Date-night Korean BBQ in Namyeong, Seoul: Byeoljin Hwarogui

Today's Namyeong Station restaurant pick! I'd walked past this place again and again thinking, I really should go sometime, and it turned out to have a better atmosphere and better food than I expected. This is Byeoljin Hwarogui, a Korean BBQ spot by Namyeong Station.

Byeoljin Hwarogui in 3 honest lines

• Great meat quality
• A charcoal-brazier grill with a great atmosphere
• A barbecue where you get to taste a variety

Where is Byeoljin Hwarogui, and how close is it to Namyeong Station?

Byeoljin Hwarogui is a charcoal-brazier (hwarogui) BBQ restaurant right in front of Namyeong Station. It's at 1F, 11 Hangang-daero 77-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and since it's right as you come out of the station, it's very easy to find.

A BBQ place right in front of Namyeong Station, Byeoljin, a charcoal grill restaurant. I really did see it all the time while passing by, kept saying I should go sometime, and this time I finally did.

It's literally right in front of Namyeong Station, so it's super easy to find and get to. Byeoljin 👍

Byeoljin Hwarogui interior and reserved seating

The inside of Byeoljin Hwarogui feels much classier than it looks from outside. If you book ahead, you're guided to a reserved table, and further in there are group seats divided by partitions.

The atmosphere is better than I expected. It has a slightly upscale charcoal-grill feel, the kind of BBQ place that's good for a date.

I was surprised by how much better the mood was than it looked from outside. I honestly think this is a really good place for a date 😊

I visited Byeoljin with a reservation. I liked this reserved-table feel too. I definitely recommend booking before you go.

Further inside, there was a spot that's great for a group dinner: a space divided by partitions. Byeoljin Hwarogui takes group reservations, and it's a solid choice for a company dinner too.

Byeoljin Hwarogui menu

Byeoljin Hwarogui is a BBQ restaurant with pork, beef and smoked barbecue. The menu and prices are posted outside in big photos, so you can see the whole lineup before you go in.

Another plus: the menu and prices are displayed outside in really large photos. Being able to see the whole menu at a glance is so convenient, which makes Byeoljin a great Namyeong Station BBQ place.

Byeoljin Hwarogui has a wide range of meats. Pork, beef, smoked barbecue and more, and I loved the menu lineup. There's a decent number of sides too, and even extra vegetables to add, which makes it a good charcoal BBQ restaurant.

What's in the smoked BBQ set (medium, 800g) for ₩45,000

What I ordered was the Byeoljin Hwarogui smoked BBQ set, medium (800g), for ₩45,000, plus steamed egg (gyeran-jjim) for ₩4,000. The side dishes start with a salad, and kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) came out on the house.

I love that the basic side dishes at Byeoljin Hwarogui start with a salad! It's a Namyeong Station BBQ place with great accompaniments for the meat. The black sesame salad was especially good. Grilling the olives and garlic was nice too. I'd never grilled olives like this before, and it has its own different charm.

The pork ribs, grilled for us so nicely.

They grill the pork ribs for you right at the start. Personally, this was the best of all. Please, please order the ribs!!! That true charcoal-brazier flavor.

Steamed egg ₩4,000, kimchi jjigae on the house.

A drink before the meat. Byeoljin Hwarogui has highballs too, which is great.

From pork ribs to chicken drumsticks and smoked pork belly

The pork ribs at Byeoljin Hwarogui come pre-grilled over smoke, so you only need to grill them a little more. I ate in this order: ribs, then drumsticks and wing drumettes, and finally the smoked pork belly.

Delicious ribs with just the right amount of fat. They come out pre-smoked, so you only grill them briefly. They were seriously so good! I'm the type who likes to save the tastiest for last, so next time at Byeoljin Hwarogui I think I'll eat the ribs last. I want to go pork belly, then chicken, then ribs. Fatty, then light, then a harmony of both, that kind of feel.

For the ribs, they cut them and grill them for you, and then you finish grilling the bones and eat them. The meat clinging to bones, where there's hardly anything to eat but it's so tasty, you all know what I mean, right?? It's chewy and delicious, so I can't give it up. The drumsticks and wing drumettes are grilled nicely and eaten too. Honestly, more charm than I expected!

And last, the smoked pork belly. Juicy, dripping with fat, delicious pork belly. The barbecue lineup at Byeoljin Hwarogui is seriously great. The meat quality was so good that eating it with wasabi was the best.

Byeoljin Hwarogui overall verdict

A Namyeong Station BBQ spot, a Yongsan meat restaurant, and a good date pick: Byeoljin Hwarogui. The interior atmosphere was much better than I expected, and it was a really good date course. The food was tasty, the service was friendly, and everything was perfect. It's the kind of BBQ place where next time I want to go and just keep drinking 😋

Byeoljin Hwarogui address and info

• Address: 1F Byeoljin, 11 Hangang-daero 77-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Galwol-dong 98-1, Yongsan-gu, Seoul)
• Hours: 11:00–22:00 / break time 15:00–16:30 / last order 21:00
• Closed: every Sunday
• Parking: available (paid), first 60 minutes free, then ₩1,000 per 10 minutes / up to 2 hours of parking covered with dinner, not covered for those eating lunch menus
• Info: groups, reservations, separate men's and women's restrooms, Wi-Fi, high chairs, waiting area, wheelchair accessible, corkage allowed (free or paid)