Gyodae Station Korean BBQ: flower rib with Donghae soju, Huiyeol

📍1 Beopwon-ro 1-gil, B1F, Seocho-gu, Seoul

It's a brutally hot summer, but can't skip going out on a weekday off, right..? I wanted to eat something good!?! So out I went^^.....and braved the heat for Huiyeol in Seocho! I'd wanted to go for a while and the timing finally worked out. The walk there was hot, but the sky was so pretty..?🫢

Where is Huiyeol Seocho Gyodae Branch, and what are its hours?

Huiyeol Seocho Gyodae Branch feels like it's right between Seocho and Gyodae stations — neither is far lol. I got off at Seocho Station and it took about 5 minutes on foot!! You go into this building. Huiyeol is on the basement floor! There were signs the whole way, so it was super easy to find^.^

⏰️ Huiyeol Seocho hours ⏰️ Mon–Sat 11:00–21:30 (break time 15:00–17:00), closed Sundays

When we arrived, even the entrance gave off a bit of a hanjeongsik (Korean course meal) restaurant vibe, which I loved^.^

Main hall tables and private rooms: is Huiyeol good for groups?

Walk in and there's a clean-looking hall section. Whether you come with 2, 4, or 6 people, you'd feel comfortable eating here. And the spacing between tables is nice and wide!!!

The path leading in and this door you see as you enter lead to a room — a private room like this!! Looks good for family dinners, group gatherings, wedding invitation meetups, reunions, work dinners, all of it. Really great as a meeting spot!!

I thought I'd love to host a gathering here myself later, because it's a proper room, so it could handle my absolutely loud kids^^.......

Huiyeol menu and what we ordered for two

🍴 Huiyeol Seocho menu 🍽

We went on a weekday lunch, and the lunch set menu looked so good I'd already had my eye on it, but we ended up ordering hanwoo flower short rib for two (₩55,000 per person) and Donghae soju (₩7,000)! (There were so many traditional liquors I almost didn't order one, but got curious and tried it^.^)

There's a makgeolli discount too, and an event where if you order a hanwoo menu with 3 or more people, you get a free hanwoo raw fish soup — whoa. We were only two so we couldn't get it, but that's a generous giveaway for an event, haha. Go with 3 people, quick.

Donghae soju!! First time trying it!!!!!!!! Tastes kind of different from regular soju, more like sake...???

Chilled soybean milk, seven side dishes and shrimp jeon

This is the soy bean milk — at first I thought, why not a warm soup to start? But it was way tastier than expected lolol. Even I, who doesn't even like kongguksu (cold soy bean noodle soup), knocked it back in one shot...

This is the dipping sauce for the meat. The one in the middle was described as garlic sauce.

Seven side dishes and salad all set down in a row!! Just the sheer number is overwhelming

Sweet pumpkin salad, kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts, salad, gungchae, myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves), some kind of octopus-squid jeotgal (salted seafood) mix, stir-fried garlic stems — I tried every single one, and there wasn't a single miss, really balanced flavors!!

Shrimp jeon and sauce.

Just made so it was super hot, which meant it couldn't not be delicious... and the shrimp were so plump that it burst as soon as I bit into it, ugh

Packed with shrimp meat, ugh. I've had plenty of fried shrimp, but eating it as jeon let the natural shrimp flavor come through so much more, and I loved that.

Hanwoo flower rib grilled medium-rare on a stone plate

The flower short rib arrives. Oh my.....the visuals are insane..........

It came out grilled to medium-rare on a sizzling stone plate, so I could control the doneness, and I love it exactly at this point, so I dug in right away^.^ Beef has to be medium-rare!!!!

The portion was generous and it looked so good visually that my excitement was maxed out before I even ate!!!!!!!! And the smell was insane lolol

Tried it right as it was. Rich beefy flavor, chewy yet tender, and the moment it hit my mouth I was already amazed, ugh

The thinner pieces cook more while the thicker parts cook slowly, so I went for the edges first^.^ When it comes to food, I'm such a J.......

Besides the meat, mushrooms, onion, garlic, chili and other vegetables were sizzling alongside it lolol. The mushrooms especially were so good!!

Seasonal pot rice, green tea nurungji and doenjang jjigae

This is the seasonal pot rice. Open the pot — ta-da~ a pot rice loaded with namul (seasoned vegetables) appears!!!!

Mix it up. At this point there's this really fragrant? smell lolol

They took the rice out separately, and here's the green tea water for the pot I'd noticed on the way in!! Cold since it's a summer version lolol. I thought sungnyung (scorched rice tea) only ever used plain hot water, so this was surprising!!

Pour it into the pot after scraping out every last grain of rice!! The highlight of pot rice is eating the sungnyung^.^ Just eat the rice while you wait, hehe, you wait a bit!

The doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) that came along with it. Getting a stew too makes the whole rice pairing feel even more generous. Seven side dishes, meat, and stew too! The stew was packed with ingredients and rich in flavor, so it felt like they put care into every part of the meal, not just the main.

Seasonal pot rice topped with flower short rib. Anyone who says this isn't good has something wrong with their taste buds — it's even better because it's hanwoo... Now I'm curious about the braised short rib set too..!?

By the time we were finishing the meat, the sungnyung was ready^.^

Being made with green tea water made it nuttier, and even though it's a cold summer version, it had its own charm...!!! The greatness of Korean food — start the main with rice and finish with rice too^.^

Topping it with a bit of everything from the seven side dishes. This one felt more like it paired better with the jeotgal and banchan than with the meat^.^!?!

Is Huiyeol worth it for Korean BBQ near Gyodae Station?

They even brought out omija cha (five-flavor berry tea) to finish!! Loved that they took care of dessert too^.^ I came here looking for a good restaurant near Gyodae Station, and I left a happy, satisfied diner at Huiyeol Seocho, from the atmosphere to the taste to the whole spread!! I think friends would love it, and so would parents if you brought them along?? The atmosphere is nice enough to enjoy in the hall, and great for groups looking for a room restaurant too^.^ Despite the exhausting heat, this was a delicious, happy lunch🥰