Team-dinner Korean BBQ in Jongno, Daegu: frozen radish bar, Jangjak

What are the hours and parking at Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno?

Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno Main Branch is at 38-1 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu, and it is open from 17:00 to 01:00. Group seating, takeout and reservations are available, and for parking you use a nearby paid lot.

• Location: 38-1 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu (floors 1, 2 and 3)
• Hours: 17:00 - 01:00
• Facilities: group seating, takeout, reservations available
• Parking: nearby paid parking lot

Today I went to Jangjak Saenggalbi, a Jongno BBQ place in Daegu famous for its raw ribs (saenggalbi)~ Every time I walked past Jongno it was packed and I'd wanted to try it, so since I was downtown anyway, I finally went! The meat was really fresh, and since they grill everything from start to finish, I ate in total comfort! Let me introduce it right away~

What is the atmosphere like at Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno, and is it good for a team dinner?

The inside was quite spacious and pleasant, and there are seats on the 2nd floor as well as the 1st, so some people come for company dinners (hoesik) haha It's a classy raw-rib spot, so even on a weekday lots of people were there for meetings or team dinners~ We came early, at 5 p.m.~

Side dishes and the self-serve bar with frozen radish salad

The side dishes included pickles (jangajji), white kimchi, fresh kimchi (geotjeori) and radish salad (musaengchae), plus sauces to go with the meat, like ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), perilla leaf sauce and chive sauce!

On one side of the restaurant there's a self-serve bar where you can get more of any side dish you run out of~ Unusually, the radish salad was frozen in round shapes, and they say freezing concentrates the seasoning so it tastes even better haha I went back for a second helping of the radish salad too!

What did we order at Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno?

We ordered one plate of Jangjak Saenggalbi (the beef ribs) and 3 servings of bakpo pork ribs (dwaeji bakpo saenggalbi)! I usually like to eat half beef, half pork, and here you can have both, which I loved~

Right after you order, they bring over real charcoal~ It was piping hot and the heat was amazing!!

Our meat came out quickly~ and the staff grill the ribs from start to finish!! All we had to do was sit back and eat!

They grill the beef ribs first

When you order beef and pork together, the staff grill the beef first so you can enjoy it at its best~ Raw ribs come with the bone attached; the part cut off the bone was chewy, while the meaty part was so tender it melted in my mouth T_T Seriously delicious!!!

Spring cabbage salad, pickles and the free cypress steamer

I liked that there was so much to eat alongside the meat!! The fresh salad (geotjeori), perilla leaves and chive pickles were the best... The salad made with spring cabbage (bomdong) kept disappearing thanks to the fresh sesame oil and sauce, and the perilla leaf and chive pickles were a little spicy, so just when things got a bit greasy they cut through it perfectly.

Then a little later a cypress steamer (pyeonbaek-jjim) came out as a standard side~ Even though it's included, it had a variety of things inside, like bean sprouts, brisket slices, shrimp and mushrooms! Dipped in the sweet garlic sauce it was really good~ Quality is top notch even for a free side 👍

New grill plate, then the pork ribs

After we finished the beef, the staff changed the grill plate and grilled the pork ribs~ And wow, these pork ribs are the real star...??

The fat and lean meat were nicely balanced, and they were super tender and melted just like the beef.. Best of all, the fat splattered like crazy but the staff did all the grilling, so it was so convenient haha

Midway I refilled the pickles and enjoyed them, and to finish you have to gnaw on the rib bones~ These were really good too!! There was lots of meat left on them, so it would've been a disaster to skip them!!

Is the doenjang stew a must for finishing the meal?

We finished with rice and doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) and left absolutely stuffed~ The owner seems to have a really good hand in the kitchen! Not just the meat, the rice and doenjang stew are excellent too, so please try the stew!!!

Overall review of Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno

At this Jongno BBQ restaurant in Daegu, the staff grill all the meat so you can eat comfortably, and the meat and food quality were really good! Beef often smells gamey if it isn't fresh, but the beef ribs here had zero gamey smell and were very tender~ The pork ribs had a good balance of fat and lean and were easy to eat, and even the doenjang stew I ordered to finish was perfect!