Myeongdong Korean BBQ restaurant for group dinners: Yuktongnyeong

Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch for a Myeongdong gathering

I ended up at Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch (육통령 명동본점) while looking for a Korean barbecue restaurant suited to a Myeongdong get-together!

It is close to Exit 5 of Myeongdong Station, and despite spanning the first through third floors, this excellent pork restaurant still has a wait!

And for good reason... it was selected as a standout black pork o-gyeopsal (five-layer pork belly) restaurant by Wednesday Food Talk, and can you see all those Blue Ribbon badges?? It has received one every year since 2021, so I felt sure it would be satisfying! Plus, an essential feature of a great Myeongdong restaurant: a wall covered in celebrity signatures! Hahahahaha

Seating by floor and the group-dining atmosphere

The first floor had smaller tables for around two to four people,

The stairs up to the second and third floors were a little steep, but no problem~ What was interesting was that it is operated together with Eunsung Yang Gopchang, a well-known gopchang (beef intestines) restaurant, so you can enjoy pork belly, black pork, and gopchang on every floor.

I snapped the second floor briefly on the way up to the third~ From the second floor onward, there were larger tables for five or more people, which is probably why there were so many work dinners happening.

Then there was the third floor, ideal for groups of five or more. The tables were nicely spaced out, making it easy to chat away without feeling cramped, so it was great for a gathering or work dinner.

Omija-aged meat and the menu

The defining feature of Yuktongnyeong is, drumroll please~~~ all of its meat is aged with omija (Korean magnolia berry).

• Pork: omija-aged premium yukgyeopsal ₩20,000; omija-aged black pork king tomahawk-bone o-gyeopsal ₩49,000
• Omija-aged Gwanggaeto black pork o-gyeopsal and pork neck, ₩17,000 each per 150 g; house-made pork galbi ₩18,000; pork belly ₩16,000 per 150 g
• Beef: Jangsu Korean beef ribeye ₩49,000; beef king short rib and marinated king short rib, ₩48,000 each
• Other dishes: Korean beef yukhoe ₩38,000; sesame-oil yukhoe bibimbap ₩15,000; aged kimchi stew and doenjang stew ₩8,000 each; dongchimi cold noodles, soup-style or spicy mixed, ₩8,000 each; steamed rice ₩1,500

The name was something like “omija Gwanggaeto pork belly,” so grandiose that I had absolutely no idea just how good it would be~ Hahahahahahaha

As I mentioned earlier, you can also order from the Eunsung Yang Gopchang menu, a Myeongdong gopchang favorite!!

Pork belly with sauces and side dishes

A place with lots to eat alongside the meat = a good place. I absolutely love it when a Korean barbecue restaurant brings out a neat row of sauces like this. From the top: coarse salt, wasabi, salted shrimp, omija sauce, Suntai jeot (fermented seafood condiment), and ssamjang (seasoned soybean dipping paste). The pairing of pork and jeotgal-style fermented seafood is heavenly 😆

The whole table came out loaded like this~~ The tangerine salad was perfect for nibbling on while the meat cooked; the tangerine was so sweet and tangy that it really whetted my appetite...

Look at the lovely pink color of the omija-aged Gwanggaeto pork belly~~ I also loved that a whole king oyster mushroom came with it, haha.

Best of all, the staff grilled and cut everything for us, so all we had to do was relax and eat~ Once it was ready, they placed it on a small plate. I truly had nothing to worry about and could simply enjoy every bite.

They cut it all into perfectly bite-sized, golden-brown pieces. And even the mushroom looked beautifully browned in the middle of it all.

First bite with wasabi on top~ I did not appreciate it when I was younger, but these days I think wasabi goes so well with every kind of meat. The pork belly juices burst out with that first bite... It was clearly aged for a long time: moist and tender, yet chewy and nutty?!!?

The Suntai jeot I had been looking forward to most. I really love dipping meat in fermented seafood such as meljeot or hairtail innards jeot, so when something like this comes out, I am sooo happy... Its salty flavor and gentle heat went unbelievably well with the pork belly ㅠ_ㅠ

And these pickled perilla leaves were so delicious too... I piled on even the coarse salt~ Eating it in so many different ways made every bite varied, delicious, and never boring, so I ordered more hahaha.

Lastly, they even cut up the mushroom into little pieces. Moist, golden-brown, and delicious.