dinner around 5 PM on a weekend, so there was no wait, though 4–5 tables were already eating. If there's a wait, you can put your name on Catch Table and wait.

How the butcher-shop system works: picking your own meat

What's different about Dongbaek Hanokjip compared to a typical BBQ place: instead of ordering meat via tablet or from staff, you pick it out yourself from the display case like at a butcher shop, then pay. Fresh whole cuts are ready in the fridge to the right.

You pick the meat you want, check out at the counter, then bring it to your table to grill over charcoal. Being able to see and choose the meat yourself is part of the fun — that's the advantage of a butcher-style restaurant :) That day we picked pork neck, which my dad loves, and pork belly, which the kids love.

Three adults and two kids ate three packs plus two bowls of noodles, and there was almost meat left over — that's how generous the portions were.

They give you bibim naengmyeon if you do the Naver review event. My dad initially said he wouldn't eat a meal, but then he saw on the tablet that the noodles were house-made and ordered it right away haha. If it's house-made noodles, you've got to try it, right.

Soju and beer are ₩4,000 a bottle, soft drinks ₩2,000 — really cheap. Drinks aren't ordered from staff either — you check them off on the tablet and grab them yourself from the fridge. Convenient since you can just grab one whenever you need it — total camping-ground vibes.

Roomy tables and a private room at the back

The interior was more spacious than I expected. Unusually, all the seats are sofa seating, which can be a bit inconvenient when people need to get up and let others out, so I'd recommend the person who uses the self-serve bar most sit at the edge haha.

And if you walk through toward the area between the kitchen and restrooms, there's a separate private room inside. If you're visiting for a family meal or gathering and want a quieter, more relaxed setting, booking that inner room would be a good option. It's completely partitioned off, so it looked great for chatting quietly over a meal. Worth keeping in mind if you're looking for a spot for a family gathering, friends' meetup, or company dinner.

What the self-serve bar has — and what it doesn't

Side dishes and sauces are freely available at the self-serve bar. Most of the side dishes and sauces you'd want are there, so if you run out you can just grab more without feeling awkward about it. However, some side dishes, like pickled radish, aren't at the self-serve bar and need to be requested separately. Worth knowing if it's your first visit!

There are also plenty of baby spoons at the self-serve bar! And each table already has plates, tongs, grill scissors — all set up, which was really convenient. My second daughter grabbed it all herself haha.

Korean pork neck and pork belly grilled over charcoal

Our hungry family cheerfully brought over a big stack of meat, and the first round of basic side dishes was laid out. Then the charcoal grill arrived!

What I liked about Dongbaek Hanokjip is that they put a splash guard around the charcoal so meat doesn't spatter everywhere. It really cuts down on oil splashing, though since it's stainless steel it gets hot, so you always have to be careful.

Being a butcher-style restaurant, the meat quality was really good. They also sell 1++ grade hanwoo (Korean beef), and since we chose hanwoo pork like this, you can eat quality meat with peace of mind — which is probably why so many families bring their kids here.

Once the meat hit the grill and started sizzling, words became unnecessary haha. The pork neck wasn't too dry and had a nice, savory chew, while the pork belly's savory flavor really came through from the charcoal grilling. Since it was hanwoo pork, the meat quality was genuinely good.

My dad, who's picky about meat, admitted that Dongbaek Hanokjip's hanwoo pork belly and neck were good.

And what goes with that? Somaek (soju-beer mix)!! They mix soju and beer for you. Wait, isn't that way too much soju...?

How can the meat and the side dishes both be this good!! It just keeps going down easy, and even when you're full, some kind of magic makes you keep eating.

Rice cooked with Suhyangmi

We ordered extra rice for the kids, and it turned out to be made with Suhyangmi (a premium rice variety). No wonder it was so chewy and delicious!

The moment we opened the lid, a savory aroma rose up and got the saliva going — so even though I planned to skip rice at dinner as a dieter and just eat meat, I failed and ended up eating rice too haha #dietfail

Not just the adults but the kids too — since the meat wasn't tough, had no gamey smell, and went down smoothly, it disappeared really fast. It disappeared so quickly we had to speed up the grilling haha.

Bibim naengmyeon for dessert, plus candy and coffee

After meat, you can't skip cold noodles haha. We ordered two bowls of bibim naengmyeon for dessert.

They brought out seaweed vinegar (dasima-cho) separately alongside the bibim naengmyeon. Adding it to taste gave the noodles a tangy kick that cleaned up the palate completely, and with a generous topping of sesame seeds and egg garnish, the combination of savory and sweet-and-sour flavors was really good.

It felt like it swept away all the greasiness from the meat, so finishing with the noodles actually made the meal feel properly complete. My noodle-loving first daughter rinsed hers lightly and ate it with such delight — the noodles were cooked perfectly.

We scraped the bowls clean, the kids had candy, the adults had sambakja coffee, and we headed off happy!

Dongbaek Hanokjip: the verdict

We properly enjoyed pork neck, pork belly, and bibim naengmyeon that day, so I'll remember this as a place to come back to whenever I'm craving meat again :) If you're looking for a charcoal-grilled BBQ spot in Giheung for family dinners or gatherings, I recommend Dongbaek Hanokjip Charcoal Grill Butcher Restaurant!!