Yeongdeungpo BBQ with wire-rack marinated galbi: Choryang Saenggalbi

📍 Choryang Saenggalbi 📍 16-1 Gukhoe-daero 34-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea, 1st floor 🚇 About 96m from Exit 4 of Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station ✔️ Takeout, reservations, and group dining available 🚗 Parking available

I had dinner plans near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, so I headed to Choryang Saenggalbi. When a place is far from the station it's a hassle to walk back after a meat dinner, but this one was genuinely close to Exit 4 of Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station. You get off the subway and you're there in no time, which makes it easy to set up plans.

This time, instead of ordering a bunch of different things haha, I focused mainly on marinated ribs and ate properly.

Choryang Saenggalbi near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station: what the charcoal does differently

Once I sat down and looked at the menu, there was quite a variety of meat cuts — fresh pork ribs, flower hanjeong, emperor cut, marinated ribs, and more.

Fresh ribs are grilled on a cast-iron plate, while marinated ribs use a wire rack — different setups for different cuts. According to a sign posted inside the restaurant, the cast-iron plate is custom-made in-house using casting. It's designed to keep the charcoal's high heat steady while letting the smoky charcoal aroma seep into the meat through the holes. I noticed they even matched the grill type to the cut of meat.

How to grill the marinated galbi on the wire rack

At Choryang Saenggalbi, the marinated ribs are cut into bite-sized pieces and spread out on the wire rack to grill. Once the meat hit the grill, the glossy sheen typical of marinated ribs came up moist, and being over charcoal meant the aroma really came alive as it cooked ♡ Marinated meat can burn quickly over high heat, so I flipped it carefully myself, and once the edges started turning golden brown, the visual was absolutely on point haha.

Marinated ribs are best slightly crisp. Personally I like my marinated ribs grilled until the surface gets a bit charred, and cooking over charcoal really brought that out. It wasn't the type where the marinade overpowers everything — it went down easily with the meat, and the golden, charred bits kept me reaching for more with that charcoal aroma added in.

Scallion salad, lettuce wraps and the house-made ma sauce

Instead of just eating the meat on its own, I also made lettuce wraps — that combo is essential too. Lettuce, a piece of marinated rib, scallion salad, and garlic, all in one big bite. Adding vegetables to the meat's sweet marinade made it nice to switch up the flavor every so often.

The scallion salad served alongside was especially good with the meat. It had a fairly bold seasoning, so it worked either eaten on its own alongside the ribs or tucked into the wraps a little at a time.

I also tried dipping the meat lightly into their house-made horse sauce — even with the same marinated ribs, the flavor shifted a bit depending on how you paired it, so it never got boring. I liked that the side dishes weren't overdone with extras, just the essentials you need while eating meat.

Finishing the meal with kimchi stew

After eating charcoal-grilled marinated ribs, I naturally craved a warm stew, so I ordered kimchi stew too. It arrived still bubbling, and a spoonful of hot broth between bites of marinated ribs paired really well. Alternating between the sweet, salty ribs and the kimchi stew broth naturally made me want rice too.

Is Choryang Saenggalbi worth it for a Korean BBQ dinner in Yeongdeungpo?

There are a lot of office workers around Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, so plenty of people are probably looking for a place to grab meat after work. Choryang Saenggalbi was convenient for being close to the station, and I also liked being able to choose between fresh ribs and marinated ribs depending on my mood.

The marinated ribs, grilled golden over charcoal, were my favorite part. If you like marinated ribs and prefer meat grilled directly over charcoal, this is worth keeping in mind when you're looking for pork rib restaurants near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station. Next time I'd like to try the fresh ribs too, true to the restaurant's name.

If you're looking for a good BBQ spot near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station, or want a satisfying dinner of marinated ribs and stew, this is the kind of place that comes to mind.