Seongsu eel buffet ending in spicy ramyeon: Songnim Bok Jangeo

Hi everyone! Lately I've been having a lot of fun finding local Seongsu-dong spots haha. This time I went to Songnim Bok Jangeo Unlimited Freshwater Eel Seongsu Branch! It's a place where you can eat unlimited freshwater eel, and the price is good, plus you get to eat meat along with the eel — definitely recommend!!

Songnim Bok Jangeo Seongsu Branch hours and what the restaurant looks like

Songnim Bok Jangeo Seongsu Branch is open daily from 11:50 to 23:00. Every table has its own charcoal grill, so you grill the eel yourself right at your seat. The vibe is relaxed and comfortable, good for coming with friends, and it also seemed fine for a group of people to come eat eel together.

We went as two people and used the unlimited adult option for two, and while eating we added a spicy ramyeon too!

On top of that, there was an event going on when we visited, so we got a free bottle of bokbunja wine (Korean black raspberry wine) — ate eel with bokbunja wine, quite the combo, haha.

Takeout is available too!

How much is unlimited freshwater eel? 29,900 won per person

Songnim Bok Jangeo's unlimited freshwater eel is ₩29,900 per adult. We ordered the main unlimited adult option × 2 people. On top of that there's a separate table setting fee of ₩3,000 per person. Kids in elementary school pay ₩14,000, and the time limit for the unlimited refills is 2 hours!

At a regular eel restaurant, adding things here and there can add up quite a lot in price, but here the biggest advantage was being able to eat as much as you want for a fixed price. And it's not just eel — you can enjoy other meats too, which is much better than eating just one type over and over!!

What is on the self-serve bar, and how the white kimchi refills work

At Songnim Bok Jangeo you get extra side dishes yourself from a self-serve bar, so if you run out of something while eating, you can just go grab more comfortably. With unlimited refills, having to call a staff member every time you order something can feel a bit awkward, but here you can take as much as you want yourself from the self-serve bar, which actually felt more comfortable 👍🏻

There were also good pairings to eat with eel like ginger, perilla leaf pickles, and pickled onions, so it was nice to switch up combinations while eating. And white kimchi (baek-kimchi) was so tasty for some reason — I refilled it several times, haha.

Especially with freshwater eel, it can start to feel a bit greasy the more you eat, but eating it together with ginger or pickles definitely cleaned that up! I like the fun of pairing things together as much as I like the eel itself, so I went back and forth to the self-serve bar quite thoroughly haha.

Is grilling freshwater eel yourself difficult?

Songnim Bok Jangeo has instructions posted in the restaurant on how to grill eel deliciously, so following them wasn't hard at all. Now for the real eel-grilling! Even if you often grill meat, grilling freshwater eel yourself for the first time can feel a little unfamiliar.

First, put the raw eel on with the skin side down, cook it for a while on both sides, then cut it into bite-sized pieces and grill the sides until golden too! At first I wasn't sure when to flip it, but after grilling once, I got the hang of it quickly haha.

Grilled golden on the sides too, the outside was slightly crispy while the inside was soft and moist. And since it's grilled directly over charcoal, it had that subtle smoky flavor added, which was delicious.

Tried a piece of eel plain, dipped it in sauce, topped it with ginger! Wrapping it in perilla leaf pickles was tasty too. Since it's unlimited, it's not just one plate and done — you can bring more and grill again, so this day I really ate my fill of eel, haha.

Besides eel: pork belly and chicken neck on the same charcoal grill

Songnim Bok Jangeo's unlimited refill also includes pork belly and chicken neck besides eel. Next, we grilled pork belly too. After eating eel for a while, grilling some pork belly is a totally different taste and goes down easily haha.

Grilled golden over the charcoal, the fat rendered out just the right amount while the savory flavor stayed alive, making it good to alternate with the eel. Really got my money's worth this time, haha.

Chicken neck too!! The texture is completely different for each, so it was nice to eat a variety of things.

Finishing the meal with spicy ramyeon

To finish, spicy ramyeon (Korean instant noodles)!! Partway through eating I started craving broth, so we added a spicy ramyeon! After eating rich eel, finishing with a hot, spicy broth cleaned up the palate and made for a great ending!

Would I go back to Songnim Bok Jangeo, a local Seongsu-dong spot?

These days, new places keep popping up every time I go to Seongsu, but this time I was happy to find a local Seongsu-dong spot with a bit of a different atmosphere.

Above all, what I liked most was being able to eat unlimited freshwater eel for ₩29,900 per person! It was also nice being able to comfortably grab eel, meat, and side dishes from the self-serve bar myself, and this day we even got bokbunja wine from an event, so we ate even more thoroughly haha. Ate eel to my heart's content and then had spicy ramyeon at the end, so I really left stuffed,, If you're looking for a local Seongsu-dong spot where you can comfortably grill eel over charcoal, I recommend Songnim Bok Jangeo!! A great place to eat properly.