Daegu Jongno galbi house: doenjang stew rice bowl, Jangjak Saenggalbi

Hello! It's Dumbo here~!! 🐘 After shopping in Dongseongno, Daegu, it was getting to be time to get hungry. "Let's have proper meat today!" And that's how I ended up at Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno Main Branch (벽돌생갈비 종로점).

I love raw galbi (unmarinated beef short rib) anyway, and I'd heard a lot about how good the meat quality is here. If you like raw galbi, please go!! I left really full, after melt-in-your-mouth brick-cut galbi, pork bakpo galbi where the freshness really came through, and a rice bowl too.

Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno Main Branch: location and hours

• Address: 38-1 Jongno, Jung-gu, Daegu (floors 1, 2 and 3)
• About 3 minutes on foot from Jungangno Station Exit 1
• Hours: daily 17:00–01:00 (last order 00:00)
• Parking: use a nearby paid parking lot

The restaurant is in the Jongno eating alley, so it wasn't hard to find.

As evening came, customers started trickling in, and quite a few tables were company dinners or group gatherings.

The charcoal was ready quickly, and the side dishes and sauces were neatly set out. All that was left was the meat, I thought, haha.

What we ordered: brick-cut galbi 500g and pork bakpo galbi 450g

We ordered two meats at Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno Main Branch: 500g of brick-cut galbi and 450g of pork bakpo galbi. Both are unmarinated and grilled over charcoal, so the flavor of the meat itself really shows.

• ✔️ Brick-cut galbi 500g
• ✔️ Pork bakpo galbi 450g

When the meat first arrived, the color was so pretty! Seeing that bright pink raw galbi, I thought, "We've come to the right place today!"

The thickness was just right and the marbling looked great, so I was already excited before grilling!! When I laid the galbi on the charcoal, a nutty aroma wafted up~

With raw galbi, the meat itself is what matters!! Just from the smell while grilling, you could tell it was fresh. I sat there holding my chopsticks, watching it turn golden brown, taking tons of photos.. and holding back my urge to eat it right away.

Brick-cut galbi that melts in your mouth

Finally, the first bite! Wow... it really melts in your mouth.

I'm not exaggerating: it breaks down softly as you chew and the juices fill your mouth! There's almost nothing tough, and the meat is so good that even a light dip in salt was delicious. There was no need to dip it in lots of things. "Ah, this is a place where the meat itself is delicious." That was exactly what I thought.

How is the pork bakpo galbi different?

Next was the pork bakpo galbi! It had a different charm from the brick-cut galbi.

It's a bit thinner so it cooks fast, and the more you chew, the more mild yet nutty the flavor gets. Super good >_<

Above all, I kept thinking, "They use good meat here." Maybe because it's so fresh, there was no gamey smell and the aftertaste was clean, so my chopsticks kept going back.

If the brick-cut galbi is the soft-textured one, the bakpo galbi lets you taste the meat's flavor more richly! I was very happy with both!!

Good sides to add: steamed egg, rice bowl, cold noodles

With the meat, we ordered steamed egg, a rice bowl and mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth). The rice bowl, which you mix with doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), was my personal number one.

Fluffy steamed egg is a must-add! You can't resist steamed egg with meat, haha. It came up puffy, and the moment you scoop it with a spoon it's fluffy~ and spreads softly in your mouth, so it went really well with the raw galbi. Taking a spoonful now and then softened my mouth too, and it was a great combo.

Please try the rice bowl too! Personally, it was my unexpected number one! At first I thought it was just rice, but it's a style where you add lettuce, seaweed flakes, egg and so on and mix it yourself.

And it doesn't end there. I mixed in doenjang jjigae... wow... this is really good, hahaha. The stew is the spicy kind, so it wipes away the greasiness of the meat and adds savory depth too. I mixed it up, took one bite, and my spoon wouldn't stop.. hahahaha. Next time I go, I'm definitely ordering the rice bowl again!!

Finished cleanly with mul naengmyeon! After meat, cold noodles are the way to end. The cool broth refreshed my mouth, and it paired really well with the raw galbi. Even though I was pretty full, the noodles still went down, haha.

Daegu Jongno raw galbi: overall verdict

Melt-in-your-mouth raw galbi and a rice bowl with spicy doenjang stew! A Daegu Jongno favorite where the meat quality stood out.

If you're looking for raw galbi in Jongno, Daegu, head to Jangjak Saenggalbi Jongno Main Branch!! What impressed me most was the quality of the meat itself. Brick-cut galbi that melts in your mouth, pork bakpo galbi where the freshness came through, and a rice bowl with spicy doenjang stew!

I kept thinking "I'm glad we came!" all through the meal. In the last photo, there's almost no food left on the table, hahaha. An empty plate really is the proof of a good restaurant. If you want tasty raw galbi in Jongno, Daegu, do visit :)