Yangju dakgalbi restaurant with pine-nut makgeolli: Seorak Makguksu

Looking for a good restaurant near Lakewood CC or in Yangju? Then get yourselves to 'Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi'~! Cock-a-doodle-doo~!~!~! hahahahahahahaha

We stopped by on the way back from camping around the Yangju area, and since it's right in front of Lakewood CC, it seems like a great spot to eat before or after a round, or after practicing at the driving range! Babe, I wanna go to Lakewood too ^.^ hahahahaha

It's a well-known charcoal dakgalbi chain that I've always enjoyed, but... this Yangju branch was especially delicious ❤️ My boyfriend and I both kept saying "Wait, why does this taste even better?" while eating. The owner here must have a good hand for cooking >_<

Seorak Makguksu Yangju Branch hours and parking

Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi Yangju Branch is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00 with a break time from 15:00 to 16:00, and it's closed every Tuesday. There's free parking in front of the restaurant, and takeout, group seating, baby chairs and corkage are all free.

Parking and wait times at Sunday lunch

There's a parking lot in front with quite a lot of spots — there was about another third of the space behind where I took my photo. I heard it opened not long ago, but word must already be out that it's good, because at the Sunday lunch peak around 1pm it was full and we waited about 10 minutes to park. Luckily a table opened up right as we walked in, so we got seated with no wait, but I think between 12 and 1pm you'd probably have to wait!

Inside Seorak Makguksu: group tables and conveniences

Inside Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi Yangju Branch, there's a hall connected to the kitchen on the left, and a room-like separated space on the right. The right side has a sliding door, making it great for private dining with a group.

The moment we walked in the door, every table was full except one (ours). It's a great layout for a golf club monthly meeting or any large group visit ~!

Maybe because it's new, the place was so clean and spotless, which I really loved. Just a heads up though — since it's a dakgalbi place, your clothes might pick up some smell. (Totally worth it for how good it tastes lol)

And I loved that the restroom is indoors. It was spotless too, haha

It's not like pan-grilled dakgalbi where sauce splatters everywhere, but they still provide hygienic disposable aprons — essential for messy eaters like me! Oh, and of course there are baby chairs too ^ㅇ^

Menu and ingredient origins: all Korean-grown

The first thing that caught my eye on the menu at Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi Yangju Branch was the labeling that the rice, cabbage, and chili powder were all domestic. The chicken is domestic too, so I ordered without worrying about the origin.

The very first thing I noticed on the menu — domestic rice, cabbage, and chili powder!!!!!!! With all the recent issues about Chinese-sourced cabbage, I'd been extra sensitive about origin when eating out, so knowing everything here — rice, cabbage, chili powder, and of course chicken — was all domestic put my mind at ease before I'd even eaten a bite.

After debating between soy sauce and charcoal-grilled versions, we ordered charcoal dakgalbi for two, mul makguksu (cold buckwheat noodle soup) for dessert, and pine-nut makgeolli (rice wine)^^

They're also running a receipt review event where you get a rice cracker or two drinks. Watching the table next to us eat the rice cracker, it looked pretty tasty 'ㅇ' We should write a proper review and try it too (we were too full, though... too bad).

Side dishes and the self-serve bar

Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi Yangju Branch serves bottled water, and the basic side dishes are mustard-pickled cabbage, spicy radish salad, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), lettuce, garlic, sauce, and dongchimi (radish water kimchi). If you run out, you can refill as much as you like from the self-serve bar.

They run a self-serve bar so you can refill any side dish you run low on! Just a heads up, the chili peppers when I went were seriously spicy 🔥

Gapyeong pine-nut makgeolli, 6,000 won

They serve the Gapyeong pine-nut makgeolli that my boyfriend and I have been obsessed with lately — how could you not order it~~~~~? That pine-nut aftertaste is extremely, extremely charming ❤︎

Charcoal dakgalbi for two, 32,000 won: is 500g enough?

The charcoal dakgalbi at Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi comes at 32,000 won for two, 500g before grilling. At first it looked like it might be a small portion, but by the time we finished, it was plenty.

Big eaters might want to add about half a portion per person, but for a normal appetite, ordering by headcount should be enough.

The staff grilled it a bit more for us to make it easier to eat, and once the dakgalbi was fully cooked, they added an extra grill layer on top so it stayed warm without burning haha. I should try that trick at other grill restaurants too, hahahahaha

The charcoal dakgalbi smelled amazing even before tasting it, and eating it with cabbage was nom nom. Not exaggerating one bit, I made the 'genuine delicious face' haha. I've had charcoal dakgalbi plenty of times before, and it's a flavor I know well, but why did it taste this good here... whew

Since we had dakgalbi, of course a glass of pine-nut makgeolli too, cheers~

Had the makgeolli, so gotta have a snack to go with it. This time, topped with spicy radish salad and wrapped up, nom nom

Sipping dongchimi in between made it feel like everything was digesting as I ate haha. Which means I should eat more, right 😎 The slightly refreshing combo with the radish salad was so good too.

And why is grilled rice cake this delicious too.

Tip 💡 keep flipping the chicken on the added grill

Ah! Even with the extra grill lifting it away from direct flame, the charcoal heat is so intense that it'll burn if you don't flip it ㅠㅠ Make sure to flip it every so often while eating!!!!

Whether wrapped with radish salad or cabbage, or just eaten plain, it's so good 🥰

Mul makguksu, 6,000 won: how strong is the pine-nut broth?

The mul makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles in broth) served for dessert at Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi is 6,000 won, and the broth is made with pine nuts. You can't finish dakgalbi without makguksu at the end. The dakgalbi portion had felt on the smaller side, so I debated ordering a regular-size makguksu, but ordered the dessert size instead — and it was plenty. Of course, since it tastes so good, I probably would've finished a regular-size order too, but my stomach might've been about to burst hahahahaha

I mixed in a little mustard and makguksu sauce — that's my style of eating makguksu haha. I'd left 2-3 pieces of charcoal dakgalbi specifically to eat this way. If you're planning to have makguksu, make sure to save some. The combo is as good as yuksam naengmyeon (cold noodles with boiled pork).

The menu said the broth was made with pine nuts, and it must have used quite a lot, because the pine-nut presence in the broth really shines! I didn't try the mixed (bibim) version, but I'd recommend the water (mul) version haha. Drank the mul makguksu bowl dry and finished the meal feeling very satisfied — that's my review, hehe ˘◡˘

Is Seorak Makguksu in Yangju worth a stop?

The staff were so kind, the restaurant was clean, and I especially loved that the ingredients were all domestic! Overall there was nothing lacking, and it was satisfying across the board — it's been a while since I found such a well-rounded, all-around great restaurant.