Yongin Yangji BBQ restaurant, strawberry jam rolls: Rustic Smoke House

📍Yongin BBQ, Rustic Smoke House📍 We went to Lotte Outlet Giheung for some shopping and browsing, and before we knew it, it was already dinnertime.

While searching "what should we eat tonight," we found a spot nearby said to serve proper American-style BBQ, so we went to check it out.

It was Rustic Smoke House Yongin Yangji Branch. It was an easy drive from the outlet for dinner, and once we arrived, both the food and the atmosphere gave us a little travel-getaway feeling, which made me like it even more.

What Rustic Smoke House Yongin Yangji looks like: cottage rooms and a mountain lodge feel

The first thing I felt walking into Rustic Smoke House Yongin Yangji Branch was the cozy atmosphere. Kind of like visiting a small lodge in the American countryside and having a warm plate of BBQ, haha.

There's that comfortable, warm cottage feel, so it's better for lingering like a mini trip than just eating and leaving. There's also a large outdoor space, so on a nice day it seemed like fun to wander around before or after the meal. We visited with my husband that day, and it felt like a good date spot for eating something a bit different from usual.

What comes on the Rustic BBQ Platter: brisket, pulled pork and loin ribs

After some deliberating over what to order, we went with the Rustic BBQ Platter, which lets you try several meats at once.

It comes with brisket, pulled pork, and loin ribs, along with cabbage salad, fries, sauce, and morning rolls, so the table ended up quite full — a pretty solid spread.

How tender were the loin ribs?

What surprised me most while eating was just how tender the meat was! The loin ribs in particular were so soft that if you just grabbed the bone and lifted it slightly, the meat practically slid right off.

With smoked BBQ, you'd worry it might be chewy or need a lot of work to eat, but the meat here was really tender and easy to eat. I thought it would be a low-stress choice to bring kids along, or older family members with weaker teeth.

The best way to eat it: self-bar strawberry jam on a morning roll

Just dipping the meat in sauce was already delicious enough, but as we kept eating, we discovered our own combo.

We tried spreading a bit of the strawberry jam from the self-bar inside a morning roll, then stuffing in cabbage salad, BBQ meat, and even fries.

We'd seen this eaten this way at another American BBQ place we visited before, and sure enough, this combo was the real deal! The sweet strawberry jam plus the savory meat, crunchy cabbage salad, and crispy fries gave you so many textures in one bite that we kept making more. My husband and I kept saying "this is actually really good?" and ended up ordering extra morning rolls, haha.

Is Rustic Smoke House a good dinner stop after shopping at Lotte Outlet Giheung?

That day we shopped to our heart's content at Lotte Outlet Giheung and wrapped things up with dinner here. Instead of the usual Korean food or Korean BBQ we normally eat, having a different American-style BBQ date made the day more memorable. If you're planning an outing toward Everland or the Hanteo area, this could be a nice stop for a meal. It seemed especially suited to people who want to eat slowly in a cozy space, take some photos, and feel like they're briefly on a trip, rather than just eating and leaving right away.

If you're looking for a good restaurant in Yongin Yangji and want to try something a little different from usual, give the American BBQ at Rustic Smoke House Yongin Yangji Branch a try. With shopping followed by a delicious dinner, it's a great way to spend a day-trip date near Yongin :-) What's your favorite BBQ spot?