Daejeon pork bone grill after a bread crawl: less-spicy small, Yeonam

After finishing a bread-crawl around Daejeon, I wanted to properly cure my greasy, bread-heavy stomach, so I headed to Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang. It's so famous for pork bone grill in Daejeon that I'd wanted to stop by since before the trip even started.

Where is Yeonam? A Daehung-dong alley in Daejeon, with a wait even at 2pm on a weekday

Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang sits deep inside an alley in Daehung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon. Even arriving around 2pm on a weekday, well past lunch rush, there was still a wait at the entrance — that's how busy it gets. Weekend waits are apparently even longer, so I'd strongly recommend reserving ahead on weekdays too. On weekends you can join the wait through CatchTable, so pre-registering or booking ahead is essential if you want to save time.

• Hours: Daily 11:30–24:00
• Parking: No lot on site. You'll need to use Uriedeul Park public parking.

Inside, it feels like a typical comfortable Korean restaurant, and even with a decent number of tables, empty seats are hard to find. Seeing customers keep streaming in well past mealtime really shows how popular this place is. Thanks to having a reservation, I got to walk straight in — drawing more than a few envious looks from the people still waiting.

Ordering the small maekbanseok pork bone grill and rice balls at the less-spicy level

You order through the tablet at each table, and I went with the small maekbanseok (hot-stone-grilled) pork bone grill plus rice balls. The pork bone grill lets you pick your spice level, and since I can't handle much heat, I chose less spicy, plus added the complimentary broth and rice balls.

Side dishes and barley tea at Yeonam

The basic side dishes include chili peppers with ssamjang (thick soybean paste), pickled onions, angel hair jelly salad, and stir-fried anchovies. The anchovies especially — small, crispy, and salty — kept pulling my hand back even before the pork bones arrived. Really good with beer. The pickled onions and soft angel hair jelly salad pair nicely between bites of the spicy sauce.

I was glad the water served was barley tea instead of plain water — the nutty flavor was excellent, and it also helped cool down the spiciness of the pork bones.

One more thing I really liked: there's a little guard shielding the part of the spoon and chopsticks that touches your mouth. I'm fairly sensitive about hygiene, so this kind of thoughtful detail really stood out to me.

How much food is the small size? Five large bones in deep smoky sauce

Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang's small maekbanseok pork bone grill fills the black plate with giant bones topped with sesame seeds and long-cut scallions. The scallions looked like they'd been grilled once already.

Even as the 'small' size, the portion is generous, so the visual impact is strong the moment it lands on the table. The glossy red sauce combined with the char marks from the charcoal grill makes it smell smoky just from looking at it.

After walking around all day on the bread-crawl, hot and worn out, pairing the pork bone grill with a cold beer was such a great combo. Eating the sweet-spicy sauce and then sipping cold beer resets your palate, and your hand goes right back for more meat.

Is the less-spicy level mild enough for people who can't take heat?

The sauce is spicy-sweet with a deep charcoal aroma lingering throughout, a familiar taste similar to charcoal-grilled chicken sauce. Even the less-spicy option has some kick — enough to make you go 'sseup' (that sharp inhale) a few times as you eat. Still, it's not so intense that it hurts your tongue — deliciously spicy, and manageable even for spice wimps like me.

The meat is so tender it pulls right off the bone with barely any effort. It seems to have been slow-simmered for a long time — the flesh is moist inside with no dry or chewy bits, and the sauce is well soaked through to the center.

The portion was also very generous. I ordered the small size but got five large bones. In the end, we left the last bone half-eaten.

The free gamjatang broth: far more than a throw-in

Order the pork bone grill at Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang and you'll also get gamjatang broth on the house. I expected it to be a light throw-in, but it turned out rich and savory, clearly simmered from pork bones, with a proper spicy kick too.

Sipping a spoonful of hot broth between bites of the sweet-spicy pork bones settles your stomach nicely. After tasting this broth, I'm convinced their gamjatang or ppyeohaejangguk (pork bone hangover soup) must be excellent too. Looking around, other tables were ordering a bowl of ppyeohaejangguk as an add-on — and clearly for good reason.

Rice balls at Yeonam: one serving feels like 1.5 bowls of rice

The rice balls come topped generously with seaweed flakes and mayo, which you mix in yourself. The portion is substantial — I ordered one serving, and it felt like about 1.5 bowls of rice worth.

The nutty, salty rice balls are tasty on their own, but dipping them lightly in the pork bone sauce both tones down the spice and adds heft. It's a great way to finish off any leftover sauce too, making it a good side to order alongside the pork bone grill.

I came here to reset my greasy palate after a bread-crawl, and it really did feel like a proper bread hangover cure. Meat that falls off the bone easily, deeply smoky-sweet sauce, and that complimentary gamjatang broth — every part of it was satisfying.