Cheongju BBQ restaurant: 500g beef short rib with free tartare at Yugi

Yugi Dongnam District Main Branch in Cheongju was so satisfying last time that I went back. This time I tried the whole-portion set that comes loaded with complimentary dishes.

What kind of restaurant is Yugi Dongnam District Main Branch in Cheongju?

Yugi Dongnam District Main Branch is a Korean beef charcoal-grill restaurant in the Dongnam district of Sangdang-gu, Cheongju. It's also a Blue Ribbon Survey-listed spot.

What comes free with the 500g whole short rib set, and what it costs on its own

I snapped photos of the à la carte prices for the dishes that come free with the whole short rib set. Minari beef tartare is ₩15,000 on its own, and the signature doenjang stew is ₩8,000 on its own — so ordering the whole short rib set is a real bargain, right? haha

What we ordered at Yugi

Side dishes at Yugi: kimchi, beef and radish soup, cabbage salad

At Yugi Dongnam District Main Branch, the kimchi comes as seokbakji (radish kimchi) and green onion kimchi. The well-fermented seokbakji and sweetish green onion kimchi are great to reach for between bites of the fatty short rib.

The sweet cabbage tossed fresh with seasoning right there was so fresh and delicious. Every single seasoning was seasoned just right.

They told us the garlic with cracked black pepper served alongside the Isigny butter is meant to be simmered on the grill and used as a dipping sauce for the short rib.

Minari (water dropwort) beef tartare at Yugi

The tartare looked like top-quality beef even at a glance! I was surprised it was better quality than the tartare specialist restaurant I visited recently. Eating it with minari (water dropwort) was an absolute delicacy.

You could tell the minari had been trimmed to use only the tender, tasty parts, with none of the tough, fibrous bits. The combination of the nutty, savory-salty seasoned tartare, chewy texture, and fragrant, crisp minari was really wonderful.

Yugi's signature cheonggukjang stew

The cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew) came out rich and boiled thick, and it was quite spicy and hearty. It was totally a rice-summoning flavor, but I held back since we'd already ordered a lot of short rib.

It had generous solid ingredients too, and honestly with just this rich, spicy flavor alone I could down two bottles of soju! It was also delicious to eat in between bites of the short rib.

Yugi's 500g whole short rib: how much beef, and how does it taste?

The whole short rib looked fresh just from its pretty bright red color. Since it came neatly trimmed, the 500g of beef turned out to be way more than I expected!

The side dishes paired really well with the short rib.

The whole short rib came piled up high.

The shishito peppers were also huge. And the grill grate — I'd never seen such a thick one — made it really easy to cook the meat, and it even left pretty grill marks.

For the first bite I topped it with salt and wasabi. I also tried it with pickled chili. The whole short rib, bursting with fat, was tender and chewy and just so delicious.

There was so much short rib you could even wrap it in lettuce for ssam.

What does the Isigny butter garlic sauce taste like?

They break off a piece of Isigny butter into the little dish with garlic and cracked black pepper and set it on the grill, letting it melt slowly. I was curious to try it since it's not meant for fishing out the garlic pieces, but works as a sauce all on its own — such an interesting idea. The buttery, milky richness added a nutty flavor just like eating Korean black cattle beef.

When things started to feel a bit too rich, I'd reach for the refreshing radish salad now and then.

Is Yugi worth a second visit?

Overall, the food at Yugi Dongnam District Main Branch was clean and well put together, and I left satisfied. I think I'll come back whenever I'm craving beef.