Corkage-free Korean BBQ near Jungangno Station, Daegu: Hubaldae

Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch 50 Jongno, 1st floor, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea 291m from Jungangno Station Exit 1

This is Hubaldae, a Jongno favorite in Daegu where you literally don't have to lift a finger — the staff handle everything for you. Great service, super friendly, and delicious food.

Full even late on a Monday: why to book ahead

I figured Jongno wouldn't be too crowded on a late Monday evening, but the streets were actually pretty packed. And Hubaldae, a top-tier spot in Jongno, was fully booked too, even on a Monday night.

You can book or join the waitlist ahead of time through the Naver Place reservation system, so if you've already got plans, I'd recommend reserving first. Even if you're heading over on the day, same-day booking or waitlisting is possible — so I'd suggest putting your name down right now, haha.

Menu, prices and bringing your own drinks

Pork neck, pork belly, and beef large intestine are all 150g per serving for ₩14,900, while the deluxe small intestine alone is 150g for ₩16,900. There's probably a reason pork neck comes first on the menu, so I ordered three servings of that right off the bat. And here's the important part — it's corkage-free.

Welcome to a grill with serious heat. The fire was so strong that once you finish eating and the flame dies down, it actually gets noticeably chilly.

Gorgeous-looking pork neck has arrived. The color was so good I almost wanted to just eat it raw.

The signature side dish: seasoned kimchi

Hubaldae, this Jongno favorite in Daegu, has a few signature side dishes. One of them is the "tasty kimchi."

It's sour, well-fermented kimchi that's been simmered — not quite kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), but something else entirely. Sweet and tangy, and seriously addictive.

It comes as a standard side dish, and the staff snip it into bite-sized pieces with scissors right at your table. Take a spoonful of the broth first and the sweet-tangy flavor immediately wakes up your appetite — then mix and match the rest with the other side dishes and the meat as you like!

Angelica root and basil on the grill

Then there's another signature side dish: angelica (danggwi) and basil. I'd never eaten angelica on its own before, and basil with meat? I was skeptical at first — but as I'll get into below, however the owner came up with this combination, it works with the meat in a way that shouldn't make sense.

There's also shredded scallion, wild garlic leaves, honey potato, wasabi, grilled sundae (Korean blood sausage), mushrooms, garlic, and shishito peppers.

The angelica and basil get lightly seared on the grill before it's fully heated up, right at the start, which brings out their aroma.

Grilled for you: no tongs or scissors needed

Everything that goes on the grill, garnishes included, is prepped and cooked by the staff, so you never have to touch the tongs or scissors yourself.

Watching the meat and potatoes cook to perfection, this feels like the moment for...

...a cold glass of beer.

The three combinations Hubaldae recommends

• Spicy kimchi + fresh wasabi + meat
• Wild garlic leaves + angelica + fresh wasabi + meat
• Honey potato + wild garlic leaves + spicy kimchi + fresh wasabi + meat

Combination number three — honey potato, wild garlic leaves, spicy kimchi, fresh wasabi, and meat. The honey potato is a thin, sweet potato chip pan-fried until crisp and chewy. Add tangy wild garlic leaves, mouth-watering spicy kimchi, fresh wasabi to cut the richness, and pork neck on top, and I genuinely wondered who on earth came up with this combination.

The shredded scallion pulls its weight too. The angelica is bitter with a fragrant herbal note that turns clean and refreshing once it soaks up the pork fat. It made me wonder — has angelica always paired this well with grilled meat?

How did the pork neck taste?

To start, this is genuinely delicious pork neck. You know how people say good pork neck can beat out pork belly?

And more than anything, this mouth-watering spicy kimchi just keeps making you reach for more meat.

And who knew grilled sundae could be this good?

Finishing with Hubaldae ramyeon

For dessert we ordered the Hubaldae ramyeon (instant noodles). They recommend ordering dessert items about 20 minutes before you plan to eat them.

It's a springy-noodle ramyeon with meat mixed in, giving it a slight budae jjigae (army stew) vibe.

Not wanting to end things there, we ordered one more serving and finished with the chewy, satisfying deluxe small intestine too — that's Hubaldae, the corkage-free BBQ restaurant on Jungangno.