Gwangsan Chinese restaurant with rotating lamb skewers: Jangbaeksan

Where is Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong in Gwangju?

Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong Main Branch 20 Songjeong-ro 1beon-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, South Korea

I bet there aren't many lamb skewer lovers out there who haven't been here! I actually didn't used to eat lamb skewers that often, but after trying Jangbaeksan once, I got hooked and now I find myself eating it pretty regularly.

Evening visit and the spacious interior at Jangbaeksan

I visited right as dinner time was starting and was surprised there were already customers. It was before the weekday after-work rush, but people were already eating haha. I can only imagine how packed it gets on weekends! Visiting early really does seem like the way to avoid a wait.

The interior was pretty spacious with plenty of seats. Since I visited during dinner time, a lot of the customers seemed to be enjoying lamb skewers with drinks.

How do the auto-rotating lamb skewers work?

These are the lamb skewers at Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong — none of that gamey smell you sometimes get with lamb, just a nutty, tender flavor.

They fire it up right away, and the flame is strong so the skewers cook quickly.

You just grab the stick and fit it into the slot, and it spins around on its own, grilling automatically. No need to flip it or fuss with it yourself, which makes it really easy to eat.

You can roughly tell by eye when they're done haha. The flame is pretty strong, so they cook fast. Once a skewer is done, you lay it across the top rail, and if it starts to cool down, just slide it back into the rail to reheat. The only downside is... eating them too fast? They're so good they disappear in no time haha.

The basic side dishes that go great with lamb skewers!

Cumin powder is also served, one dish per person. I think it can be a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it thing the first time you try it, but I'm firmly in the love-it camp! At first I just smelled the powder and thought the scent was too strong, so I hesitated over whether to use it, but after trying it my mind changed haha. There's a pretty big difference in flavor between eating the skewers with and without it.

Ordering Chinese dishes by tablet at Jangbaeksan

You can order from the menu using the tablet at your table.

The dishes I ordered came out pretty quickly. I barely waited before they arrived. The menu has quite a variety, so if you're visiting with a group, it might be a good idea to order several different dishes and share.

Crispy, chewy guobaorou with tangy sauce

There were plenty of dishes that seemed like they'd pair well with the lamb skewers. My personal favorite is guobaorou (sweet and sour crispy pork)! The portion is really generous, and the tangy sauce is its main charm.

Besides the guobaorou I had with the lamb skewers today, there were other dishes too, like pepper stir-fried pork, mapo tofu, ganpunggi, and stir-fried eggplant, so next time I visit Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi Songjeong, I'll have to try something other than guobaorou. The flame in the middle of the grill is pretty intense, so the skewers there cook a lot faster than the ones on the ends — I kept swapping them around to even things out.

Guobaorou piled up like a mountain! You can tell it's crispy all the way to where the sauce is applied. The sauce mostly pools at the bottom of the plate, so it's best to cut the pieces into bite-sized bits and dip them generously in the sauce at the bottom — really delicious. It's the kind of tangy sauce that makes your eyes widen.

If you love guobaorou that's both crispy and chewy, I'd definitely recommend the guobaorou at Jangbaeksan Yangkkochi.

The egg soup was served complimentary. It was super smooth and went down easily, clean and refreshing, which made it a nice pairing while eating the lamb skewers. This is a lamb skewer spot near Gwangju Songjeong Station, and it's busy on weekdays as well as weekends, so if you want to eat without waiting, I'd recommend getting there early.