Self-serve eel buffet with a hot grill in Yuseong, Daejeon: Songrimbok

Hui's summary: Domestic freshwater eel with no pressure to hold back, and a great pick for team dinners and group gatherings.

Where is Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store, and is there parking?

Songrimbok Jangeo Unlimited Eel Daejeon Direct Store (송림복장어 민물장어무한리필 대전직영점) is at 60 Jijokbuk-ro 66beon-gil, 1st floor, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, South Korea, and it's open daily 11:50-23:00. There's a big paid parking lot in front of the shop with 2 hours of free parking, so just tell them when you leave!

This time I went to the all-you-can-eat eel place in Jijok-dong, Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store. It's a bit of a distance from Banseok Station, so you'll want to go by car. It's close to Sejong and easy to reach for Yuseong residents too.

I had exactly one reason to go: unlimited freshwater eel! Songrimbok has branches all over the country. The Daejeon one is a direct store, so you can eat good-quality eel all-you-can-eat at a reasonable price, and I went with my partner as a stamina-boosting meal.

Is the restaurant big enough for team dinners and group gatherings?

Once inside, the place is big and spacious. Thanks to all that space, it's handy for company dinners from nearby offices or group gatherings.

They also have kids' chairs, so families can visit too.

The eel grilling guide on the wall and the 2-hour limit

There's a notice posted in one corner of the shop, and funnily enough it even teaches you how to grill eel.

• First, grill it skin side down
• Cook both sides and remove the fins
• Cut into bite-sized pieces and grill the cut sides until golden

Another thing you'll notice is the time limit. The all-you-can-eat window is 2 hours. With drinks that might sound short, but after an hour you're plenty full, so the time is actually very generous.

In front of the kitchen there's an origin label, and the eel is domestic! Freshwater eel from Korea, wow. Being domestic, it made me really look forward to the taste.

How much is the all-you-can-eat eel at Songrimbok?

The all-you-can-eat at Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store is ₩29,900 (children ₩14,000), plus a ₩3,000 table setting fee (not charged for children). That works out to ₩32,900 per person, for unlimited domestic freshwater eel.

You can also order meals like eel soup, galbi soup, yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) and buckwheat makguksu (cold noodles). Drinks are Cheongha at ₩6,000 and soju at ₩5,000. Takeout is 1kg of trimmed eel for ₩35,000. Hui and my partner ordered the buffet and table setting for 2 people (₩32,900 each)!

Fetching your own eel at the refill corner

The key point at Songrimbok is the self-serve bar. Lots of places do extra side dishes this way, but

here they've set up a special refill corner where you pick up eel, pork belly and pork neck.

At all-you-can-eat places you usually keep ordering, and the more you order the more awkward it feels. With a separate corner, there's zero of that pressure. You can take as much as you want, whenever you want, without feeling watched, and that's this place's biggest strength.

Free ₩9,000 bokbunja wine

Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store gives visiting customers bokbunja wine (Korean black raspberry wine), which sells for ₩9,000, for free. Eel plus bokbunja wine is a stamina-boosting combo and a great start.

Here are the first eel, pork belly and pork neck they bring out. If you run short, just refill at the self-serve bar.

The basic self-serve side dishes work the same way. From the left: ginger, pickled onion, pickled perilla leaves, green onion kimchi and aged kimchi, all good to eat with eel, pork belly and pork neck.

Here's one overall video shot~!

How were the eel and the grill's heat?

The moment I saw Songrimbok's freshwater eel, I thought, this is a good place. The eel is thick and fresh. Maybe because it's a direct store and headquarters keeps a close eye on it, the quality of the main eel is outstanding.

You put the pieces on one by one, and the grill's heat is great too! The fire is strong, so you can grill quickly. Many places have weak fire, but here it's strong, so you can cook fast and eat a lot.

Not "tasty for all-you-can-eat," but genuinely tasty.

And here's the thick grilled eel. It's light yet dense, and it's really tasty even though it's all-you-can-eat. I don't mean tasty considering it's a buffet; the quality is very good even compared to places that sell eel as a single dish. Above all, I was happy with the voluminous chew that comes from the thickness.

Aged kimchi and pickled perilla leaves that go with eel

Thick eel is good with ginger, and Songrimbok's aged kimchi (white kimchi) is especially excellent. The funky taste of aged kimchi goes well with eel. I don't know how they made the pickled perilla leaves, but they complement the eel's light flavor, so you don't need to dip it in any sauce. The perilla leaves add a rich taste, and the eel just keeps going down.

Why do pork belly and duck neck come out with the eel?

At Songrimbok's all-you-can-eat, pork belly and duck neck (pork neck) come out along with the eel. If you eat only eel it's so light that you can't put away much, but here the pork belly and duck neck make up for that.

After enjoying the eel's lightness, adding oily pork belly and duck neck keeps your mouth from getting tired of it, so you keep eating. Wrap pork belly or duck neck in aged kimchi and you get a different flavor combo from eel. Alternating between them, you soon get quite full. I ate until I was almost bursting, then wrapped up!

Hui's verdict: Songrimbok Daejeon Direct Store, great value, right?

Freshwater eel until you burst, with no pressure, is reason enough to come. Thick, fresh eel, a strong grill that cooks fast, pork belly and duck neck that balance the eel's lightness, and aged kimchi and pickled perilla leaves that suit it. At ₩32,900 per person, I really liked how it's set up so you can keep eating without feeling watched.

They're currently giving out the bokbunja wine, so it's perfect for a stamina boost with your partner or a group. I properly recharged with tasty eel until I was stuffed.

Hui's one-line review: Great value, right?