Songnidan-gil Korean BBQ date on Chungju charcoal: Sutbul Seonghwa

I was so hungry for meat that my belly was practically stuck to my back~ Today I'm introducing Sutbul Seonghwa (숯불성화), in Songnidan-gil near Seokchon Lake in Jamsil, Songpa. It's a great spot for a wedding invitation get-together (we call it 청모) or a date with someone special. I went with my boyfriend, and after a long time we enjoyed really, truly delicious high-quality meat in a lovely space. (He loved it so much that I felt proud, haha.)

Sutbul Seonghwa location, hours and parking

Sutbul Seonghwa is in Songnidan-gil, halfway between Seokchon Station and Jamsil Station. The address is 30-13 Songpa-dong, and it's open daily from 11am to 1am the next day. (Note the break time is 3pm to 5pm!)

There's a separate parking area once you enter the alley by the restaurant. If it's full, you'll need a nearby paid lot. From 5pm to 11pm you have to use valet, and the valet fee was ₩3,300~ (I came after 8pm, so maybe that's why I could park in the space next to the restaurant!)

Sutbul Seonghwa atmosphere and seating: private room, window seats, group seats

The inside is neat and private. There's a room at the back, window seats and group seating.

This is the private room. It looks like it fits up to 6 people, and it's very clean.

There were two of us and we sat at a window seat. (The glass was very clean, and I liked that the floor-to-ceiling window didn't feel stuffy.)

There's group seating too. It looked perfectly fine for a company dinner.

What we ordered for two at Sutbul Seonghwa

You order by kiosk at each table. We looked around slowly, and as a party of two, this is what we ordered~!

• Seonghwa Platter 400g ₩88,900
• Snowflake beef spicy jjapaguri ₩13,000
• 8-minute hanwoo doenjang stew ₩8,000

They give you a highball if you do the review event, so definitely join--!!

Sutbul Seonghwa side dishes and dipping seasonings

Each personal plate comes with various seasonings and side dishes to go with the meat.

To go with the meat we got two kinds of salt, wasabi and whole-grain mustard.

The side dishes were white kimchi, myeongi namul (wild garlic-chive pickle), green onion kimchi, yuja dropwort salad, onion sauce, frozen radish salad (mu-saengchae) and shiitake wasabi. Every one was tasty and you could feel the care that went into them.

Dropwort and yuja go really well together and cleanse the palate, and the slightly frozen radish salad was refreshing too. (It was so cool and delicious that I got two refills, haha~)

Sutbul Seonghwa personal grill and Chungju charcoal

Every table has its own grill. The charcoal is said to be made by roasting high-quality oak from Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do, in the traditional way.

Seonghwa Platter 400g, ₩88,900: staff grill the first piece

The meat in the 400g Seonghwa Platter looked top quality, and after one bite I understood why. They say Sutbul Seonghwa only serves top-grade beef.

A staff member grilled just the first piece of snowflake beef (nunkkotsal) for us, then explained how to grill the other cuts and what pairs well with them before leaving. After that we grilled slowly ourselves~

I was amazed the moment I ate that one piece of snowflake beef. The juices burst in my mouth, and it seemed already seasoned, so it was plenty tasty even without other sides.

It went well with the myeongi namul too, and when you feel full of meat, try it with shiitake wasabi, which is even better. But the shiitake wasabi was seriously spicy.. haha, I was shocked.

Cubed flower rib: grill each of the four sides briefly

Next we put four pieces of cubed flower rib (kkotgalbisal) on and grilled them slowly. Grilling each of the four sides just a little let the juices burst from inside, which made it even better. With meat this good, it wasn't hard to grill.

Wine-marinated rib fingers: flip often

We grilled up the wine-marinated rib fingers (neukgansal) too. They told us to flip them often, and since they were already marinated, they tasted great without any other dips.

This brimming bowl of broth.. how delicious it was.. One sip of the soup and it felt like my tiredness melted away, haha.

Sutbul Seonghwa meal menu: spicy jjapaguri and 8-minute hanwoo doenjang stew

Snowflake beef spicy jjapaguri, ₩13,000

The snowflake beef spicy jjapaguri (noodles combining jjapagetti and neoguri) at Sutbul Seonghwa was really good.. The portion was plenty for two of us~ The beef on top was tender and tasty, and it was even better with myeongi namul on top, haha.

8-minute hanwoo doenjang stew, ₩8,000

The 8-minute hanwoo doenjang stew (soybean paste stew with Korean beef) arrived packed with meat and vegetables. The way it melted softly in my mouth was crazy.

Rice, ₩2,000: the rice is really good

If you're Korean, you can't not order rice. And the rice at Sutbul Seonghwa is really, really good.. The meat is great, but we raved about this rice too. With just kimchi, I could have eaten about 3 bowls of it..

They also give you Excellent ice cream for dessert. After finishing with ice cream, it was a perfect meal.

Who is Sutbul Seonghwa good for?

Sutbul Seonghwa was truly suitable for important meals: hosting people dear to you, blind dates, wedding invitation get-togethers and so on. Next time I'm planning to come back with my parents. The staff were attentive and kind too. I really recommend Sutbul Seonghwa in Songnidan-gil.