Cheongna eel restaurant family meal: Songrimbok Jangeo, Incheon

While looking for somewhere to have a family meal in Cheongna, we visited Songrimbok Jangeo Cheongna Direct Branch (송림복장어 민물장어 무한리필 청라 직영점) this time. It was the three of us—my husband, me, and our elementary-school child.

As its name suggests, freshwater eel is the main draw here, but it is not just eel: you can also have meats such as pork belly and chicken neck meat, which made it feel like a good place to visit with a child. What is more, adults can add unlimited beef for ₩10,000. We could not pass that up, so we added the unlimited beef for our two adults and one elementary-school child.

Songrimbok Jangeo Freshwater Eel Unlimited Refill Cheongna Direct Branch · 78 Crystal-ro, 1st floor roadside, Seohae-gu, Incheon, South Korea · Daily 11:50–23:00

A wide range of meats, not just eel

At first, since we had come for eel, I thought we would mostly eat eel. But once I saw the meat selection, there was quite a lot to choose from. In particular, when you take a child to an eel restaurant, it is not always easy for them to keep eating eel, but having pork belly here made things much easier.

Our child happily ate the pork belly we grilled, while my husband and I alternated between eel and beef, choosing what we liked. For an eel restaurant, it has plenty of other meat, so it is clearly a plus when family members have different tastes.

What if you add unlimited beef for adults?

One thing that made this visit a little special was that unlimited beef is available for an extra ₩10,000 per adult. So we added it. As we grilled beef after eating eel, then had eel with pork belly, we ended up enjoying a bit of everything. Haha.

Considering the price, being able to eat so many different kinds in one place felt pretty good. And after adding beef too, it felt like we had really eaten a proper meal to nourish our run-down bodies during the changing season!

The unexpectedly delicious chicken neck meat specialty cut

Personally, the unexpectedly delicious item was the chicken neck meat, a specialty cut. I think people who like specialty cuts will probably enjoy it: it was chewy, became more savory the more I chewed it, and went well with eel too.

Pork belly is a familiar choice, so it was nice to eat with our child, while chicken neck meat felt like something adults would enjoy. We went in thinking it was simply a place for eel, but it was nice to enjoy such a varied selection of meat too.

The tender eel that stayed with us most

Still, the thing our family enjoyed most that day was, of course, the eel. It was remarkably tender. Eel can sometimes turn dry or chewy if it is grilled badly, but the eel here was tender and moist, so the texture was lovely to eat.

I learned that Songrimbok Jangeo has a place where it trades directly for its eel, and perhaps that is why it felt a little different from the eel I usually eat. Of course, eel comes down to personal taste, but it was my favorite thing we ate that day. If you love eel, it may be worth visiting since you can enjoy such a variety of meats as well.

A complimentary bottle of bokbunja after the receipt review

We also took part in the receipt review event that day, and they give you a bottle of bokbunja (Korean black raspberry wine) for free! Adding that made it somehow feel like even better value, you know? Haha. After having eel, beef, pork belly, and chicken neck meat, finishing up with bokbunja made the overall spread feel quite satisfying for the price.

Since both adults added the unlimited beef, the biggest advantage for our family was being able to eat several kinds of meat all at once.

A Cheongna eel family meal with a child

We visited with our elementary-school child, and personally, I thought it was a good eel restaurant to go to with kids. Some children may eat eel well, but if, like ours, they find it hard to keep eating only eel, choices such as pork belly and other meats broaden the options.

The adults ate eel and beef, our child ate pork belly, and we grilled chicken neck meat in between, so all three of us could eat according to our own tastes. I liked that it was not somewhere you simply eat eel and leave, but a place where you can enjoy a variety of meats as well. The tender eel and chicken neck meat especially stayed with me, and I also liked that pork belly was available when dining with a child.

If you want eel in Cheongna but are wondering about menu choices because of your child, Songrimbok Jangeo Cheongna Direct Branch could be a good place for a family meal.