Korean BBQ beef platter 600g for three in Seocho, Seoul: Ugojip

After the art fair wrapped up, I wanted to treat the friends who'd helped with setup and teardown to some good beef, so I went looking for Korean BBQ restaurants near Express Bus Terminal and ended up at Ugojip in Banpo.

Honestly, every time I make plans around Express Bus Terminal Station or Banpo, I feel the same thing — the location is great, but finding a place where a group can comfortably gather and eat good beef together isn't as easy as you'd think.

This time especially, since I wanted to properly treat the friends who'd worked hard for the art fair, I was looking for somewhere that wasn't too pricey but let us try a variety of cuts. That's how I ended up at Ugojip in Banpo.

To cut to the conclusion: this time we ordered the signature set 600g, ate our fill of various beef cuts, and finished it off properly with cheese doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and fried rice.

Where is Ugojip, and how close is it to Express Bus Terminal Station?

Ugojip's address is 195 Sinbanpo-ro, Banpo Shopping Town Building 5 basement, Seocho-gu, Seoul. It's really close, about 100m from Express Bus Terminal Station Exit 8-2. One of Ugojip's biggest advantages is definitely its accessibility.

Come out of Express Bus Terminal Station Exit 8-2 and you'll see a KFC right in front of you — pass the KFC and head down to the basement of Banpo Shopping Town Building 5, and you'll find Ugojip.

It's almost directly connected to the station, so it's a really convenient spot if you're meeting up by public transport. Also, since Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam is just across the street from Banpo Shopping Town, it's easy to pair a meal here with a department store trip or other Express Bus Terminal plans.

What comes in Ugojip's signature set 600g for 79,000 won?

What we ordered this time was Ugojip's signature set 600g. It costs ₩79,000 and is recommended for 3-4 people. It's the restaurant's signature assortment of specialty cuts, so the advantage is that a group can try a variety of cuts all at once.

The set includes chadolbagi (thinly sliced beef brisket), galbisal, toshisal, salchisal, anchangsal, and more, so it made the meal much more fun than just eating one cut. Everyone tends to have a slightly different favorite cut of beef, and having several kinds come out at once made it easy for each person to pick what suited their taste.

And another feature of Ugojip is that you can order meat in 100g increments.

Rather than ordering a big amount from the start, you can try it and then add on whichever cut you liked, so it's convenient to order according to your group size or appetite. If there are two of you, there's also a couple set 400g for ₩49,000, so you can choose based on your headcount.

Well, everyone worked hard on teardown that day, so — beer, cheers! So good!

Five beef cuts on the grill at Ugojip

This meal made me especially happy. It was supposed to be me treating the friends who'd helped with the art fair setup and teardown, but they ended up grilling all the meat for me instead, haha. Thanks to them, I just got to sit back and eat comfortably.

Timing really matters when grilling beef, and since they watched the meat carefully and grilled it just right, you could really feel the difference in texture between the cuts. Chadolbagi was nice and savory, and galbisal and toshisal had that distinct beefy flavor that came through more the more you chewed.

There was also fun in trying each cut one by one and discussing which was tastiest. Above all, ordering 600g at once turned out to be just the right amount for a few of us to grill and eat together.

Finishing with brisket doenjang jjigae and fried rice

The cheese doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) that came with the meat at Ugojip was also quite tasty. Maybe because of the beef brisket in it, it had a richer, more savory feel than a regular doenjang jjigae, and it was nice to spoon up between bites of beef.

When a Korean BBQ restaurant's doenjang jjigae is good, your overall satisfaction quietly goes up, doesn't it? It cut through the richness of the meat nicely and went well with rice too.

And of course, we finished with fried rice at the end. After eating plenty of meat, wrapping up with fried rice really filled us up. In the end, we finished a satisfying, very full meal of 600g of beef plus cheese doenjang jjigae and fried rice.

Is Ugojip a good family dinner spot near Express Bus Terminal?

Express Bus Terminal Station is such a convenient transit hub that it's a great meeting spot for family or friends coming from different areas. With that in mind, anyone looking for a family gathering restaurant near Express Bus Terminal might want to keep Ugojip in mind.

Above all, being close to the station means less travel hassle when visiting with parents or family, and the setup where a group can grill and eat together is a real plus. Since dishes can be ordered in 100g increments, it's also easy to add on more depending on family size or appetite.

For a group of 3-4, ordering the signature set 600g we had this time as a base and adding whichever cut you're missing seems like a good approach.

The three of us cleaned the whole table!

There's a gelato place nearby called Ice Girl Cream Boy — make sure to stop by after Ugojip, the Banpo BBQ spot. It's a fantastic ice cream shop for a palate cleanser, the perfect course combo! I'll write a post about that one later, haha.

Ugojip visit information: hours, prices and directions

• Address: 195 Sinbanpo-ro, Banpo Shopping Town Building 5 basement, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea, Ugojip
• Directions: About 100m from Express Bus Terminal Station Exit 8-2
• Hours: Daily 15:00–23:00 (last order 22:00)