Sungsimdang-area Korean restaurant in Daejeon: mild pork bones, Yeonam

I recently went on a trip to Daejeon~! And when you say Daejeon, you can't skip Sungsimdang, right? After looking at all the delicious bread at Sungsimdang, I naturally started craving something hearty and spicy, Korean-style! So here's my review of Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang (연암숯불뼈구이&감자탕), a restaurant near Sungsimdang in Jung-gu, Daejeon that's rumored to be super popular♥

Where is Yeonam, and how far is it from Sungsimdang?

Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang is at 37-9 Jungang-ro 130beon-gil, Jung-gu, Daejeon, South Korea, and it's open from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (as posted). It's just across the street from Sungsimdang Cake Boutique, so it pairs really well with a Sungsimdang stop on a Daejeon trip.

If you walk all the way from Daejeon Station, you'll reach Sungsimdang near Jungangno Station! I think a lot of people wonder where to eat nearby after visiting Sungsimdang and the Cake Boutique haha.

After crossing the street from Sungsimdang Cake Boutique, you need to head into the alley behind it — it's inside a really narrow alley, so you might get a little lost on your first visit~!

Weekday lunch waits and Naver reservations at Yeonam

Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang opens at 11:30 a.m., and even though I went almost right when it opened, there were already people there! If you haven't made a reservation, you absolutely have to do an opening run haha. This place takes Naver reservations, so if you're planning a lunch visit, please, please, please reserve ahead :)

Because by noon, the place fills up completely like this and a waiting line forms right away...! The wait gets huge starting from noon, so definitely make a Naver reservation — and honestly, that just proves how good this place is, so it's worth the visit ><

The small charcoal-grilled pork bones, mild version, for two

Gamjatang (pork bone stew) and pork bone grill are Yeonam's signature menu items! Of the two, I ordered the pork bone grill, which is the BEST item and one that's hard to find easily in Seoul ♥ (If there are two of you, the small size is plenty!!!)

• Charcoal-grilled pork bones, small (mild spice)
• Rice balls

The food finally arrived haha. I ordered the restaurant's signature pork bone grill and rice balls, and they even gave us a generous serving of hangover soup broth on the side >< The moment the charcoal pork bones landed on the table, the sweet-spicy, deep charcoal aroma that hit my nose was seriously an art form haha..

How spicy is the mild sauce, really?

The outside of the pork bones is grilled once more with a torch or charcoal to get it extra crispy, giving it a completely different chewy-yet-crispy texture from regular gamjatang meat...!! Biting into it, the outside was crispy and the inside juicy — seriously the best >< Pork bone grill can easily end up too spicy, but the special sauce here isn't just spicy — it has a pleasant umami sweetness layered in, so it hits just the right level of spicy and I loved it haha. It's that addictive, intense flavor that keeps your hand reaching back for more ♥ I had the mild version, and the sweet-spicy balance was just right!!

Meat grilled in sauce like this can usually turn dry, but the meat at Yeonam is boiled so thoroughly that the bone and flesh slide apart smoothly with just a light nudge of the chopsticks haha. The texture that seemed to melt the moment it hit my mouth was also amazing~!

Extra udon noodles: worth adding for two people?

I also added udon noodles haha. Eating them with the chewy, plump noodles kept things from getting boring and let me eat more >< But there was so much meat that I ended up super full...haha. If there are two of you, I think the portion is plenty even without ordering noodles!!

Rice balls ordered alongside the pork bone grill

The rice balls I ordered with the spicy pork bone grill! Honestly, even the rice balls here were perfect... The texture of the rice itself was so chewy, and while there seemed to be a lot of mayo, it was just the right amount to eat with the pork bones! Personally, I thought the whole balance was perfect ♥ Mixing or dipping the rice balls into the sweet-spicy pork bone sauce, the carbs and the rich, meaty sauce came together so well and tasted amazing! I really want to recommend the rice balls haha.

Is Yeonam a good next stop after Sungsimdang?

If you've eaten a ton of sweet, delicious bread at Sungsimdang and want to finish off perfectly with a spicy, hearty Korean soul food~! You can have a great time in Daejeon at Yeonam Charcoal-Grilled Pork Backbone & Gamjatang haha. The soup and kalguksu (noodle soup) are famous too, but how about the true hidden-gem dish, pork bone grill~? The wait can get long at lunchtime, so definitely use Naver reservations or arrive a bit early!! It was such an appealing, delicious pork bone grill and rice ball combo that I really want to recommend to friends too :)