Group butcher BBQ in Yongin: Iberico jowl & hanwoo, Dongbaek Hanokjip

Dongbaek Hanokjip hours and parking

Dongbaek Hanokjip Charcoal Grill Butcher Restaurant (동백한옥집 숯불구이 정육식당) is at 221 Eondong-ro, Giheung-gu, Yongin. It is open 11:30-21:30 and closed every Monday. The high oil price support voucher is accepted, and parking is fully provided.

One person in our group works at a government office, and she actually counted how many cars the lot could hold. Classic civil servant... haha. Then the person next to her said, "The parking space here is big, but if it runs out, there's a free lot out back too." (Everyone here is a Dongbaek local...) Later, where we parked, I saw there was another roomy lot near the building.

Friday evening at the butcher counter with my art studio family

On Friday evening I visited Dongbaek Hanokjip, a butcher restaurant in the Dongbaek district of Yongin, with the folks from my minhwa (Korean folk painting) studio. I've been here before for a company dinner and for lunch with a friend, but this time we used the butcher counter. By the way, Dongbaek Hanokjip's lunch value is insane! My last lunch visit was paid out of my own pocket.

Is there a table setting fee at the Dongbaek Hanokjip butcher counter?

There's no separate table setting fee at the butcher counter. The fridge was stocked with hanwoo (Korean beef) and pork, and in another fridge beside it the meat was aging. Every cut has a price tag, so you pick what you want and head to your table. Having no table setting fee is this restaurant's charm.

Two of our group had just finished their last graduate-school class that day, so this was a celebration party, and we started with hanwoo sirloin, which suits a party.

Table setting and self-bar side dishes

The table setting had shredded onion, corn salad, ssam-mu (pickled radish wraps) and more, but surprisingly, what my companions liked best was the kongnamul-muchim (seasoned bean sprouts). They said it was so addictive that they refilled it more than three times.

The self-bar corner was kept clean too, and it had all the side dishes that came to the table, so we could eat as much as we wanted.

Hanwoo sirloin: how was the charcoal heat?

The first thing we grilled was the hanwoo sirloin, and the charcoal was really strong, so it cooked quickly over high heat. Moderately high heat locks the juices inside the meat, so I prefer it, and the charcoal here was just right.

Hanwoo really shines. The golden-brown outside and plenty of juice made it truly delicious. For a celebration, nothing beats hanwoo. To be honest, we're a bit clumsy at grilling, so a staff member helped a little. Maybe that's why the inside came out rosy, a perfect medium. It wasn't overcooked, so we could fully enjoy the tender texture of the hanwoo. And everyone, from the owner to the servers to the people bringing the charcoal, was so kind.

Hanwoo is hanwoo. That rich, deep savory flavor was the best.

We also grilled the shishito-style peppers and mushrooms that came with the meat, and the grilled peppers turned out to be a quiet treat.

Pork belly and neck on a pork-only grill

After the hanwoo, we moved on to pork belly and pork neck from the butcher counter. They swap the grill plate for this, and since it's a pork-only plate, grilling was easy. You just flip the meat at the right time and cut it. The pork belly here was especially good. It was tender and full of flavor, and the juices bursting out when I took a big bite were superb. They must have aged it properly in the aging fridge.

Why 800g+ of meat still felt like good value

We ate nearly 800g or more of meat, and with no table setting fee at the butcher counter, the value really is good. As we kept bringing more meat, the total felt about the same either way...? Our table must have been on some keto diet or something,

because everyone just went for the meat. We were already stuffed, but someone said we needed a rich, nutty jowl to cleanse the palate and came back with a pack of pork jowl, so we grilled Iberico pork jowl too. Everyone says they're on a diet..... but meat doesn't make you fat, they said, and we ate really well.

Finishing with mul naengmyeon: buckwheat noodles, deep broth

We'd eaten so much meat that we ordered just one bowl of mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth) as our meal. Honestly, everyone was on a diet, so we couldn't go wild on carbs. But that single bowl was really good. The broth wasn't store-bought and had a deep, distinctive taste, and the noodles were buckwheat, so they were nutty. They gave us vinegar on the side to add, but we thought it was fine as it was and enjoyed it that way. That clean, mild flavor felt really fresh.

Is Dongbaek Hanokjip good for company dinners and family meals?

If you're looking for a place in Dongbaek, Yongin with easy parking, Dongbaek Hanokjip seems like a really good choice. It's good for family meals, and the space is wide enough for a company dinner.

Oh, and one more thing. You pick just the right amount of meat and grill it, so there's no need to call staff, and you only pay for what you took, which makes it a great spot for company dinners. I work at a fairly large company and have been the general affairs person too, and sometimes... you wonder, "Is this bill right?"

The staff were also kind, so we could enjoy the meal comfortably from start to finish. Do go to Dongbaek Hanokjip, where the kindness stands out and the meat is delicious. I'm definitely planning a return visit.

The lunch menu I paid for myself last time at Dongbaek Hanokjip was the ₩13,000 happiness set, with solbap (pot rice)!