Eel buffet near Ansan Jungang Station with 75 group seats: Songnim Bok

I'd been craving eel for a while, so I headed to the Ansan City Hall branch of Songnim Bok Jangeo, which does an all-you-can-eat freshwater eel buffet. Eel is delicious but can get pricey when you actually want to eat your fill — here you can also pile on as much pork belly and duck neck as you want, which I loved for the peace of mind it gave me. I wasn't expecting much from the eel's size or quality given it's a buffet, but it was surprisingly big and plump. The owner was friendly too, so it was a genuinely nice meal overall.

Songnim Bok Jangeo Ansan City Hall branch: prices and hours

• Hours: 11:20 AM–10:00 PM
• Building parking available
• Group seating for up to 75
• All-you-can-eat: adults ₩29,900 / children ₩14,000 / table setting fee ₩3,000
• Free bokbunja with all-you-can-eat order
• Lunch menu: eel soup, galbitang ₩10,000

Where Songnim Bok Jangeo is, and where to park

This Gojan-dong eel buffet spot is right near Ansan Jungang Station. It's diagonally across from Coo Coo Gold, and since there's building parking, it's easy to reach by car too.

There's a Freshwater Eel Farming and Fisheries Cooperative mark posted outside the store. They say they bring in live eel from farms and direct-sale markets and prep it fresh every morning. Hearing that they never use frozen eel really showed the owner's pride in the product.

Is the hall big enough for a group dinner?

The hall is spacious and pleasant — the moment I saw it, I thought this would be a great spot for the next work dinner. It seats up to 75 for groups and can also be privately booked, so anyone scouting a group dinner venue should save this one. It'd work well for family gatherings or friend meetups too, of course. It's an all-you-can-eat eel place, but I really liked the rattan lampshades — they gave the space a nice touch.

What is on the self-bar at Songnim Bok Jangeo

At first they bring out side dishes plus eel, pork belly and duck neck. After that, it's self-serve from the bar.

The self-bar at this Gojan-dong eel buffet has eel, pork belly, duck neck, various side dishes and lettuce wraps, plus a station to fry your own eggs. No worries about running low on protein here.

The neatly arranged eel and pork belly on the self-bar gave a good sense of how carefully the ingredients are prepped and kept clean. The lettuce wraps were also very fresh.

White kimchi, pickles, green onion kimchi and perilla leaf pickles — all great palate-cleansing companions for the grilled meat.

The free bottle of bokbunja with every buffet order

The owner brought over a bottle of bokbunja. Wait, I didn't order that — I said. The answer: it's on the house! Excuse me?? Apparently they give a free bottle of bokbunja with any all-you-can-eat order. I hadn't even tasted the eel yet and already felt great, which somehow made the eel taste even better in advance. Eel plus bokbunja though... I knew I wasn't sleeping well that night, haha.

How to grill the freshwater eel, and how big the pieces are

Lay the eel skin-side down first. Once the skin side starts shrinking as it cooks, flip it, grill the other side thoroughly, then use scissors to cut it into bite-size pieces. The owner of this Ansan City Hall eel spot says he catches the eel himself every day, and it showed — the pieces were so thick and plump that one snip of the scissors wasn't quite enough to cut through.

Cutting the pieces to an even length gives you that pro-grilled look you'd see at a dedicated eel restaurant. Line them up neatly and make sure the sides are cooked through too.

While the eel cooks, prep the eel sauce. Pour the sauce from the black tumbler generously over the ginger and eat it together with the eel. I liked that the sauce container had a lid — it felt more hygienic.

Once the eel is nicely grilled, try it dipped in salt, with ginger, or wrapped in lettuce.

How were the pork belly and duck neck?

The pork belly was also fresh and cut to a thickness well-suited for charcoal grilling. If the charcoal gets too hot, the fat dripping off the pork belly can cause flare-ups.

※ When you first put the pork belly on, grill it slowly on the weaker side of the fire to avoid flare-ups.

The pork belly had a good ratio of fat, giving it a nice savory flavor. No off smell either — it was delicious.

Try wrapping eel, pork belly and ginger all together in one lettuce wrap.

I didn't expect much from the duck neck, but it tasted somewhat like chicken and was really good. It wasn't dry at all and had a nice savory flavor, so I went back for seconds and thirds.

Eel is the main draw so I meant to eat more of that, but the pork belly and duck neck were so good that I went back for the same set two more times.

Is the 29,900 won eel buffet worth it?

If you want to eat eel without worrying about the bill near Ansan City Hall, Songnim Bok Jangeo's all-you-can-eat is worth a visit. Beyond the eel, you can also eat your fill of pork belly and duck neck, and the self-bar setup gives a group plenty of choice. Most importantly, even as an all-you-can-eat spot, the eel itself was big and plump — genuinely satisfying. The spacious hall also looked like a solid option for family gatherings, friend meetups or a big group dinner. If you're ever craving eel and want to eat as much as you like, this is a place I'd happily return to.