Seokchon Korean BBQ, whisky pairing set & corkage: Sutbul Seonghwa

I was looking for a clean, nice beef place near Seokchon Lake, and ended up at Sutbul Seonghwa (숯불성화), a Korean BBQ restaurant near Seokchon Station.

Where is Sutbul Seonghwa, what's the seating, and can you bring kids?

Sutbul Seonghwa is a 3-minute walk from the Seokchon Lake intersection. The hall is lined with 4-person tables, and there are booths along the windows, so it's comfortable for groups of two, three or four.

There are baby chairs too, so it's a Seokchon Station restaurant you can visit with a little one. It's a Welcome Kids Zone.

There's also a room at the back, which looked great for eating beef in private.

Sutbul Seonghwa beef menu: what we ordered

Here's the menu, the food section. Cuts are sold individually too,

and there are assortment sets mixing several cuts, which was perfect for me since I love trying a little of everything.

I went with the Seonghwa assortment, so I could have both the rich, nutty cuts and the marinated meat. Look at that raw beef... it was a great choice.

Sutbul Seonghwa corkage fees and drinks menu

Corkage is allowed: ₩20,000 per bottle of wine and ₩30,000 per bottle of whisky. The drinks menu shows they sell all kinds of whisky by the glass and the bottle. This is a BBQ place that's really serious about whisky.

Soju and beer are ₩6,000 each, and the draft beer is Stella.

Sutbul Seonghwa highball prices

The highball selection is great too. The basic Suntory highball is ₩8,000, and the double-size Mega highball is ₩14,000. Maker's Mark highballs were on a 2+1 deal, and they also sell highballs made with Hibiki, Hakushu and Yamazaki.

A whisky sampler at a Korean BBQ? Whisky of the day and the pairing set

You can tell how serious Sutbul Seonghwa is about whisky from this whisky menu,

and with the "whisky of the day," the special-priced whisky changes every day.

There's also a whisky pairing set where you can taste three whiskies at once. It's not a whisky bar, it's a BBQ restaurant, and this is the first time I've seen a whisky sampler at one.

Oh, and of course there's red wine, which goes so well with beef, by the glass and the bottle, plus regular soft drinks: cola, Zero Cola, Sprite-style soda and Fanta Pine, ₩2,000 each.

Sutbul Seonghwa table setting: four dipping sauces and side dishes

The basic setup comes with four dipping sauces: Maldon salt, special salt, wasabi and whole grain mustard.

And so many sides to go with the meat: icy radish salad, grapefruit and minari (water dropwort) salad, myeongi namul (pickled wild garlic-chive greens), white kimchi, wasabi mushrooms and celery pickles. Each one has its own character, so picking and mixing is fun.

How does the staff-grilled Seonghwa assortment taste?

The charcoal comes in, roaring hot, and at Sutbul Seonghwa the staff grill the meat for you. Meat is always right.

One thing caught my eye: a button mushroom. I wondered whether the filling was butter or cheese, so I asked, and it's butter. This is how it looked when done. A butter-soaked button mushroom is precious.

Beef grilled by a pro, time to taste it.

Dipped in Maldon salt, special salt, wasabi. Of the three, the special salt stuck with me most. Its saltiness and savoriness go wonderfully with the richness of the beef.

And a fizzy drink to go with the meat. Sutbul Seonghwa really knows what it's doing: the drink comes in a chilled stainless steel cup, so it stays cold to the last sip.

Sutbul Seonghwa bibim naengmyeon: ₩12,000, 100% buckwheat noodles

You can't skip cold noodles when eating meat, so I went for bibim naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles). It's ₩12,000.

It came out just when the meat was nicely grilled, so the timing was great. Slurp slurp. They even brought a separate small plate so we could portion it out. The noodles are 100% buckwheat, so they were mild and slid right down.

With so many dipping sauces and sides, I was busy trying combinations to find my taste, and then it was time for the marinated meat: wine-marinated rib fingers.

The Seonghwa assortment starts with unseasoned, well-marbled cuts and moves on to mild cuts marinated in sauce, which is a 👍 setup. No chance to get sick of it.

Dessert, restroom and final verdict on Sutbul Seonghwa

To finish, Sutbul Seonghwa's free dessert: Excellent ice cream. It came in yellow and blue, and eating both, I realized once again that I'm a yellow person.

If you're looking for a clean beef place near Seokchon Lake that allows corkage, I recommend Sutbul Seonghwa. With so many sides and dipping sauces, it's fun to hunt for your favorite combination.

Oh, and the whisky lineup is so strong that even without corkage you can enjoy beef with a wide range of whiskies, so if you're looking for a place for whisky and beef together, that's another recommendation.

+ The restroom is inside the building, separate for men and women, and clean. They even keep mouthwash in there, a nice touch.