Korean BBQ time sale at a Jeonju butcher's restaurant: Hoseongjeong

A place where we ate Korean beef for two, in the low 50,000 won range, and walked out completely full — this is Hoseongjeong, a Korean beef butcher's restaurant in Jeonju.

At first, the price was so low I figured I'd have to accept some tradeoff in meat quality. But once we actually ate it, it tasted way better than expected — so the price felt almost strange in a good way.

Where is Hoseongjeong, and is there parking?

Hoseongjeong sits on Dongbu-daero in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju. There's parking for about 7 cars right in front, but on the weekday Monday evening we visited, the lot was nearly full — you could really feel how popular this place is.

We called ahead to reserve and were shown to a private room. Even the main hall was packed, so on Fridays or weekends, a reservation seems essential.

The place is bigger than I expected, and with private rooms available, it seemed like a great spot for family meals, group gatherings, or work dinners.

312g Korean beef combo grill: 52,728 won with the time sale

What set Hoseongjeong apart from a typical Korean BBQ place was the display area right at the entrance where you pick your own meat. Since it's a butcher's restaurant, you look at the meat laid out, choose what you want, pay, and then grill it yourself.

From Korean pork belly and gabrisal (pork shoulder blade) to Korean beef brisket, skirt steak, chadolbaegi (thinly sliced beef brisket), a mixed combo grill, and raw beef tartare — a wide range of cuts, mostly Korean beef but also pork, were on display. Being able to look at the actual meat and choose felt like a real advantage.

After looking around, we chose the 312g Korean beef combo grill. The price was 52,728 won! But the original price tag showed 68,640 won. It turned out that since the meat had been packed the day before, an additional time-sale discount kicked in. We already thought it was cheap, and then the price dropped even further — "this is genuinely cheap," we thought.

Being a combo grill meant we got to enjoy several different cuts, and honestly, just picking out meat for two people for around 52,000 won put us in a good mood before we'd even started eating.

Take-out prices, zero table charge and 2,000-won soju at Hoseongjeong

There was also a sign noting a 20–40% discount on meat bought to take home. So beyond grilling here at the restaurant, it's also a solid option for picking up meat to cook at home.

After picking our meat and settling into the room, the basic table setting was already prepared. Lettuce wraps, salt, ssamjang (dipping sauce), green onion kimchi, mushrooms, onions, and other vegetables all came out, along with a seaweed soup as a default side. And... the table charge was 0 won!! Getting a private room plus this full spread with zero extra charge felt like a big deal once you put it next to the meat price.

On top of that, side dishes could be refilled at a self-serve bar, and another thing that stuck with me was the drink prices. Soju was 2,000 won, beer 2,500 won... cheap meat, no table charge, and cheap drinks too — I could totally see why groups come here to have a few drinks with their Korean beef!

How does the Korean beef taste grilled at your table?

The most important thing is how it tastes, right? We grilled it ourselves, and from the moment it hit the pan, the juices were sizzling and the marbling looked decent. Honestly, seeing 312g for just over 50,000 won, I initially thought, "it'll probably taste exactly like what you'd expect for that price." But once we grilled and ate it, it was better than expected!!

Since this was time-sale meat, a few cuts were a bit on the dry side, but overall the juiciness held up and it never once tasted like a budget option. Being a combo grill with several different cuts mixed in also made it fun to eat a variety, and putting the price next to what we actually tasted, I thought, "this is genuinely great value."

Adding cheonggukjang and bibim naengmyeon

Eating all that meat made us curious about the meal menu, so we added cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew, with rice) and bibim naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles). The bibim naengmyeon had a spicy-sweet sauce that was great to break up the meat-eating, and the cold noodle broth served alongside it was tasty too. The cheonggukjang had a deep, funky flavor unlike doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), and I thought it'd be a great order when eating with older family members. Between the meat and the rice, we were completely full — no need to order more meat.

Korean beef for two in Jeonju for around 50,000 won: was it worth it?

That day, we ate Korean beef combo grill for around 50,000 won total and walked out full, the two of us. As two people who eat a decent amount, getting to eat our fill of Korean beef at this price without any drop in quality, I didn't just think "we ate cheap" — I thought, "we ate really well for this price."

Above all, since it's a butcher's restaurant where you see and choose the meat yourself before grilling it, the whole system is different from a regular Korean BBQ place where you just eat what's served. Add in the private room, no table charge, refillable side dishes, and the drink prices, and this is a genuinely great-value Korean beef butcher's restaurant in Jeonju — even better the more people you bring, whether for a family meal or a group dinner.