Team lunch at a new eel buffet in Ansan: Songnim Bok Jangeo

Songnim Bok Jangeo Wolpi Branch: basic info

Songnim Bok Jangeo Wolpi Branch (송림복장어민물장어무한리필 월피동) is at 13 Yesulgwangjang-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi (Wolpi-dong 445-9), open daily 11:00–22:00. The all-you-can-eat deal is ₩29,900 for adults, and it even includes thick-cut pork belly and neck meat.

I also filmed a video of this lunch at Songnim Bok Jangeo in Wolpi-dong, where I grilled not just eel but thick pork belly and chicken neck too.

How do you get from Jungang Station to Songnim Bok Jangeo?

Songnim Bok Jangeo Wolpi Branch is 2.2km from Exit 1 of Jungang Station on Line 4, about a 35-minute walk. By bus, take bus 7 and get off at Yeonghyeon Building (영현빌딩앞).

I took Line 4 from Seoul, and when I searched the restaurant from Exit 1 of Jungang Station it said 2.2km, 35 minutes. Normally that would be an hour-plus workout for me, but it's hot these days, so I decided to take the bus. I waited about 7 minutes for bus 7 and got off at Yeonghyeon Building. Even when you travel, I figure riding trains, subways and buses is itself exercise and activity.

From Yeonghyeon Building it's 142m, about 2 minutes, and I passed the Wolpi Park construction site on my left and arrived right away.

Songnim Bok Jangeo atmosphere and parking

This is a newly opened restaurant with a spacious private parking lot, and the roughly three-story building is big and neat.

The sign says freshwater eel (민물장어), and with the new interior everything is clean. Seeing "all-you-can-eat ₩29,900" on the sign, I thought it looked quite cheap and good value. It had only been open about 10 days, so there were lots of congratulatory flower pots out front, and a banner explained the place: only fresh domestic Japonica eel.

I walked in around 12:00. Several groups were already having lunch, and the manager checked my reservation and showed me to a table by the window.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing, so I toured the first floor on video. It's quite spacious, tidy because it's newly opened, and not cramped. The second floor wasn't completely finished yet, but you can tell this is a large eel specialty restaurant. There are also private rooms.

Songnim Bok Jangeo all-you-can-eat price and meal menu

The all-you-can-eat at Songnim Bok Jangeo is ₩29,900 for adults and ₩14,000 for children (elementary school), with a ₩3,000 table setting fee (children excluded). I ordered the adult buffet for two and had lunch.

The table setting comes with freshwater eel, various meats and basic side dishes. Meals are eel soup or yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) for ₩10,000, buckwheat noodles (cold broth or spicy mix) for ₩9,000, and spicy ramyeon for ₩5,000. There's a variety of other drinks and alcohol to order as you like, and since they're running an opening event, Sejong bokbunja wine (₩9,000) comes free.

Takeout is ₩35,000, based on 650g after trimming from 1kg, with 2 sauces free and ginger for ₩1,000, so you could take it home and eat there if you want.

Songnim Bok Jangeo side dishes and self-serve bar

The basic sides are sliced pickled radish (ssammu), pickled perilla leaves, sliced ginger, lettuce, aged kimchi, onion pickles, green onion kimchi and more. For extra sides, sauces or rice, just help yourself at the self-serve bar.

The self-serve bar has a rice cooker plus various sides and sauces. Wherever you go, I think it's best to take only what you'll eat, which also helps avoid waste and pollution. I visit restaurants often, but I mostly eat the basic sides and refill only what I need, and I believe that's better for your health too, since you eat a bit of everything.

What comes with the all-you-can-eat for two?

The buffet for two came with 3 pieces of freshwater eel, 2 thick pieces of pork belly, and chicken neck. The bokbunja wine from the opening event came too, so you could taste it there or take it home.

Do you grill the freshwater eel yourself?

At Songnim Bok Jangeo you grill the eel yourself over charcoal, and the staff kindly show you how. I started lunch by grilling the eel first.

At all-you-can-eat places customers mostly grill for themselves, and with labor costs so high, it's only natural they can't do it for you. Grilling it yourself isn't the same as having a skilled cook or staff do it, but since the staff kindly explain how, you get a good-value and fun lunch, which I like 👍💯😅

I cut the eel into appetizing pieces. The charcoal in the middle was strong enough that it might burn, so I moved it to the edge, dipped a piece in the special sauce and tasted it: juicy, tender and delicious.

Next I wrapped a big piece of eel in lettuce with green onion kimchi and garlic, and it was even better. Eel wrapped in aged kimchi or white kimchi with green onion kimchi and garlic was also delicious, so I ate a bit of everything.

I wrapped it in pickled perilla leaves, and in ssammu too, and enjoyed a happy lunch.

Eel refills come from the self-serve bar

At Songnim Bok Jangeo you pick up eel refills from the self-serve bar and grill them. It's called all-you-can-eat, but I took one more round of 3 pieces of eel from the bar to grill, and had a bowl of rice on a small plate with lunch.

I dipped the big tail section of the eel in the special sauce and ate it in lettuce with green onion kimchi, garlic, ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and ginger. It seemed even tastier, and I ate it with the rice.

I ate the rice with pickled perilla leaves wrapped around green onion kimchi, garlic and ginger. Being able to eat as much garlic, green onion kimchi and ginger as I like, which are called natural tonics, feels healthy to me and I'm just grateful. Visiting good restaurants is a joy.

As a kid I attended middle school in a remote mountain village in Gangwon-do, crossing a 700m-high mountain pass and walking over 10km round trip, and I graduated with perfect attendance for three years. With that spirit, thinking back to my school days over 60 years ago, I still walk at least an hour every day around the Seoul metropolitan area by subway and on foot, enjoying travel and restaurant visits.

How do the pork belly and chicken neck taste?

The chicken neck and thick pork belly that come with the buffet I grilled about half of each after finishing the eel, and both were delicious dipped in ssamjang. With all the eel grilled and my meal of rice and side dishes done, I went on to taste the pork belly and chicken neck.

I grilled only about half of the thick pork belly and chicken neck, a little at a time, to finish the meal.

I lightly dipped the nicely grilled chicken neck in ssamjang and it was delicious. I went to high school and university in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, so I consider myself an expert on Chuncheon dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) from over 60 years ago, and I ate happily.

The chicken neck was tasty wrapped in lettuce with garlic and green onion kimchi, and I also ate it with rice.

The thick pork belly, grilled and dipped in ssamjang, was juicy and delicious, and wrapped in a pickled perilla leaf with ginger, onion and rice, it felt like eating gimbap (seaweed rice roll) ✌️🤣

After the group lunch, walking back to Jungang Station

After a lunch group meal of eel, pork belly and chicken neck at Songnim Bok Jangeo, I skipped the bus on the way out since it was only 2.2km, about 30 minutes, and walked slowly. It helped digestion and made a nice stroll to Jungang Station, where I took Line 4 and transferred to Line 9 at Dongjak Station to head home.

It was a hot day, but maybe because I'd eaten plenty of eel, a restorative food, I felt energized. It reminded me of my middle and high school days 60 years ago, and soon on July 20 it will be 53 years since 1973, when I was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer, Class 53, at the Marine school in Jinhae. I smiled remembering 1974, when as a platoon leader representing my battalion in the Pohang Marine Division armed run competition I won among 40 teams and got a week of special leave. My body isn't what it was, but the spirit and fighting energy of a Marine officer half a century ago are still alive! 👍💯🏃‍♂️😅

Songnim Bok Jangeo facilities

• Address: 13 Yesulgwangjang-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi (Wolpi-dong 445-9)
• Hours: daily 11:00–22:00
• Group seating available, private rooms
• Takeout available
• Wi-Fi
• Separate men's and women's restrooms
• High chairs, waiting area
• Wheelchair accessible entrance and seating
• Local currency (paper type) accepted
• Free parking