Beef pub for couples in Sinnonhyeon: thick LA ribs and egg rice, Sojei

Melt-in-your-mouth LA beef ribs – Sojei Seoul Flagship Store 🖤

After work on Monday, my husband suddenly announced he was low on protein and wanted beef. (He's a man who loves every kind of meat.) Sinnonhyeon is close to our office, so we headed to Sojei Seoul Flagship Store (소제이 서울본점), which has been getting a lot of buzz lately.

Getting to Sojei Seoul Flagship Store and the weekday wait

Sojei Seoul Flagship Store is a 3-minute walk from Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 3, so it was super convenient to walk straight over after work. Great location, two thumbs up! We got there around 7pm and there was already a wait..

Even on a weekday, this told me it's one of the hot meat-and-drinks spots in Sinnonhyeon. We waited about 20 minutes and then got in!

What are the interior and vibe of Sojei Seoul Flagship Store like?

Sojei Seoul Flagship Store feels like a retro pub straight out of the Reply drama series (Korean nostalgia dramas), a comfy place to grill meat and drink. It was muggy outside, so the air conditioning inside felt like heaven haha. I like a place that's lively enough to make you want a drink more than somewhere that's too calm ★

Sojei Seoul Flagship Store basic info

• Location: 200m from Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 3 (Yeoksam-dong)
• Address: 1F, 13 Gangnam-daero 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Thu 17:00–01:00, Fri–Sat 17:00–02:00
• Last order: 1 hour before closing
• Closed: every Sunday
• Parking: available (building's designated lot, if there is space during your meal)

What makes Sojei Seoul Flagship Store special

• Thick grilled raw LA ribs
• Specializes in chewy braised oxtail
• Staff grill the meat for you
• A variety of dipping sauces
• Egg rice instead of plain rice
• 3-minute walk from Sinnonhyeon Station

Sojei Seoul Flagship Store menu and prices

The signature dishes at Sojei Seoul Flagship Store are braised oxtail and raw LA ribs: 300g of LA ribs is ₩35,000 and the medium oxtail stew is ₩55,000. Sides include stews and beef tartare bibimbap.

SIGNATURE dishes

• Oxtail stew (medium) ₩55,000
• Spicy oxtail stew (medium) ₩58,000
• Oxtail stew (large) ₩65,000
• Spicy oxtail stew (large) ₩68,000
• Raw LA ribs 300g ₩35,000
• Tasting oxtail stew ₩33,000

SIDE dishes

• Odeuregi ₩12,000
• Kimchi stew ₩8,000
• Doenjang (soybean paste) stew ₩8,000
• Beef tartare bibimbap ₩8,000
• Premium myeongran-jang (pollock roe sauce) ₩5,000

One thing that surprised me while reading the menu: Sojei Seoul Flagship Store has no plain rice, it comes as egg rice instead!

Banchan (side dishes) at Sojei Seoul Flagship Store

Before the grilling starts, Sojei Seoul Flagship Store sets out basic banchan like beef tartare radish salad, cabbage and a dipping sauce. The sides all get laid out before the meat even starts, and they were surprisingly satisfying.

Tangy beef tartare radish salad, crunchy cabbage, and a dipping sauce too!

The beef tartare radish salad is sweet and tangy, so it never lets things get greasy, and wrapping cabbage around the meat leaves your mouth feeling fresh.

Dunk the meat deep into the dipping sauce and it tastes like a whole different dish, so my chopsticks kept going back- you can tell they put care into even the basic banchan ★

How thick are the raw LA ribs at Sojei Seoul Flagship Store?

We ordered the raw LA ribs, the oxtail stew, and egg rice! Can you see how thick they are..?

I was shocked by the thickness the moment the meat arrived. LA ribs usually make you think of thin-sliced marinated meat, but Sojei Seoul Flagship Store serves thick raw ribs, so the chew was totally different.

The skill of the staff member grilling for us! They explained the cuts and even told us which to eat first, so it was really, truly comfy.

Nicely savory outside and juicy inside, a total explosion of flavor!!! A different taste from pork~~ as expected. And it's not just salt for dipping: the dipping sauces come in lots of varieties, so even though it's the same meat I kept eating it with a different flavor.

Eating beef nonstop can get a little heavy, but the sauces handled that perfectly, so I never got sick of it right to the end.

Pairing with the egg rice served instead of plain rice

The egg rice combo is insane.. the LA ribs at Sojei Seoul Flagship Store go great with rice too (a Joseon-dynasty nobleman's table combo)

A piece of beef rib with a bite of egg rice doubles the savoriness.

Tender and chewy: Sojei's braised oxtail

The oxtail stew at Sojei Seoul Flagship Store came out well cooked, with a soft, fall-apart texture~~~

If the grilled meat is hearty and savory, the oxtail stew has a tender texture that pulls off the bone, with the fresh note of chives on top. You can add somyeon (thin wheat noodles) to the oxtail stew, but between the meat and the egg rice we were too full that day and never got to the noodles.. I was almost sad about it.. Next time, noodles for sure!

A Sinnonhyeon meat-and-drinks spot I want to revisit: Sojei Seoul Flagship Store

Sojei Seoul Flagship Store was a perfect place for beef and a drink in Sinnonhyeon. If you want something a bit different from the usual pork belly place or an ordinary beef place, it totally hits the spot- the thick raw LA ribs have a great texture, the variety of sauces kept me from getting tired of it, and since the staff grill for you, you can chat away comfortably!

There may be a wait after 7pm, so either go a bit early or be ready to queue~

It suits a casual after-work drink for a couple, a get-together with friends, or even a company dinner! It's great for a cool drink on a summer night, so I'll probably be craving it again! Next time I'm definitely adding somyeon to the oxtail stew and doing it properly ♥︎