Eel buffet dinner for two friends in Jijok-dong, Daejeon: Songrimbok

Today I'm introducing an eel restaurant in Jijok-dong, Daejeon that I visited with a friend for dinner, just the two of us. It's Songrimbok Jangeo Unlimited Eel Daejeon Direct Store (송림복장어 민물장어 무한리필 대전직영점).

How is parking at Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store?

The restaurant has a dedicated parking lot behind the building, and you can park there free for up to 2 hours. I could visit without worrying about parking, and 2 hours is plenty to eat at a relaxed pace!

How big is the restaurant, and can you bring a group?

It's a big place with both private rooms and open tables. The moment I walked in I thought, "Wait, is this really an all-you-can-eat eel place?" because it was so spacious. The rooms are big enough for large groups. We were only two, but there was plenty of table space, so we sat comfortably. Personally, I'd strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a spot in Jijok-dong, Daejeon for a group or family gathering.

Songrimbok unlimited buffet prices and menu

At Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store, the all-you-can-eat buffet is ₩29,900 for adults plus a ₩3,000 table setting fee, and ₩14,000 for elementary school children (no table setting fee), with a 2-hour time limit. Meals and takeout prices are below.

• Adult: ₩29,900 + ₩3,000 table setting fee
• Child (elementary school): ₩14,000 (no table setting fee)
• Buffet time: 2 hours
• Eel soup / galbitang / yukgaejang: ₩10,000 each
• Buckwheat makguksu (soup or spicy mixed): ₩9,000
• Spicy ramyeon: ₩5,000
• Takeout: ₩35,000 (based on 650g after trimming 1kg)

When I think about what eel costs by the single portion, ₩29,900 per adult for unlimited eel felt like pretty good value. And pork belly and chicken neck are included too~

Free bokbunja wine for the opening event

For the opening event, Songrimbok gave us a whole bottle of bokbunja (black raspberry wine) for free! It normally sells for ₩9,000, so getting it for nothing was a lovely surprise, haha. Bokbunja wine and grilled eel go really well together, so I think it made the meal even tastier.

How does the unlimited eel, pork belly and chicken neck work?

At first, the staff set the table with side dishes plus eel, pork belly and chicken neck, and if you want more, you help yourself at the self-serve bar. This is how the table looks with the first side dishes~

The real appeal of Songrimbok is that it's not only freshwater eel: pork belly and chicken neck are unlimited too. Some people can stuff themselves with just eel, others can focus on pork belly or chicken neck, so you can enjoy it your own way. Even when a friend's taste is a little different from yours, like mine, each of you can eat as much of what you want!

Is it okay if you don't know how to grill eel?

At Songrimbok, the owner and staff teach you how to grill the eel, and even flip and cut it for you. We don't eat eel very often, so we honestly had no idea how to grill it.

But the owner and the part-time staff came over on their own and kindly explained: the skin cooks slowest, so grill the skin side down first, and when the flesh starts to puff up, flip it. While it was cooking they flipped it for us too, and even cut it into bite-size pieces with scissors.

This isn't a place that just serves food; you can feel that they care about guests leaving happy. Thanks to that attention to detail, even total eel beginners can enjoy it 😊 If you're looking for a proper all-you-can-eat freshwater eel place in Daejeon, Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store is well worth a visit~ haha