Korean BBQ restaurant in Seocho, Seoul: anchangsal and wine at Ugojip

People often ask me to recommend good restaurants near the Express Bus Terminal — and as someone who's lived in this neighborhood for 28 years, a certified local if you will, today I'm confidently recommending a real find!

If you come out of exits 8-1 or 8-2 at the terminal, you'll find Banpo Shopping Town stretching along, and hidden inside are some real gems. Ugojip turned out to be one of those spots that's already well-known, if you look for it.

I waited about 10 minutes to get in, and it was exactly the kind of place you want when you're craving beef — easy to eat, and great value for the price too, haha.

What comes in Ugojip's 49,000 won couple set

Before I say anything else, just look at this generous spread. We ordered the couple set, which comes with beef brisket + chuck flap + skirt steak + doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) — the composition is seriously solid and the value is excellent, all for ₩49,000!

Ugojip doesn't just throw meat at you — everything comes out nicely arranged and full, which makes it great for group gatherings. When I visited, there were a lot of families there too, so I'd highly recommend it as a spot for family meals near the terminal!

Also, people around here in Banpo don't have a ton of great spots for wedding invitation gatherings (cheongmo), so a lot of them end up at the BBQ places in this shopping center. And when you can get beef for close to the price of pork belly? I genuinely thought, why not Ugojip?

So if you're looking for a place near the terminal for a family gathering, or a spot in Banpo for a wedding invitation meetup, this one's a strong recommendation thanks to the composition and value.

Ugojip menu and wine prices

Menu

It was nice that they had set menus — the signature set and the couple set are definitely a good deal for what you get.

Wine these days often runs ₩12,000 a glass, but here a glass is ₩8,000!!

How to eat usamgyeop beef belly at its best

They grilled up the beef brisket sizzling right in front of us — the meaty aroma was great. Grilling it together with the vegetables meant the veggies soaked up the meat juices, which made it even better.

The brisket had plenty of marbling, so it was really tender and delicious — dipping it in salt with a little scallion shreds and a dab of wasabi was seriously good.

There's also this kind of special sauce, haha — a soy-based sauce with a punch of cheongyang chili — and dipping the meat in that lets you enjoy the pure meaty flavor in a really clean way.

How the galbisal rib meat and buchaesal chuck flap taste

Next up, galbisal (short rib meat) — personally, I loved it. It has a nice chew but is still tender, exactly the beef flavor I know and love.

I'm not exactly a meat expert, so I don't really know the differences between cuts, but I do know how to tell what tastes better and what doesn't in my mouth — and Ugojip's galbisal, which can sometimes feel heavy for me, was totally clean with no off smell, just flawlessly delicious.

Lastly, the chuck flap from the couple set! This one looks like the textbook definition of beef.

The chuck flap was absolutely loaded with meaty aroma and juice, and eating it with the slightly caramelized onions was seriously good.

Adding anchangsal and the big pot of doenjang jjigae

Honestly, we could've stopped here and still had plenty, but everything was so good we ended up adding anchangsal (skirt steak) too — just look at that marbling.

I'm no meat expert, but my grandfather was always meticulous about picking good meat when I was growing up, and from watching him, marbling really does seem to matter.

It's delicious grilled and eaten on its own, but I love eating meat with rice, so I ordered a bowl of rice to go with it — and the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) here comes in a generous portion.

It's the jjigae that comes included in the set, but usually that comes in a smaller pot — here it comes in a really big pot, so the two of us filled our bowls twice each.

My boyfriend's friend has had a lot of wedding invitation gatherings around this area too, so I'd completely recommend Ugojip as a spot for that near the terminal — and I think I'll be back with my family for a casual meal sometime. The owner was really friendly too.