Eel restaurant in Jijok-dong, Daejeon where refills match: Songrimbok

Today I'm bringing you an honest review from <Songrimbok Jangeo Unlimited Eel Daejeon Direct Store>, a Jijok-dong, Daejeon spot where I stuffed myself full of nothing but eel.

• Address: 60 Jijokbuk-ro 66beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 1st floor
• Parking: building parking lot available (free 2 hours)

Where is Songrimbok in Jijok-dong, and where do you park?

Songrimbok is located on the first floor of Joeun Plaza, and you can use the building's parking lot and parking tower, so it's not a burden to come even from far away.

Here's the muscular staff member working hard to prep the eel.

Right from the entrance, Songrimbok has a country-of-origin display board visible. They bring in domestic freshwater eel from the direct wholesale market the same day and prep it, so even though it's all-you-can-eat, you get fresh eel.

How much is all-you-can-eat eel at Songrimbok?

Songrimbok Jangeo Unlimited Eel Daejeon Direct Store charges ₩29,900 per adult, and ₩14,000 for children up to elementary school age, with a ₩3,000 table setting fee charged for adults only. They also have eel soup, ramyeon and other meal items, plus several kinds of alcohol like bokbunja wine. Songrimbok, a great spot for company dinners in Daejeon, also does takeout, so if the eel is too good after a work dinner, it might be a nice touch to pack some home for the family.

Seating at Songrimbok with room for a baby chair

We sat by the window, and there was still plenty of space even with a separate baby recliner seat set up.

Overall the seats are spaced widely apart and generously sized even for four people, so the table doesn't get cluttered even when you pile on extra plates from the refill bar. The photo on the right shows a separate partitioned area, which would be great for a group dinner.

The owner did the first setup for us — on the left is the eel sauce, and they also threw in a complimentary bokbunja wine.

Here's the eel, pork belly, and chicken neck meat set out together. The eel's condition was hard to believe for an all-you-can-eat place. I expected frozen eel for sure, but what came out looked freshly prepped, which got me excited.

Five side dishes that go great with eel: pickled onion, perilla leaves, ginger, green onion kimchi, and baek-kimchi (white, non-spicy kimchi)!

How to grill the eel properly

Following the eel-grilling instructions posted at the restaurant, we started grilling the eel, pork belly, and chicken neck meat. For eel: grill skin-side down first on high heat, flip to cook the flesh, then cut into bite-sized pieces, lower to medium heat, and cook the sides — that's the tasty way to do it!

While waiting for the eel, we tried the chicken neck meat and pork belly that cooked first — honestly, I thought they'd just be filler menu items, but both the neck meat and pork belly were really tasty. It tasted like something you'd pay full price for elsewhere.

While waiting for the eel, they also grilled garlic in oil sauce for us.

Had a bite of pork belly first.

Eel with sauce and a slice of ginger on top

I tried it various ways — plain with nothing, dipped in just the eel sauce, and with both sauce and ginger on top. As expected, eating it with both sauce and ginger together was the tastiest for me. The eel flesh was plump and very tender. There was zero muddy or fishy smell either, and it went down smoothly.

We also tried combos you wouldn't get elsewhere — eel with chicken neck meat, and eel with pork belly and ginger — and I was surprised at how well they paired together. My parents' place grills eel often, so next time I'll have to suggest we throw pork belly in too.

Is the eel at the refill corner as good as the first plate?

Once we finished, we went to the refill corner to grab more eel. There were various extra side dishes too, and since eating just meat can get greasy, they also had vegetables ready for wrapping. The eel at the refill corner was the exact same quality as what came out the first time. Some all-you-can-eat places only do a great job on the first order, then the meat quality drops once you're serving yourself — but at this Jijok-dong, Daejeon spot, Songrimbok Jangeo Unlimited Eel Daejeon Direct Store, that never happens; you only get good-quality, same-day-prepped eel.

This is the eel we brought over fresh — really no difference at all from the first batch, right??

We quickly grilled up the second plate too and polished it off. Honestly I think I enjoyed it even more than the first batch the owner set up for us. The eel wasn't dried out at all and had good thickness, so there was a nice chew to it.

Final verdict on Songrimbok in Daejeon

We ate well and cleaned our plates today too~! With all-you-can-eat especially, I always feel bad leaving food for the owner. Can't help what's left of the first setting of side dishes, but everything we got on our own refill run, we finished completely haha. I only just found out Daejeon has an unlimited eel restaurant — if you're near Yuseong-gu and trying to think of something different for a work dinner or family meal, I recommend Songrimbok Jangeo Unlimited Eel Daejeon Direct Store, where you can eat great-quality eel to your heart's content at an affordable price!