Free 1++ hanwoo yukhoe at Osong grill house Dot Osong, Cheongju

Today I'm bringing you a review of a BBQ restaurant I'd been really curious about in Osong 2 Industrial Complex — Dot Osong! It's located really close to Osong Station.

377 Osongsaengmyeong 14-ro, Osong-eup, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea, 1F 103 / Hours 17:30–22:30 / Last order 22:00 / Group seating, high chairs, separate restrooms, reservations

Dot Osong: a grill house you can walk to from Osong Station

Why was I curious? Well, I pass by this place every day on my way to work out, and every time I look inside it's always packed with customers — is this place actually good? I'd wonder, and just keep walking haha. It's close enough that you could walk here straight from getting off at Osong Station. Let me introduce Dot Osong now haha.

When you open the door and walk in, you don't see tables right away — you see the fresh meat first, and there's also a spot next to it to hang your coat. Head to the right and you'll see the huge interior. It's a large restaurant, perfect as an Osong pork belly spot for company dinners too. The lighting has that warm tone that makes everyone's face look pretty haha — good enough for a blind date.

Dot Osong's menu and the free yukhoe for 3 or more servings

Besides the delicious meat, they also sell wine, so this could work as a date spot too. You saw the fresh meat displayed right at the front — it seems like they only sell the 'special' grade cuts haha.

If you order 3 or more servings on your first order, they give you yukhoe (raw beef tartare) as a free service. I'm a pork belly maniac so I ordered 3 servings haha. I can't resist anything rich and fatty... I also ordered doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) and a bowl of rice.

Side dishes and tofu kimchi at Dot Osong

True to an Osong BBQ favorite, they cut down on unnecessary side dishes and mostly gave us the kinds that go well with meat.

At this Osong favorite, Dot, they give you tofu kimchi haha. I ate it up nicely while waiting for the meat. It really gets your appetite going, I'd say.

1++ hanwoo yukhoe served in a snowflake shape

Maybe it's the lighting doing some work, but the yukhoe (raw beef tartare) arrived shaped like a snowflake.

Maybe because it's 1++ hanwoo (Korean beef) yukhoe, the garlic seasoning mixed in melted in my mouth so harmoniously. It's tasty with gim (dried seaweed) too, but I'd also recommend trying it without!

Open kitchen and a full house by 5:30pm

I'm especially sensitive about hygiene, so having an open kitchen where I could see everything with my own eyes made me trust the place even more.

Oh! Like I mentioned above, I said it's always packed with customers, right? I walked in right at 5:30 and by then the seats were already full... I really felt like I'd found the real deal near Osong Station. There were lots of families, dates, friend groups — how did everyone else find out about this place and I didn't? Reservations are a must.

Three servings of special pork belly, grilled by the staff

Before the meat even arrived, they set up the grill first, and the fire is no joke... You know good fire is key to grilling meat well.

A good balance of meat and fat, thick cuts plus mushrooms. If staff aren't busy, they'll pretty much always grill it for you haha. Maybe because the fire is so good, everything cooks so fast there's barely any time to wait.

Pork belly that's too thin isn't tasty, but this was grilled to just the right thickness. Golden brown and drool-worthy.

They plate it nicely so it's easy to eat! They also topped it off with grilled mushrooms at the end — isn't this person a grilling master? Casually flipping it around so nonchalantly yet it tasted so good, ugh.

It's delicious wrapped in lettuce with sweet and tangy scallion shreds too

It also went great wrapped in perilla leaf with pickled radish and wasabi on top. Not even a hint of greasiness — now I understand why this place is so busy.

You can pick whatever suits your taste and pair it with the meat

Dipping the pork belly in Maldon salt

Premium Maldon salt that you can't find at other places. Strongly recommend dipping the meat in this haha. I've finally found the BBQ spot to bring out-of-town friends to. This is the place, right here! You absolutely must come.

If you want it spicy, try adding the side dish on the left that has chili peppers in it. Umami overload.

Doenjang stew and steamed egg ordered with a coupon

The doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) has a hint of gochujang flavor, generously loaded with big chunks of tofu and zucchini. It's spicy enough to cut through the richness while eating meat — one sip and you go 'kyaah--'

I ordered this steamed egg with a coupon I got from booking on Naver! The size of the earthenware pot alone looked serious. Apparently it has as many as 7 eggs in it. This is 100% soju food!! haha

There's a review event on the menu where you can order a side dish for ₩100 by leaving a review — make sure to use it! ❤️

Self-serve drinks and a bean sprout ramyeon finish

For drinks, you order via tablet and grab them yourself, and being self-serve, the alcohol is a bit cheaper. I had Chojeong sparkling water haha. It's been a while since I had Chojeong sparkling water and man, it was so good (maybe it tasted even better because the meat was so good).

Honestly I was already so, so full, but I felt like I had to have ramyeon, so I ordered the kongnamul ramyeon (bean sprout ramyeon), and it seems Dot Osong has a ramyeon master on staff. There's enough bean sprouts in it that they could open a ramyeon shop — it managed to hit both umami and refreshing lightness at once, and the noodles were boiled to just the right doneness when they brought it out haha.

They have sturdy high chairs, and even prepared floss for after the meal — such a thoughtful place, Dot Osong. I'll 100% be back.

You can see Osong Station while you eat, it's really that close — how about getting off at Osong Station and heading straight to Dot Osong?