Pohang makchang dinner by Yeongildae Beach: Neolpanji

A long-awaited parents’ night out at Yeongildae

A trip out to Yeongildae for the first time in forever. Since giving birth, I had not really been able to enjoy Yeongildae unless we came out with the baby. While we were away, so many places had opened and closed; Sutbul-ui Dak was gone, and the newly opened Neolpanji was in its place. Just my husband and me on a parents’ night out, haha.

The days still seem pretty long. We arrived around 5:30 p.m. Even though it was the weekend, the summer vacation period had passed, so the streets were quiet. Yeongildae on a Sunday was calmer than I expected ^~^ Still, people started trickling in early for meat, and by the time we left, every table was full. Such a popular restaurant.

The retro sign probably catches plenty of eyes as people pass through Yeongildae. I think they must be Pohang Steelers fans, because there were jerseys hanging up too. Baseball was playing as well, so it feels like there is probably an owner here who loves sports.

Parking and a cool dining room

For parking, use nearby street parking or the public parking lot by the beach. Pohang Yeongildae Beach is right in front of it, behind Galaxy Hotel. The air conditioning was cranked up full blast ^ ^ So tempting in summer. You go to a barbecue place, but the grill itself is hot too, right? Especially if you end up at the wrong table...

Starting with 3 servings of pre-grilled makchang

We ordered 3 servings of pre-grilled makchang (pork intestines) for ₩10,900, plus one soju and one beer. Soju for my husband, beer for me. We started happily with one each. There were lots of side dishes too, but whenever we come to a meat restaurant, we are the type who would rather eat more meat than sides.

Bracken fern, bean sprouts, potatoes, scallion salad, pickled onions, dried radish strips, makjang (fermented soybean dipping sauce), special sauce, soybean powder, garlic salt, and ssamjang (spicy dipping paste). Even vegetables that are seriously priced like gold these days came with it. Simple, but all the essentials were there.

Rich, chewy makchang after a 10-minute wait

The first-pre-grilled makchang came out after about 10 minutes. Yes! Less grilling time is honestly even better! They checked the temperature of the grill, then a staff member quickly set everything up. (You do have to cook it yourselves.) It was 3 servings, but I thought it was a nice amount for easy drinking snacks.

All 3 servings fit on one grill. Normally we would order 5 servings right away, but we thought we might want something else as we ate, so we only ordered a little makchang to begin with?!!!!!!!!!!! It was truly rich and chewy. We kept saying how much it tasted like the famous places in Daegu, and it turns out Neolpanji is a chain with its main branch in Daegu. I am so glad a place like this opened in Pohang.

A parents’ night out cannot skip drinks. We decided to have a beer and a soju each. Goodbye, parenting stress~ Having a drink for the first time in ages made me feel so good!

In the end, we added 2 more servings. The other menu items surely would have been delicious too, but this was easily among the best makchang I have eaten in Pohang. You can order more basic side dishes on the kiosk if anything runs out. Meat with bracken fern is always the right combination, truly. The grilled potatoes were quietly so tasty too.

Six highballs too

We had a bokbunja (Korean black raspberry) highball too, and the Suntory highball was very reasonably priced as well. Highballs were around ₩6,000–₩7,000, sweet drinks that even people who are not great with alcohol can enjoy one of. We had six drinks in total here—three each. When the food is this good, the drinks just go down so easily.. ★ Neolpanji, this Pohang Yeongildae barbecue restaurant~~ is no joke~~