Gwangsan eel restaurant for a budget-friendly dinner: Yuil Jangeo

A self-service setup where you grill the eel you picked yourself: Yuil Jangeo.

Yuil Jangeo in Pyeong-dong, the day I walked right in

I was craving eel, so I went to Yuil Jangeo, a popular spot in Pyeong-dong, Gwangsan. I had heard it was usually busy enough for a wait, so I was worried, but thankfully I went early that day and got seated straight away.

Usually, you can join the waitlist through Tableing. They get so busy on weekends that reservations are only available for groups of 20 or more! On weekdays, it is 6 or more, haha. That is how popular this place is!!!

A system where you choose and pay for your own eel

Yuil Jangeo operates a little differently from a typical eel restaurant. You look over the eel prepared in-store, choose the pack you want, pay for it, and then eat!

The packs were divided into servings for two, three, and four, so they were easy to choose from. Since there were two of us, we chose an eel pack for about ₩35,000, and when it arrived, the eel was way bigger than I expected....!! At most other eel places, two servings would easily start at ₩80,000, but here it was ₩35,000. I could already smell the incredible value...

The table-setting fee was ₩4,000 per person and included real charcoal, side dishes, and the self-serve bar. As soon as we sat down, they brought over the charcoal, so we were all set to grill our eel~!

Oh, most of the restaurant is arranged in private-room-style sections, though the tables are a little close together because there are so many customers. Still, for such good-quality eel at such an affordable price, that was totally manageable, haha.

A self-serve bar worth the table-setting fee

The self-serve bar had vegetables, ginger, kimchi, and other great things to eat with eel~~!! Every vegetable was super fresh. Even though the restaurant was packed, the bar was fully stocked and clean, which I really liked. The table-setting fee did not feel like a waste at all!

These are the side dishes they set out as standard~ You can help yourself to more of anything you run out of, which was nice.

Grilling the ₩35,000 eel pack for two ourselves

Since we had to grill the eel ourselves, I first wondered whether it might be difficult, but there was no need to worry....!!!

The staff helped us with some of the grilling, and we worked away until it was beautifully golden brown, haha. (It is easier than grilling samgyeopsal, Korean pork belly...?)

Above all, the eel was plump and meaty, with barely any fishinessㅠㅠ It was also cleaned really well, with no bones, so I think it would be fine to bring children too. There were actually loads of families eating out there!

Maybe because it was grilled over charcoal, the outside was nicely browned while the inside was soft and wonderfully nutty...

One piece of eel with ginger, then with kimchi, then wrapped in vegetables—it just kept disappearing, haha. Green-onion kimchi, pickled radish wraps, pickled perilla leaves, and on and on: endless wraps~~ I really do love eel...!

Dessert eel soup with a bowl of rice included

Finally, we ordered the dessert eel soup. But for something called dessert, the portion was actually quite generous~!

Plus, it came with a bowl of rice, which was seriously such great value, haha. Having rice with that steaming-hot eel soup felt like a proper restorative meal!

I only had the eel and eel soup, but the menu also had a variety of items including eel tteokgalbi (grilled minced-meat patties), naengmyeon (cold noodles), and nurungji (scorched rice).

100% willing to return

Overall, the eel was big and substantial, and the self-serve bar was well maintained. The staff also helped with some of the grilling, so we could eat comfortably, haha. Such a pleasant meal for a really affordable price!

And there was convenient parking too. If you are looking for an eel restaurant in Gwangsan, this is absolutely the place. They also sell gift sets and offer takeout, so it would be perfect for stopping by to pick something up before a trip. I am 100% willing to revisit Yuil Jangeo in Pyeong-dong!