Korean BBQ restaurant near Samseong Station for a weekend dinner with

I'd been avoiding charcoal-grilled meat during the heat, but on a cooler weekend evening my meat-loving son and I finally went out for charcoal short ribs again. We'd occasionally gone to Obaltan right next door, but this was our first time at Gukbo Garden.

I found it while searching for good restaurants in Samseong-dong, and having staff grill the meat for you made the meal so much easier. The space is upscale and spacious with fairly convenient parking, so it seemed like a solid choice for family dinners or meals with guests when looking for a Samseong-dong restaurant. It's also close to Samseong Station, so I felt like I'd come back whenever I was looking for somewhere to eat near there.

Location and hours of Gukbo Garden Samsung Main Branch

• Location: 608 Samseong-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
• Hours: 11:30 AM–10:00 PM
• Break time: 3:00 PM–5:00 PM
• Parking: Woochang Building parking lot
• Subway: Samseong Jungang Station Exit 3

What is Gukbo Garden?

Gukbo Garden blends a traditional Korean BBQ restaurant atmosphere with a clean, refined space. The Samsung branch offers aged Korean pork marinated short ribs along with a range of other meat dishes, and staff grill everything for you so you can just relax and eat.

The entrance is neatly kept and parking was easy to use. Once inside, the space felt bigger and calmer than I'd expected.

First impressions of this Samseong-dong Korean BBQ restaurant

Instead of the usual rough-around-the-edges feel of a barbecue joint, the whole place felt tidy and put together. Seats had good spacing too, which made it comfortable for a family meal.

The meat menu is varied enough to pick according to taste, and the side dish spread — including crab marinated in soy sauce (ganjang gejang) and japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) — was generous. It seemed like a good spot for both family dinners and meals with guests.

Side dishes with crab and japchae

As soon as we sat down, the side dishes started arriving one by one. Among the usual banchan meant to go with meat, there was soy-marinated crab and japchae, making for a pretty substantial spread.

Tasting the japchae and crab before the meat arrived made the wait for the charcoal ribs go by without any boredom.

My son's pick: Seolhwa marinated short ribs

My son, who loves marinated short ribs, picked the Gukbo Seolhwa marinated short ribs the moment he saw the menu. It's Korean pork aged slowly for 168 hours and marinated in a house-made sauce.

We also ordered the Gukbo Bakpo marinated short ribs. Both are marinated ribs, but the two dishes look quite different. The Seolhwa ribs are thick-cut, while the Bakpo ribs are spread flat and marinated in the same house-made sauce.

Ribs cooking over the charcoal

The charcoal was brought out and a staff member placed the meat on the grill. At charcoal barbecue places you always worry about smoke and smell, but that day the smoke never bothered us throughout the whole meal. Best of all, since staff did the grilling, we didn't have to keep flipping the meat ourselves and could just chat while eating.

The parts of the meat touching the charcoal took on a glossy sheen from the marinade, browning nicely at the edges.

The Seolhwa marinated short ribs are thick-cut with the marinade soaked all the way through, so a single bite gives you both the meat flavor and the sauce flavor together. The Bakpo marinated short ribs, spread flat, brown from the edges inward as they hit the charcoal.

True to form for the meat-loving pick my son made, our chopsticks were busier than usual that evening. On hot days I'd hesitate to sit near charcoal at all, but eating it on a cool day reminded me why charcoal barbecue is the way to go. It made for an especially welcome dinner since it had been a while since we'd had charcoal ribs.

Filling up with minari king short rib soup

I figured we'd keep the meal course light since we'd already eaten plenty of meat, but seeing the minari king short rib soup changed my mind.

It came packed with big, generous short ribs, and the portion was larger than expected. I'd worried it might be too much after all that meat, but watching my son still work through the short rib soup made me proud as a mom. I thought it'd be worth coming back just to order the minari king short rib soup on its own next time.

Glossy hot pot rice and cold noodles

I'd assumed the hot pot rice (sotbap) would just be a plain side, but it had a nice glossy sheen. It worked well eaten with the meat and also paired nicely with the short rib soup.

After the meat came cold noodles (mul naengmyeon). A clean way to finish the meal, we shared a bowl after all the ribs.

A place to remember after visiting Bongeunsa Temple

Whenever we visited Bongeunsa Temple, finding somewhere to eat afterward was always a hassle. If we couldn't find anywhere suitable, we'd sometimes end up rushing through a meal at the Hyundai Department Store food court. Now that I've discovered Gukbo Garden, I think I'll come here next time I want a more relaxed meal after stopping by Bongeunsa.

It's also close to Samseong Station and parking is easy, making it a fine spot for meeting up with friends too.

A good place to bring guests

Even though it's a barbecue restaurant, the space feels calm and the overall atmosphere is upscale. With a side-dish spread that includes soy-marinated crab and japchae, plus a varied meat menu including marinated short ribs, it seemed like a good place to bring guests too.

Dessert after the meal

After finishing a full meal, there was a dessert corner off to one side. Coffee and omija tea (five-flavor berry tea) all the way to Yoazip yogurt ice cream.

We each finished off with a yogurt ice cream before heading out. Between the meal and the dessert, our weekend evening felt nicely full and unhurried. Next time I want to try some of the other meat dishes, and my son's curious about the hanwoo (Korean beef) jjapaguri, so I should order that too.

A record of flavors worth remembering · Taste over trends