Gongneung BBQ buffet: shaved pork belly, DIY Sinramyeon at Eongteori

Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch 2nd floor, 83 Dongil-ro 192-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul Hours: daily 12:00–3:00 (next day) No parking

I recently went to eat meat until I was ready to burst with friends at Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch, a Gongneung favorite-! If you like daepae samgyeopsal (thin-sliced shaved pork belly), you've probably heard of this place before — it's a spot where you can eat all sorts of shaved pork to your heart's content, so we went thinking, let's really enjoy this Friday night!

Where is Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch? Second floor between Gongneung Station and Seoul Tech

Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch, a Gongneung favorite, sits about midway between Gongneung Station and Seoul Tech. It's really close to the train tracks, so it's a nice spot to drop into while out for a walk. It's on the 2nd floor, but the big Eongteori Muhandae Pae sign and banner out front made it fairly easy to find even on my first visit.

Inside Eongteori Muhandae Pae: seating and table spacing

Once I opened the door and walked in, the interior was bigger and more spacious than I expected. Plenty of tables too, so it seemed like a great size for visiting with friends or even for a group dinner. Table spacing is pretty important at a BBQ place, and overall it was quite roomy, which made for a comfortable meal.

Eongteori Gongneung menu: three all-you-can-eat courses for three people

There were three of us, so we ordered three servings of Eongteori Muhandae Pae (per person) to start-

Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch, a Gongneung favorite, runs on an almost entirely self-serve system, so after ordering the all-you-can-eat course for three, you just grab a tray and head to the self-serve corner.

What meat is at the self-serve corner? Chewy shaved pork, frozen samgyeopsal, shaved samgyeopsal

The best part of this self-serve corner was definitely being able to eat as many different kinds of meat as you like. That day, we loaded up on a bit of everything — chewy daepae pork, frozen samgyeopsal, daepae samgyeopsal, and more. Switching between types instead of sticking to just one meant we didn't get tired of it and kept reaching for more. If you love meat, I think this is the part you'll be happiest with.

Lettuce wraps and side dishes are self-serve too

On top of that, being able to grab as much lettuce for wraps as you want was also great. There were lots of kinds and they were easy to grab, so we never ran short the whole time we were eating meat. At an all-you-can-eat meat place, having plenty of wrap greens really matters, right?! Total pass on that front.

Besides the wrap greens, there were also plenty of side dishes that go well with meat, like bean sprouts, pickled radish, and kimchi. Daepae samgyeopsal is delicious even plain, but pairing it with something tangy gives it a whole different feel, right?! Made the meal feel even more generous.

The all-purpose sauce at Eongteori that my friends raved about

One thing my friends all praised in unison! There were so many sauces to pair with the meat. Daepae samgyeopsal tastes different depending on which sauce you dip it in, right. It was fun grabbing a bunch of different sauces and trying different ones with each bite. And Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch, a Gongneung favorite, also had an all-purpose sauce — this sauce is something else... you have to try it!

Grilling shaved samgyeopsal and frozen samgyeopsal with somaek

Once we'd loaded up our trays, it was time to dig in-! Grabbing everything ourselves meant we could pile on whatever we actually wanted.

I think the best thing about daepae samgyeopsal and thin frozen samgyeopsal is how fast they cook. Spread the thin-sliced meat out on the grill and it browns up and cooks in no time. Wrapped in lettuce with a bit of sauce, it woke up my appetite from the very first batch.

Being thin, daepae samgyeopsal cooks fast and there's something fun about grilling it crispy. In the end we couldn't resist and ordered soju-beer haha. Everything tasted even better paired with the soju-beer?! Just kept going down

Can you see that gorgeous glow~~ We kept eating and eating without getting sick of it, and honestly we ate until we were about to burst that day.

The meat wasn't tough at all — it was tender and pleasant to eat, no struggle at all.

Boiling your own Hangang-style ramyeon at the table: Sinramyeon this time

And once the meat started feeling like a bit much, you've got to boil up a spicy soup ramyeon. We went with the spicy Sinramyeon.

Noodles and soup base go in, and they start boiling it right away-! The great thing about Hangang ramyeon (river-park-style instant ramyeon) is how quickly it's made. The ramyeon smell wafted over almost instantly. Eating it alongside the meat cut right through the greasiness and got us ready to start again haha. Next time I think we need one ramyeon per person.

Free ice cream to finish, and next time: the fried rice

Stuffed and heading out, I noticed they sell ice cream too. It was priced about the same as at a typical discount ice cream shop, so it seemed like a nice way to cap off the meal.

Eongteori Muhandae Pae Gongneung Branch, a Gongneung favorite, was a great place to visit on a day you want to eat daepae samgyeopsal to your heart's content. Getting to try a variety of meats — chewy daepae, frozen samgyeopsal, daepae samgyeopsal — was great, and being able to grab as much wrap lettuce as we wanted made it easy to pair with the meat. The only slight regret is that we got so greedy eating meat that we didn't make it to the fried rice that day ..ㅠㅠ Next time, my goal is to go the distance: meat, then ramyeon, then fried rice haha.