Low-carb lunch at a Yongin jokbal restaurant: Cheongdam Jokbal

Lately I've been pretty serious about dieting. I've been cutting flour and rice as much as possible and eating mostly protein and vegetables — low-carb, high-fat style — for weeks now. But I can't survive on chicken breast alone every day.

Even eating out, if you just control the carbs a bit, there are actually a lot of menus you can still enjoy. One of them I'm always happy to see is jokbal! This time I went for lunch to Cheongdam Jokbal near Sanghyeon Station. I ordered the basic jokbal, and the whole spread came out way more generous than I expected — I left very satisfied.

Where is Cheongdam Jokbal Gwanggyo Sanghyeon Branch, and when is it open?

• A jokbal restaurant near Sanghyeon Station in Gwanggyo — Cheongdam Jokbal
• Daily 11:30–23:30 (last order 22:30)
• 1F 107, 10 Gwanggyojungang-ro 296beon-gil, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Cheongdam Jokbal is in a shopping complex near Sanghyeon Station, so it wasn't hard to find. It's a decent location for anyone looking for lunch or dinner around Sanghyeon Station, and the sign was visible right from the front, which made it easy to spot.

I especially liked that underground parking was available, since parking is hard near Sanghyeon Station. Coming up from the underground lot to the first floor, the space had a slightly open-air feel without being stuffy, which was perfect given the nice weather.

Inside Cheongdam Jokbal: seating and atmosphere

Walking into Cheongdam Jokbal Gwanggyo Sanghyeon Branch, the overall black-and-wood color scheme gave it a clean feel. Jokbal restaurants often bring to mind a slightly crowded, old-school vibe, but here the tables were tidy and the interior clean, making it comfortable to eat in.

The open layout kept it from feeling cramped, and the spacing between tables was reasonable. Most jokbal spots near Sanghyeon Station don't open for lunch, so I liked that this one does, letting you eat comfortably during the day too.

Why jokbal fits a low-carb, high-fat diet

Picking a dining-out menu while managing your diet is honestly its own task these days. I'm avoiding carb-heavy foods like pasta, pizza and tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), but jokbal lets you skip the rice or noodles and just eat meat with wrap vegetables — a pretty good choice for me.

Looking at the menu, there were quite a few types of jokbal, but that day I ordered the most basic one.

What comes with the basic jokbal at Cheongdam Jokbal

When the basic jokbal I ordered arrived, the whole spread was much more generous than expected. The jokbal didn't just show up alone on a plate — it came with lettuce, perilla leaf, chili, cucumber and carrot for wraps, plus kimchi, pickled radish and garlic on the side, all served as a big set, which I liked.

I also liked that the prepped vegetable side dishes came in generous portions. These days I eat a lot of vegetables instead of rice, so this kind of spread made me happy.

There's also a cool bean sprout soup, clean and refreshing. It'd probably go great as a drinking snack too.

When eating jokbal, kimchi and pickled radish quietly matter a lot — putting a piece of pickled radish on top of a bite of meat added a crisp, spicy touch that worked really well together.

How the jokbal tasted

Even in photos the portion looks substantial, right? The skin had a glossy shine and the lean meat and fat were mixed in just the right ratio, so it looked delicious even before I took a bite.

Taking a bite, the skin was chewy and the meat wasn't too dry, which I liked. The distinctive jokbal smell wasn't too strong and the seasoning was just right, so it was tasty even plain, and it also went well with a little salted shrimp or ssamjang (dipping sauce).

Since I've been eating low-carb, high-fat these days, I piled on plenty of lettuce and perilla leaf, added a piece of jokbal, then topped it with garlic and chili. Eating it this way, it felt surprisingly filling even without rice.

Of course, jokbal is also a fatty food, so it's not something you can eat unlimited even while dieting, but controlling the rice or makguksu portion and adding plenty of vegetables makes it a decent choice for a day when you eat out.

The makguksu served alongside the jokbal

It would be a shame to skip the makguksu entirely at a jokbal restaurant, right? It came with a tangy, spicy sauce, noodles, cabbage and plenty of perilla leaf, and mixing the vegetables into the sauce, it paired well with the jokbal as always.

But since I'm currently on a diet, I didn't eat much noodle — just a taste. Back in the day I would have finished off jokbal and then dug into the makguksu too, but these days I'm getting used to portioning things out little by little like this. Plenty of makguksu, plenty of veggies too haha.

Is Cheongdam Jokbal worth it for a low-carb lunch?

Overall, I liked that Cheongdam Jokbal near Sanghyeon Station gives you such a generous spread of side dishes and vegetables even with the basic jokbal order.

Especially for someone like me managing a low-carb, high-fat diet these days, being able to pick just meat and vegetables without rice was a real plus. Cheongdam Jokbal near Sanghyeon Station also offers takeout, so next time I might just get it to go haha. It had been a while since I'd eaten out, so it tasted even better, and with all those vegetables I could eat with an easy mind.