Mungtigi salmon sashimi at a Gunja beef tartare bar: Yukhoe Gongjakso

Where is Yukhoe Gongjakso Sejong University branch in Gunja, and when is it open?

My friends and I were hunting for good food near Konkuk University Station when we ended up at Yukhoe Gongjakso Sejong University branch. It's not just a place for a drink — they also have hearty meal options like yukhoe (beef tartare), mungtigi, tadagi, and yakiniku, so it worked well as a dinner spot with friends too.

It's a 3-minute walk from Exit 4 of Eorininsehoedaeongwon Station toward the Okryunggung alley, or a 7-minute walk from Exit 1 of Konkuk University Station past Hwayang Market. Very easy to reach by subway, and a lot of Sejong University students seem to eat here too.

There's no dedicated lot for the restaurant itself, but apparently you can park for free near the park lot by Hwayang Police Substation or in front of closed shops. Parking at Dongdo Centreville runs ₩3,000 an hour.

There were waiting seats set up out front too. Since it's a popular bar near Konkuk University Station, there's a bit of a wait on weekend evenings, but it seemed like a fine spot to sit for a few minutes.

Izakaya-style interior with group tables and partitioned booths

This is the inside of Yukhoe Gongjakso Sejong University branch. The whole space felt spacious and clean. With big group tables, private partitioned booths, and window seats, it worked well for anything from a group gathering to a date near Konkuk.

The interior further inside was decorated with an izakaya feel, which gave off a bit of a Japan-trip vibe, and the little props were cute too. Good for casual drinks with friends, and honestly it'd work fine for an evening date as well.

They filled the ceiling with a huge cherry blossom tree installation, which made for pretty photos too.

The menu at Yukhoe Gongjakso: from yukhoe to beef ramyeon

Here's the menu. It ranged from hearty mains you'd want for dinner — yukhoe, mungtigi, salmon, mulhoe (cold raw fish soup), yakiniku, tadagi — to lighter side dishes like beef ramyeon, grilled heart skewers, chicken skewers, and takoyaki.

After we ordered, they brought out a beef and egg soup made with a bone-broth base. It was nice to spoon up between bites of yukhoe, and having a soup around made the whole spread feel more complete :)

Ordering the mungtigi salmon sashimi and tangtang yukhoe

We started with mungtigi salmon sashimi and tangtang yukhoe as mains. Being a yukhoe specialist, Yukhoe Gongjakso Sejong University branch says the beef for their yukhoe is Australian clean beef, slaughtered before dawn and flown in same-day by air freight. It looked completely appetizing from the first glance :)

Mungtigi salmon sashimi: thick-cut raw beef with salmon

This was the dish I was most looking forward to — mungtigi (chunky beef tartare) with salmon on the same plate, perfect for when you want both. I tried the salmon first, and its signature soft texture came through clearly; eating it alongside the mungtigi gave a fun back-and-forth between two very different textures. Mungtigi has a chewier bite than thinly sliced yukhoe, which is its whole charm. If you're a beef lover, I'd absolutely recommend the mungtigi, haha.

Tangtang yukhoe: hand-chopped beef tartare

The second dish was tangtang yukhoe, served with 'magic sauce' yukhoe and tako wasabi (seasoned raw octopus with wasabi) — the presentation alone was striking. The best-seller magic sauce yukhoe had a soft texture, and mixing in the egg added extra savoriness that made it easy to keep eating.

Adding the tako wasabi to the tangtang yukhoe brought a sharp wasabi kick that kept things light instead of heavy. I didn't expect much from the tako wasabi at a yukhoe specialist, but it was so good I ended up scooping up the rest with a spoon at the end, haha.

Spicy beef ramyeon and non-alcoholic whisky

Beef ramyeon to finish the meal

Last, we ordered beef ramyeon to cleanse our palates. It was exactly what you want after all that savory yukhoe and mungtigi — a spicy hot broth — and it came loaded with beef too.

Sipping the broth between bites of meat, and finishing with ramyeon at the end, made it feel like we'd properly handled dinner. Even though it's a bar near Konkuk University Station in Gwangja, it's less a place for a second-round drink-only stop and more a spot to knock out dinner and drinks in one go.

For drinks we ordered a non-alcoholic whisky and a Jim Beam highball, and it was nice that they had a non-alcoholic whisky option so non-drinkers could join in too.

This is a good Gwangja spot to visit when you want something a bit more unusual than the typical drinking snacks near Konkuk University Station, like yukhoe or mungtigi — good for easygoing drinks with friends, and good for a date with tasty food to go with the drinks too.