Friday dinner wasabi short rib and Gwanaksan egg soufflé

Today I went with my husband to Gogigupneunsaramdeul (고기굽는사람들) Sharosu-gil main branch near Seoul National University Station! Bottom line first — the short rib was tender yet chewy, and every sauce that came with it was delicious too. The staff were kind and the prices weren't intimidating, so I'd love to try other aged cuts next time haha.

※ We received partial support to visit, but this is an honest review written after eating everything ourselves. Yungppyu doesn't go to places that taste bad!

Location and hours at Gogigupneunsaramdeul Sharosu-gil

📍 Gogigupneunsaramdeul Sharosu-gil main branch

• Address: 70 Gwanak-ro 14-gil, Hyorim Building 1F 106, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Tue–Sun 12:00–23:00 / Mon 16:00–23:00, last order 22:30
• Reservations: Naver reservations available, remote waiting via Tabling!
• Parking: up to 2 cars in front; if full, use Moraenae or Nakseongdae public parking lots

Gogigupneunsaramdeul is about a 6-minute walk from Seoul National University Station. Go straight out of Exit 2, then turn into the alley by the Starbucks across from Gwanak-gu Office. A big yellow sign makes it easy to spot once you're in the alley.

How long is the wait on a Friday at 8pm?

There's waiting space both in front and inside the restaurant. When there's a line, you register with Tabling first and get called via KakaoTalk before entering. Since this is right in the middle of the Sharosu-gil restaurant strip near Seoul National University Station, it might be a bit easier to book ahead through Naver for evenings or weekends!!

We visited at 8pm on a Friday and there was still a wait..!!! Luckily the inside was much bigger than expected, so we only waited about 10 minutes before getting seated!!

The vibe — good for group dinners or welcome parties?

The interior isn't a flashy, trendy-style Korean BBQ spot — more of a comfortable place to eat meat and have a drink. Worth recommending for a group dinner near Seoul National University Station! Group visits looked totally doable, and since it's semester-start party season, it seemed like college students were using it as a welcome-party spot too lol.

Every table had a tablet, so we could take our time browsing the menu and ordering. The place was clean and well-kept, and the staff were friendly from start to finish, so we could eat comfortably!!

What is cross-aging? A butcher shop's second generation

Gogigupneunsaramdeul is run by the second generation of a family that's operated a butcher shop since 1995. They say they cut out distribution steps to offer good-quality meat at reasonable prices!! A restaurant where you can eat short rib at this kind of value — right in front there was signage explaining their cross-aging method, which combines wet and dry aging.

What we ordered as a couple, and the prices

Here's what we ordered that day —

• 340 cross-aged Hanyang short rib, 2 servings (₩16,500 each)
• 340 cross-aged wasabi short rib, 1 serving (₩17,900)
• Gwanaksan egg soufflé (₩3,500)
• Cheongyu mul-naengmyeon (₩6,500)

And Cass plus Terra Zero 0.00! I'm in early pregnancy so I can only drink zero-alcohol, and it's so nice when a place sells bottled zero beer,,❤️❤️❤️

Side dishes and sauce combinations

The side dishes included shredded scallion and lettuce along with kimchi, pickled radish, and jangajji (pickled vegetables)! Not too much, not too little — just the right amount for eating meat.

What I liked here was the variety of sauces you could eat with the meat! Salt, fresh wasabi, whole-grain mustard, plus sauce and breadcrumbs — so many combinations to try.

They kindly explained the best way to eat it, and following their instructions made it seriously amazing,,

Grilled over open charcoal + a table-side "fire extinguisher"

The meat is grilled directly over charcoal. You wait until the charcoal turns red-hot, then grill slowly starting from the edges.

If the flames flare up as fat drips down, there's a spray bottle at the table labeled to sprinkle water around the edge of the grill and control the fire lol. It's kind of funny that it's labeled in big letters as a "fire extinguisher."

How does the 340 cross-aged Hanyang short rib taste?

First up, 2 servings of the 340 cross-aged Hanyang short rib! The red meat had just the right amount of marbling, looking appetizing even before it hit the grill. The portion was plenty for two as a main, and it came with gochu peppers and cherry tomatoes.

Since it's beef, we grilled it quickly rather than cooking it all the way through — just enough to sear the surface. Can you see the glossy sheen coming off the meat as it sizzled on the charcoal haha?

One bite in, you could taste the juiciness along with a texture that was both tender and chewy at once. Short rib can easily go tough or overly fatty if done wrong, but here the flavor got more savory the more you chewed. Both of us said "this short rib is good!" the moment we tasted it lol. It was great plain or with just a dab of salt, but eating it with pickled onion cleaned up the palate nicely.

Amazing with shredded onion too~~~ The sharp tang cuts through the richness of the meat, so we kept reaching for more. If you want to enjoy beef with all sorts of pairings at a Sharosu-gil restaurant near Seoul National University Station, try these sauce combos one by one!

Gwanaksan egg soufflé — a name that makes sense on sight

The egg soufflé at the next table looked unreal, so we ordered our own Gwanaksan egg soufflé! The name alone is clever, and the moment it arrived we totally got why lol. On the stone plate, the egg soufflé puffed up like Gwanaksan mountain, so generous it nearly spilled over the sides. Soft and fluffy, it was great to scoop up between bites of hot meat, and at ₩3,500 it was an easy add-on.

What does the wasabi short rib taste like?

After finishing the regular short rib, we added the 340 cross-aged wasabi short rib. It's coated with a shiitake-based shio-dare sauce and fresh wasabi seasoning. Unlike the regular short rib, the surface was covered in a green marinade, so the difference between the two dishes was obvious even before tasting.

Once it hit the charcoal, the wasabi seasoning and the juices blended together into a glossy sheen that looked so appetizing ㅠㅠ A great special dish to switch things up once you're ready for something different from the regular short rib.

Finishing with Cheongyu mul-naengmyeon

Of course we finished with mul-naengmyeon (cold noodle soup)! Cheongyu mul-naengmyeon adds green tangerine and yuzu to the broth, and it came with a generous amount of slush ice, so it was nice and cold. It was the perfect finishing dish to cut through the richness left over from the meat. Eating leftover short rib with the noodles — need I say more haha. Meat and naengmyeon together is love.

They also have non-alcoholic bottled beer

My husband had Cass, I had Terra Zero 0.00 — cheers! It was great that they carry a separate non-alcoholic beer, so even on days you can't drink you can still get that cold bottled-beer vibe with your meat. It felt good for a date, and the relaxed atmosphere for larger groups made it seem like a solid option for a group dinner near Seoul National University Station too.

On the way out, there was fabric deodorizer, hair ties, mouthwash, and even dental floss set out. After eating meat, the lingering smell on your clothes or bits stuck in your teeth are always a bit annoying — it was a thoughtful touch that they covered even these small details.

Final verdict

Gogigupneunsaramdeul Sharosu-gil main branch — great short rib, friendly staff! We had a solid meal starting with the 14-day cross-aged Hanyang short rib, the special wasabi short rib, Gwanaksan egg soufflé, and cool cold noodles to finish. Among the Sharosu-gil restaurants near Seoul National University Station, this is a place I'd want to revisit whenever I want short rib at a reasonable price or want to try it with a variety of sauces :)