Goseong pork galbi restaurant with a 30-minute wait: Yongchon Gogi-jip

On a trip to Goseong, I found what might be my all-time favorite pork rib restaurant!! While looking for good places to eat in Goseong, I decided to check out Yongchon Gogi-jip, a spot everyone's been talking about lately. I heard it's as popular as it is delicious, with long waits, so I went in with high expectations.

And it was every bit as good as I hoped! If I'm ever eating meat in Gangwon-do again, this is exactly the place I'd want to come back to, haha. If you're planning a Goseong trip, I recommend Yongchon Gogi-jip!! There's quite a wait, so I'd suggest getting there right at opening :)

Where is Yongchon Gogi-jip and what are its hours?

• Location: 20-3 Yongwon-ro, Toseong-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do
• Hours: Mon–Thu 12:00–21:00 / Fri–Sun 11:00–21:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Parking available, private rooms available

How long is the weekend wait at Yongchon Gogi-jip?

Yongchon Gogi-jip is a well-known pork rib restaurant in Goseong, and it seems to be so hot right now that there's always a line! Even though we did an opening run on a weekend, we still waited about 30 minutes! T_T

You have to put your name on the waitlist in person once you arrive, so do that first thing! There's no way to reserve a spot ahead of time through an app. The restaurant gets so busy that it can be hard to reach them by phone, so keep that in mind!

Yongchon Gogi-jip has a look almost like a pension house! It's also conveniently close to downtown Goseong, haha.

We arrived around 11am, and by 1pm they had already sold out of ingredients... Being a weekend probably made it sell out even faster, but it really made me realize how popular this place is!

Yongchon Gogi-jip menu prices and what to order for two

Yongchon Gogi-jip's specialty is hand-cut pork ribs — you can choose between fresh (unseasoned) pork ribs and seasoned pork ribs. Places usually don't offer fresh pork ribs much, but I guess because they keep the meat so fresh here, they had it on the menu! The seasoned version is the famous one, but honestly, we found the fresh pork ribs really, really delicious!!!

Our order for two people!

• Fresh pork ribs, 2 servings (₩18,000 × 2)
• Seasoned pork ribs, 1 serving ₩18,000
• Kimchi jjigae ₩10,000
• Pollock hoe bibim naengmyeon (spicy raw pollock mixed cold noodles) ₩10,000

Inside Yongchon Gogi-jip: dining room and private rooms

Such clean tables! The restaurant overall was really pleasant and comfortable.

The view was nice and they have rooms too, so it seems like a great spot for group or family visits! Reservations seemed hard to get, but if you come as a group you might be able to snag a room, so keep that in mind :)

Banchan side dishes and the cabbage meat sauce

The side dishes at Yongchon Gogi-jip come out so neatly arranged! Unusually, their meat dipping sauce has cabbage mixed in! It went surprisingly well with the meat. The green onion kimchi and myeong-i namul (wild garlic leaf pickle) were also delicious, haha.

What the fresh pork galbi at Yongchon Gogi-jip tastes like

Finally, the fresh pork ribs arrived! They looked so fresh! Since they only sell what they have prepared each day, it seems they sell out even faster on weekends.

Hand-cut fresh pork ribs! They even gave us a piece of pork skin first to season the grill with. Such a thoughtful little detail.

We grilled the fresh pork ribs first!

It was so, so good!! Best pork ribs I've had in a long time, haha. I don't usually eat unseasoned pork ribs much, but I think I'll be craving these again!

Steamed egg, kimchi jjigae and pollack hoe naengmyeon

The steamed egg was also so good T_T I accidentally took a bite before remembering to take a photo... haha.

And then the kimchi jjigae! It was spicy and really tasty. I was debating between that and soybean paste stew, but the kimchi jjigae went so well with the fresh pork ribs, haha.

And finally, the seasoned pork ribs and the pollock naengmyeon!