Yeouido Korean BBQ with 1-hour parking and cheese fried rice: Yuk Lab

Yuk Lab Yeouido

How to find Yuk Lab Yeouido from Yeouido Station

We ended up in Yeouido for a weekend Han River date and discovered this Yeouido restaurant. We drove and parked at Yeouido General Market. They said only the 1st floor parking applies, and you get 1 hour free.

Parking at Yuk Lab Yeouido on a weekend at 5pm, plus a double-parking tip

At 5pm on a Saturday, the lot only had room for about 5 more cars. It's a double-parking setup, so you absolutely must leave your license plate visible on the dashboard. (Doesn't seem like they check parking that strictly on weekends though.)

If you come in through the entrance near the restroom in the parking lot, you'll quickly hit a staircase. Go up to the 2nd floor and it's at the far right, using Minjung Dental as your reference point.

Inside Yuk Lab Yeouido: private rooms for every table

Keep turning right and there it is at the very end — Yuk Lab! They describe it as vintage-meets-hip in black, and honestly it does feel chic and modern, a great date spot for setting the mood. Apparently they have a wide range of drinks, and true to that, the whole entrance is lined with liquor haha.

Yuk Lab is entirely made up of rooms, and while each one is separated, the partitions are all simple ones so groups can use them together too. So it's a restaurant that offers privacy whether you're on a date or with a group.

Each room has air conditioning installed so you can eat comfortably in the cool, and they've thoughtfully set out Febreze and toothpicks to deal with the meat smell. Nice touch.

They had the basic side dishes ready, plus seasoning that goes well with lamb ribs and various sauces for the beef — that myeongi namul (wild chive) was seriously delicious!

What a couple orders at Yuk Lab Yeouido: the 2-person set and kimchi fried rice

The menu had quite a lot of variety. Since this place specializes in beef and lamb, my partner and I went with the 2-person Yuk Lab set so we could try a bit of everything, and my partner also ordered kimchi fried rice for the days when you just need some carbs.

What comes in the 2-person Yuk Lab set and the order to grill it

First, the 2-person Yuk Lab set! It comes with a combination of jingalbi (thick short rib), tosisal (skirt steak), and lamb ribs, plus assorted vegetables + 10-second cheese and doenjang (soybean paste) stew, all as one set. In the photo, from top to bottom it's jingalbi, tosisal, then lamb ribs, and they told us to eat in that same order — jingalbi first, then tosisal, then lamb ribs. For the lamb ribs, since staff trim them for you, you call them over via the tablet when you're ready.

So the first thing we ate was the jingalbi. Seriously, it melts the second it hits your mouth... absolutely incredible.

And this cheese is so good — the cheese flavor is strong and savory, isn't it? The beef alone is already tasty, but paired with the cheese it gets even more savory and delicious.

How is the doenjang stew that comes with the Yuk Lab set?

The doenjang stew tasted somewhat like cheonggukjang (fermented soybean paste). I'm not particularly a fan of cheonggukjang, but I don't mind the smell, so I actually enjoyed it — though it was a bit on the salty side, and my partner said it made them crave rice. Delicious! It's just too salty to eat as soup alone, but order a bowl of rice and you'd polish off this doenjang stew in no time.

Cheese-topped kimchi fried rice at Yuk Lab: spicier than it looks

Then the kimchi fried rice arrived. It's piled high with cheese, and the cheese smell is no joke. I thought all that cheese might overpower the kimchi fried rice flavor, but who cares? It's delicious haha. This kimchi fried rice was totally my style too. Oh, but for someone who even finds Jin Ramen spicy flavor hot, this was a bit spicy for me. So I was so grateful for the cheese — it tamed the spiciness of the kimchi fried rice just enough to make it a pleasantly mild kick.

Lamb ribs last, with zira and curry powder

Now for the final course, the lamb ribs. They said it's fine to eat as soon as the pink is gone, just like beef, and that if the distinct lamb smell bothers you, cook it a bit longer — but honestly there was no gamey smell at all, just insanely delicious... Of course, being lamb, there's some lamb aroma, but it's absolutely not gamey, and it's really good paired with the zira (cumin) and curry powder that came with it. I like zira too, but the curry powder was really the star for me.

Yuk Lab Yeouido verdict: worth going back?

Whether it's the beef or the lamb, both were really high quality with zero off smells, and above all, so tender..... Instead of feeling like a crowded market-style restaurant, this place is set up with private rooms where you can set the mood, so it's great for talking slowly while savoring each piece of meat, and it seems like a good spot for a blind date, an important meeting, or an anniversary. I was so happy the whole time eating that all I could say to my partner was 'this is so good, I'm so happy' — I genuinely, truly recommend Yuk Lab Yeouido!

• Rating scale: ★ would never come back / ★★ not necessary / ★★★ would go if someone insists / ★★★★ recommended / ★★★★★ will definitely return
• Would visit again: ★★★★
• One-line review: The beef and lamb are seriously delicious....