Seoul Korean BBQ date in Nonhyeon: hanwoo and wine at Matbaegogi

Matbaegogi hours, parking and corkage info

Matbaegogi in Nonhyeon-dong is open Monday to Saturday, 11:00–22:00, with last order at 21:00. Break time is 15:00–17:00 (except Saturdays and public holidays), and it is closed every Sunday.

• Free parking
• Free corkage
• Reservations available
• Group visits available

Anyone else who feels something's missing when you eat meat without a drink?? That's me ^.^ hahahaha And well-marbled beef with a glass of wine? What more could you want on a day like this ˘◡˘ I heard there's a place in Nonhyeon-dong where you can enjoy hanwoo (Korean beef) with free corkage, so I packed a bottle of wine and went.

Where is Matbaegogi in Nonhyeon, and what's the atmosphere like?

Matbaegogi is a neat, standalone hanwoo restaurant near the Yeongdong Market alley in Nonhyeon-dong. In an alley already packed with meat restaurants and bars, who knew there was such a clean standalone building here!

At the entrance hung a 2023 Korean Master Chef commendation plaque and a certification plaque for premium-certified hanwoo, and I trusted the place before I even walked in haha. If it's a master chef's cooking, how good could it be? I went in full of expectations haha.

Interior decorated with bojagi, knots and mother-of-pearl

WOW.. my jaw dropped the moment I walked in. My boyfriend went "Oh??? What is this??" too haha. Near the entrance there's bojagi (traditional wrapping cloth) packaging with traditional knot ornaments, and at the counter there's mother-of-pearl decor! The interior takes traditional elements and gives them a modern twist, and it felt really upscale and unique. It's not your usual BBQ-joint vibe, so I thought it would be great for bringing your parents or hosting a business dinner.

Layout and seating

The space is roughly divided into an open area with big windows near the entrance and an inner hall. We had reserved ahead, and we were shown to a window seat in the inner hall.

Our table was neatly set in advance! Even the napkins had a knot pattern, which made me feel they'd paid attention to every little detail.

Matbaegogi menu and prices: Matbae special mixed set for two, 300g, ₩99,000

Matbaegogi uses tablet ordering! The menu is split into set menus, a la carte beef and meal dishes, and there's a separate lunch-only menu. (A la carte is a standard 130g portion in the ₩40,000–50,000 range.)

The set menu looked like the better meat lineup, so we ordered the Matbae special mixed set for two: 300g, ₩99,000.

Basic setup: side dishes, doenjang-jjigae, yukhoe bibim-myeon

Salad, kimchi, minari tofu, white kimchi, doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), grilled pollock roe, yukhoe bibim-myeon (beef tartare mixed noodles), and then today's star, the hanwoo, all arrived. (The stew and the bibim-myeon come standard with any beef order.)

Every side dish was seasoned not heavy but not bland either, just right!!! Ugh, how do I even put this into words ㅠ You'll get what I mean the second you try it haha.

Matbaegogi's doenjang-jjigae tastes like cheonggukjang

Especially this doenjang-jjigae!!! It was insanely good.... 🥹 It's a stew, but it's clean like a soup with a deep flavor, and it's doenjang-jjigae but tastes like cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew). Ah.... ❤︎ I thought, so this is what a master chef's stew is like hahahaha. After one spoonful, my trust in this place's flavor went up by about 500% haha. If the stew is this good, everything else must be delicious too.

The master's bibim-myeon, what is there to say, of course it was delicious. I mixed in the egg yolk and ate it together with the yukhoe.

In what order does Matbaegogi grill the hanwoo?

The Matbae special mixed set for two consists of sirloin, flat iron and short rib, and the manager grills them in that order. They told us it's premium-certified Gangwon hanwoo that won the presidential prize three times in a row, and just look at that marbling.. 🫢 It looked completely different from the first glance!! Clockwise from the top it's sirloin > flat iron > short rib, and they said they'd grill in that order haha.

Grilled sirloin: first bite with salt, then with pollock roe

Grilling is everything with beef, and the manager grilled it fantastically. It just melts~~~~

We had the first piece with salt, then they recommended topping the sirloin with pollock roe, so I tried it, and it went so well with the savory umami of the roe!!

Having a glass of wine with premium hanwoo makes the flavor feel even richer~~~ It tasted so good that I was in a great mood and my smile wouldn't leave my face ෆ˃̵͈̑ᴗ˂̵͈̑ෆ hahahahahahaha

Grilled flat iron: more tender than the flat iron we eat at home

They kept checking on our eating pace, and just as we were finishing the sirloin, they grilled the flat iron. So thoughtful ♥️

After the flat iron, my boyfriend and I both said: "When we eat flat iron at home, it's not this tender🤔" hahahaha. Maybe it's the premium hanwoo, maybe it's the grilling, but even though flat iron isn't a cut I usually go for, I enjoyed it so much.

Grilled short rib: with wasabi, the cut with the strongest beefy aroma

And finally, the grand finale: the short rib!! They said the marbling was especially good today and recommended eating it with wasabi. It had the richest flavor and beefiest aroma of all, and it was so good bb

I thought about ordering more short rib, but between the wine and the yukhoe bibim-myeon I was sneakily getting full, so we decided to stop while we still wanted more😣 But now I kind of regret it??? hahahahaha

Is Matbaegogi worth bringing wine to?

Throughout the meal I felt they were serving good ingredients deliciously. Matbaegogi in Nonhyeon-dong was a very, very satisfying meal ᰔᩚ Since corkage is free, I definitely recommend bringing a bottle of wine⛧⋆