Sinnonhyeon Korean BBQ weekday lunch: 600g Jeju pork, lettuce salad

Today I'm sharing an honest review of Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Station Main Branch (더바른정육식당 강남신논현역본점), a Korean BBQ spot in Sinnonhyeon, Gangnam that's great for evening group dinners.

Where is Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang, and what are its hours?

Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Station Main Branch is basically right in front of exit 3 of Sinnonhyeon Station — less than 3 minutes on foot. It's open Monday to Saturday, with a break time from 2:30 to 4:30pm and last order at 10:30pm.

• Hours: Mon–Sat / 11:23:00 (as listed) / break time 2:30–4:30pm / last order 10:30pm
• Drinks and corkage: corkage available (free or paid)
• Parking: ₩5,000 for first 120 minutes, ₩5,000 per additional 60 minutes

Valet is also available — just tell the staff at the counter and they'll valet your car for free! I took the bus and got dropped off right in front, so it's easy to reach by public transit.

Right from the entrance there are a bunch of Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon (a good pairing with Coca-Cola, haha) awards on display, so it felt like a trustworthy spot.

Private walled-off seats, rooms and the interior

Every seat at Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang Gangnam Sinnonhyeon Station Main Branch is walled off for privacy. The rooms fit anywhere from 6 to 26 people, so it seems great for company dinners too.

Even though I sat in the outer hall, the sofas were high enough that it felt like I had my own separate space away from everyone else.

There's a meat storage area and a butchering station right inside the restaurant, so I liked that they trim the meat themselves on-site.

Plenty of celebrities have eaten here too. I visited around 1:30pm and saw office workers on lunch, office workers there for a group dinner, and even foreign tourists.

What's on the menu at Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang?

Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang is an upscale restaurant serving 1++ hanwoo beef and Jeju black pork, with the perks of no table setting fee and a wide variety of meat cuts.

From buttered live lobster and live lobster ramyeon — a land-meets-sea collaboration — to chive rice with meat, Jeju black pork ox bone kimchi-jjigae, nurungji + doenjang-jjigae, and dessert naengmyeon (cold noodles), there's a wide range of side dishes for after the meal. Lunch specials include bulgogi and jeyuk (spicy stir-fried pork), plus various stews and bibimbap, which is why so many office workers were there for lunch.

For a BBQ restaurant, the wine and whiskey selection is surprisingly diverse, so you can pair to your taste. There's a wine fridge in the restaurant too, which looked good for storage.

600g of Jeju geungogi for 69,000 won: enough for two?

I came with one other person and we ordered Jeju geungogi (Jeju black pork, 600g) for ₩69,000, nurungji + doenjang-jjigae for ₩7,000, and a Zero Coca-Cola for ₩3,000.

Here's the meat we ordered. Looks fresh, right?

Here's the banchan (side dish) setup. It's packed with everything you need alongside meat — myeongi-namul (mountain garlic leaves) that boost the savory flavor, pickled radish, salad, kimchi, and more. The cutlery arrived in hot water so you can rinse it once more before use, which felt hygienic. That water isn't for drinking — it's just for wiping down the cutlery!

The best side dish: seasoned lettuce salad

Of all the side dishes, the seasoned lettuce salad was my favorite. They really do pile the lettuce up like a mountain, so I ate to my heart's content. Lettuce tossed in a sweet-and-sour dressing pairs so well with the meat.

Staff grill the Jeju black pork from start to finish

At Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang, a staff member is assigned to each table and grills the meat carefully from start to finish, so we could just relax and eat. Maybe because a grilling expert handled it, the juices stayed locked inside the meat, making it so tender and delicious.

The ssamjang, wasabi, and salt are kept hygienically and you can portion out as much as you like onto your plate, which I liked. I don't usually dip meat in much sauce, so they only gave me a small amount.

Here's everything fully grilled. Since they grill it all at once, we didn't have to keep busily flipping meat while eating, which was nice. I think the real kick of Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang is the meljeot (fermented anchovy sauce) that comes with the black pork order. Made the traditional Jeju way with anchovies and garlic and served piping hot for dipping, it was so delicious.

Nurungji and doenjang-jjigae for 7,000 won

This is the side dish, nurungji + doenjang-jjigae. Both the stew and the scorched rice arrived in a hot pot, so they stayed warm through the whole meal. The portion was big enough for two adults to eat until full.

After eating something greasy, my stomach sometimes acts up, but the warm nurungji settled everything so I could eat a lot without worrying. The doenjang-jjigae was a hearty, spicy BBQ-restaurant-style stew loaded with tofu, zucchini, mushrooms, and meat.

Final verdict on this Sinnonhyeon Korean BBQ

Deo Bareun Jeongyuk Sikdang is a genuine Sinnonhyeon Station meat spot that's busy even from lunchtime. I'd recommend it for a company dinner, a get-together, a day out in Gangnam, or whenever you want to treat someone special.