First-meal eel buffet on a 2-day Daejeon family trip: Songrimbok

Why I picked Songrimbok for our first meal in Daejeon

Songrimbok is a place in Jijok-dong, Daejeon where you can eat domestic freshwater eel all-you-can-eat at a great price. Last weekend our family of three set off on a fun 2-day, 1-night trip to Daejeon, and Songrimbok was our very first meal!! We went to recharge our energy as a family~~~!!

They say Songrimbok prepares live eel by hand every morning, sourced from fish farms and direct markets, so the all-you-can-eat eel is fresh and high quality. There are branches in different regions, and I heard this Jijok branch in Daejeon is the original one.

Is the Jijok-dong branch good for family meals and group gatherings?

The Songrimbok branch in Jijok-dong, Daejeon is pretty big and neatly kept, so it felt comfortable. With the space and the price, I thought it would work well for a family meal or a team dinner.

The all-you-can-eat time limit is 2 hours!, and you can also buy 1 kg of prepped eel to take home at a low price. Nice~

Songrimbok all-you-can-eat price and table setting fee

The adult price for unlimited domestic freshwater eel and meats at Songrimbok is a whopping ₩29,900!! There's a separate ₩3,000 table setting fee, but children up to elementary school age count as kids and are exempt, so it's no burden for a family meal. Love that.

Meal dishes include eel soup, galbitang (beef short rib soup), yukgaejang (spicy beef soup), buckwheat noodles and spicy ramen. It looks like a good lineup for filling you up when all the grilled food gets a bit heavy!

Side dishes and the free bokbunja wine

Songrimbok serves bokbunja (Korean black raspberry) wine for free along with the side dishes. After the three of us ordered, the sides came out and, oh my, bokbunja wine~~?? They give you the pricey stuff by default, haha! They said we could take it home if we didn't drink it, haha, but who could do that while eating eel~~ So I happily had my eel with bokbunja wine.

The side dishes are solid too. Shredded ginger, a must with eel, plus pickled perilla leaves, green onion kimchi, pickled onion, and even aged kimchi~~

The self-service corner was neatly stocked with extra sides, with plenty of everything from lettuce wraps to eel sauce, so you can help yourself comfortably.

Will a kid who can't eat eel still get full at Songrimbok?

The Songrimbok self-bar has pork belly and chicken neck alongside the domestic freshwater eel. Whenever we went for eel, there was never enough for Yangyang, who doesn't know the taste of eel yet, and that was always a pity. With meats here, everyone can have a satisfying meal, and I was really happy about that!

Let's pile the grill with eel, pork belly and chicken neck, a whole variety!

It's an eel buffet, so I didn't expect much from the meat, but what do you know, the pork belly was rich with no off smell and the chicken neck was nicely chewy. We devoured it with the eel, haha!

Songrimbok freshwater eel: taste and how to eat it

Still, the best thing at Songrimbok is the freshwater eel,,,,!!!! It's so thick and plump that you can't believe it's buffet quality, and you keep eating while wondering how this is possible at this price, haha!

Grill the eel until crisp outside and juicy inside, perfect. The flesh is white, and the soft, fluffy texture melts in your mouth~~~

With the bokbunja wine, it melts sweetly, even more~~~

• The eel is so fresh that a simple sprinkle of salt is great
• Just sweet teriyaki eel sauce with a bit of sharp shredded ginger is great too
• It's also fun to mix it up with lettuce wraps, pickled perilla leaves and white kimchi

If nobody told you it was a buffet, you'd never guess. The plump eel has no quality doubts at all, and I could keep eating it nonstop,,,,,

Finishing with spicy ramen

From the meal dishes, I finished with spicy ramen as the last dessert, slurp~~ The noodles were really chewy and so good, haha!

With its powerful unlimited lineup of eel, pork belly and chicken neck, plus real quality, Songrimbok in Jijok-dong was the perfect spot for a health boost as the weather heats up!!