Yeongdeungpo Korean BBQ: bibim milmyeon 3 ways, Dongnaejeong

Is there a wait at Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office on a Tuesday?

Even though I went at 6:30pm on a Tuesday after work, 5 groups were already waiting at Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Main Branch (동래정 영등포구청 본점). The line is always long, so I aimed for an in-between weekday like Tuesday, haha.

That many people waiting after a Tuesday workday!! On weekends and Friday nights the wait is crazy~~ I always walk past and wonder about the crowd, so I finally made it, haha.

When I arrived after work at 6:30, 5 groups were waiting!!

Free tea for waiting customers

Dongnaejeong has service tea for customers who are waiting, so you can help yourself while you wait!! Winter has warm drinks and summer has cold tea, and it was so cold it made my teeth ache, lol.

Jeju Sanbang milmyeon (wheat noodles). Bibim noodles with meat, right?!! My companion naturally said let's get bibim, so we did, and it was seriously so good!! I'd say definitely order the bibim milmyeon~~

Sunday hours and entry rules

Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office is open as usual on Sundays!! The shop is small, so they only seat parties once everyone has arrived, and they ask for your kind understanding to keep tables turning quickly, haha.

Dongnaejeong side dishes and Jeju Sanbang milmyeon

The table is already set with side dishes like garlic stem strips, mustard leaf kimchi, white kimchi and dried radish strips. We were seated at the very back!! The table setting was all ready~~

The milmyeon at Dongnaejeong is from Jeju Sanbang Restaurant (제주산방식당), with a 50-year tradition. It's introduced as a bowl made with care over 50 years by a milmyeon specialist that began in 1971 in Hamo-ri, Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo, Jeju, competing on taste alone, and no wonder it was so, so good?!! It's amazing even eaten on its own without the meat T_T I didn't even eat it with meat and the bibim milmyeon by itself won me over~~

Tteoksam: wrapping meat in chewy rice cake

Tteoksam (meat wrapped in a chewy rice cake sheet), said to finish the pork's flavor with one chewy sheet, was a fun combination, haha. I think the MZ generation would love this wrap~~ Chewy and bursting with juice!!

What we ordered: jeonggabri, Dongnae pork neck and whole pork belly

We first ordered 1 serving of jeonggabri, 2 servings of Dongnae (동래) pork neck and 1 serving of whole pork belly, and right away ordered the Jeju Sanbang bibim milmyeon!!

How to eat the meat at Dongnaejeong

• Dip the pork lightly in shiitake salt to taste the pure flavor of the meat
• Then dunk it generously in the signature meljorim (anchovy sauce)
• Pair it as you like with squid rice sikhye, garlic stem strips, mustard leaf kimchi and other side dishes
• They say a little sesame oil on the bibim milmyeon adds more flavor

Soju and beer with the meat, then finish with sweet cola, like the saying that after hardship comes happiness, haha.

Staff grill all the pork neck, so it was easy

The 2 servings of signature pork neck came out first at Dongnaejeong!! The staff grilled everything for us, so it was totally easy!!

I could see right away why people wait, haha. Once you taste it, you immediately understand why people wait at Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office. It's a place so serious about meat that I want to go back.

The signature meljeot divided opinions

The signature meljeot (salted anchovy sauce) came out too, and even when I dunked the meat in generously it wasn't salty and the savory depth was excellent!! But I personally like a punchier meljeot, so it wasn't for me, while my companion said the seasoning was just right and delicious, haha.

Pork neck is ordered from 2 servings

The signature pork neck at Dongnaejeong can only be ordered from 2 servings~~ They say that keeps the juices in and makes it tastier and thicker!! Can you see how thick the pork neck is?!! Doesn't it really look serious about meat!!

The staff grill it so it's tastiest and doesn't burn, so you can just wait!!

Jeju Sanbang bibim milmyeon, three ways

Dongnaejeong's Jeju Sanbang bibim milmyeon can be enjoyed in three versions: mixed plain, with sesame oil drizzled on, and finally with water added. The bibim milmyeon arrived while we waited for the meat to grill!!

You can mix it and eat it first, and they say it's even better with sesame oil drizzled on!! Then add water at the end, so you get 3 versions, great value~~ I thought the one without sesame oil was the most basic and the tastiest, but my companions said it was far better with sesame oil!! I recommend trying all 3 ways~~

They say Dongnaejeong's sesame oil is 100% sesame oil with not even 1% mixed in, so it's nutty and rich. My companions said it was so nutty and delicious, haha. They said it maximized the savory depth of the bibim milmyeon~~

How were the jeonggabri and whole pork belly?

The staff put the fully grilled pork neck on both sides of the grill and grilled mushrooms in the middle!! Just as we were finishing the pork neck, they brought 1 serving each of jeonggabri and whole pork belly, so we could keep eating without breaking the flow!!

They say the jeonggabri is pure 100% gabrisal (pork shoulder-end cut) without any dry loin meat added, and the whole pork belly is Korean hanDon pork belly made only from carefully selected 1+ grade premium meat.

To my taste the gabrisal was super chewy with an excellent texture, and the whole pork belly was so tender it melted in my mouth like beef tenderloin!! My companion said the gabrisal was the real deal and ordered 1 more serving of it, haha.

After one visit I immediately understood why the wait is so long and people line up to eat here, haha. For Korean BBQ near Yeongdeungpo-gu Office, it's Dongnaejeong, no question!!