Now that Liberation Day has passed, it's not scorching hot anymore, just a little cooler ^^ On Liberation Day my kids were shouting 'Long live Korea, long live Korea' so I thought, ah, I should start teaching them a bit about it haha. But first things first — good food comes first!! Off we go on a delicious restaurant hunt ㅎ

Exterior of Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang Gochang-eupnae branch

This is Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang, located in Gochang, Jeonbuk, famous for its premium aged raw meat. The aged meat was so good I just have to introduce it to you!!

Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang sign for premium aged raw meat

Where is Hanmaeum Meat Restaurant in Gochang, and what are the hours?

The address of this Gochang meat restaurant, Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang Gochang-eupnae branch, is 374-2 Eupnae-ri, Gochang-eup, Gochang-gun, Jeonbuk State, and the road address is 19 Namjeong 7-gil, Gochang-eup, Gochang-gun, Jeonbuk State, South Korea. Hours are 5 PM to 10 PM, closed every Wednesday. Parking is available in a nearby lot.

Area around the entrance of Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang

Inside Hanmaeum Meat Restaurant: private rooms for family gatherings

Right as we walked in, the thing that caught both the kids' and the adults' eyes was a claw machine. The inside of the restaurant was very spacious and clean. Meat restaurants can sometimes smell of oil, but this place was comfortable and tidy ^^

Spacious, clean main dining hall at Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang

Table area with black interior design at the meat restaurant

On the right side there are several private rooms scattered around, perfect for family gatherings or work dinners. It's a meat restaurant but with a sleek black interior, which really suited my taste.

Private room seating for family gatherings

Finishing dishes: Mom's fried rice and Dad's doenjang rice

On the wall of the room there was a sign for Mom's fried rice and Dad's doenjang rice. These are dessert menu items — Mom's fried rice is made with minced pork and beef in a secret sauce, apparently a real specialty. Dad's doenjang rice is supposedly rice fried in the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) that Mom made, which, um, isn't that still Mom's cooking? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Sign on the room wall for Mom's fried rice and Dad's doenjang rice dessert menu

What sets Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang apart is that we don't just age the meat — we age our dedication, persistence, and passion for it.

Doesn't that get you excited ㅋㅋ

Restaurant sign explaining the meat aging philosophy

Another view of the interior of Hanmaeum Jeonggyuk Sikdang

What is the kids zone like?

And there's a kids zone that children love. Very young kids need a guardian with them, and older kids are asked to sit at the table and eat nicely ㅋㅋ Also, as everyone probably does, no food is allowed inside the kids zone. I always remind my kids to play before eating, and to be extra careful playing after eating. I always make sure they know their food hasn't digested yet ^^

There's also a self-serve bar, so you can grab more of any side dish that's running low, and if something's not at the bar, just ask and staff will kindly bring it out ^^ The staff were so friendly haha.

Self-serve bar where guests can help themselves to side dishes

How does the 500g aged pork half-cut at 35,000 won taste?

Today's main dish: meat. We ordered the pork half-portion 500g (₩35,000) with three bowls of rice (₩3,000). The juiciness really came through, and being aged, the color was just gorgeous ^^

What side dishes come with the pork?

The basic side dishes included corn kernels, pickled garlic stems, jolmyeon (chewy noodles), lettuce, mushroom wasabi, pickled radish, pickled onion, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), seasoned bean sprouts, myeong-i namul (wild garlic leaves), and steamed egg. Every single one was neat and delicious. The doenjang jjigae especially is refillable, which I loved ^^