Dongtan Korean BBQ lunch with mom: marinated beef ribs, Jipbul Taebaek

Why I came back to Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan with my mom

Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan Flagship Branch (짚불태백 동탄본점) is a BBQ restaurant in Yeongcheon-dong, Dongtan, and it's near my office, so I'd been before. The flagship is right here in Dongtan, and I once came with my husband for the raw beef ribs. I remembered it being good. This time my mom was visiting, and while hunting for a good place to eat, I ended up back here.

Somewhere you've enjoyed once feels like a safe bet no matter who you bring, so you naturally go back, I think. I'd thought about keeping lunch light with my mom, but since she'd come all this way, I figured we should eat properly, so meat it was.

What's the lunch atmosphere like at Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan?

Sunlight comes in through the windows and you can see trees outside, so even though it's a BBQ place it didn't feel stuffy at all. It felt quite comfortable. The whole place is wood-toned and calm, and it's fairly spacious, so it was nice for chatting and taking our time over the meal.

Jipbul Taebaek menu: raw beef ribs last time, marinated this time

Since I had the raw beef ribs last time, I ordered the marinated beef ribs this time. Even with the same beef ribs, raw and marinated feel totally different, so comparing them was fun.

The meat menu is varied: udaegalbi (thick-cut beef ribs) and raw udaegalbi, plus rib finger meat, straw-fire skirt steak, pork belly, pork neck and whole pork jowl.

The sides are varied too: truffle cheese steamed egg, guacamole tortilla, Taebaek fried rice, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean) stew, kimchi stew and cold buckwheat noodles, so it looked easy to have a full meal after the meat.

How does the straw-fire searing work?

What catches your eye most at Jipbul Taebaek is, of course, the straw-fire searing.

The Dongtan flagship has a separate searing area on one side, and the staff sear your order over straw fire. The flames shooting up are quite a sight. I saw it last time, and I ended up watching again this time.

The straw-fire aroma spreads softly, and my appetite really kicked in even before the meat arrived.

When the seared marinated beef ribs reach the table, a staff member cuts them into bite-size pieces, and you just cook them a bit more on the grill.

Is the marinated beef rib too sweet?

The marinated beef ribs here weren't too sweet or heavy-handed. The marinade is nicely savory, and with the straw-fire aroma on top, I didn't get tired of it as much as I expected and kept eating.

Mushrooms were grilled along with the meat, and we put kimchi and fernbrake on the grill too. Kimchi grilled in meat fat is hard to get wrong, and the fernbrake, cooked until crisp, was nutty and kept me reaching for more. The moist grilled mushrooms went well with the meat too.

Even though the ribs are thick, they were tender rather than tough, and the meat near the bone was grilled well to the end, so I ate every bit. Meat near the bone is the best part of beef ribs, right?

Wasabi, soy sauce and angelica pairings

There were lots of ways to mix and match, which added to the fun. I put a little wasabi on top, dipped some in soy sauce, and fragrant angelica (danggwi) came out too, so I ate it with the meat.

A little wasabi on the marinated beef ribs kept the marinade's savoriness while cutting the richness, which was great, and the black sesame combo was my favorite. The angelica has a strong, lively aroma, so eating it with the meat left my mouth feeling fresh. My mom enjoyed it too, so it felt like I'd picked the right menu for this lunch.

Finishing with Taebaek kimchi stew

After the marinated beef ribs, we also ordered the Taebaek kimchi stew. It came out bubbling hot, generous with tofu and kimchi, and the broth was spicy and sharp, great for finishing a meat meal. A spoonful of hot kimchi stew after marinated beef ribs, and yes, this combo never fails.

Raw or marinated beef ribs: which suits whom?

I had the raw beef ribs at Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan before, and now the marinated ones with my mom. If you like the pure flavor of the beef, I'd go for the raw ribs. If you like something a bit more savory and rich, the marinated ribs should suit you.

Straw-fire-scented beef ribs with grilled kimchi, fernbrake and mushrooms, plus wasabi, aged soy sauce and angelica to mix and match: it was a fun lunch. My mom enjoyed it, which made me even happier. This revisit to Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan Flagship Branch in Yeongcheon-dong was a success too.