Dongdaemun Korean BBQ restaurant with free valet: Ilbeonji

A beef restaurant near Janghanpyeong Station with no parking worries

Last Friday after work, I headed to Ilbeonji Jeongyuk Sikdang Janghanpyeong Branch in Jang-an-dong for beef for the first time in ages! Haha. It is a one-minute walk from Exit 3 of Janghanpyeong Station, with a bus stop right in front—and, best of all, the parking area was seriously spacious, so it looked perfect for family meals, gatherings, or work dinners!

It is so rare to find a good restaurant in Seoul with parking this roomy, so I loved being able to visit without worrying about parking.

And valet parking is free! No wonder there were so many large parties and families~!

The interior was also really spacious. The lingering heat made the day muggy, but the restaurant was sooo cool!!!

We visited with a reservation and were given a window seat, which was so nice..😍

Ordering the 900g Small Cow platter

The menu, haha. The biggest advantage of Ilbeonji Jeongyuk Sikdang is that you can enjoy both the Large Cow and Small Cow platters at a really good value! The portions are very generous too, making it great for families. They even said leftover meat can be packed to go, so feel free to order plenty of these good-value meats! You can also order 1++ Korean beef flower sirloin, yukhoe (Korean beef tartare), and chadol (thin-sliced beef brisket):) There were two of us, so we ordered the Small Cow platter (900g / ₩69,000) and drinks!

The grill and table were really clean. While writing this post, I looked it up and it seemed the owner pays close attention to hygiene and cleanliness! A place like this makes you feel even more confident about eating there, haha.

There was such a wide variety of side dishes, with no shortage of anything. For any sides we needed more of, we could easily help ourselves at the self-service bar! Every table also got a generous amount of soy sauce!

We got off work early and visited, so I wanted to enjoy a little more daylight, haha. Being by the window was so nice because we could see outside!!! Such an open, lovely window seat.

And here is the Small Cow platter we ordered, haha. At 900g, it was really generous and full of cuts that anyone could enjoy!

The Small Cow platter came generously loaded with six cuts: flat iron, rib finger, sirloin, beef brisket, chuck flap, and hanger steak, haha. I cannot even imagine how much food is on the Large Cow platter @_@

One thing that surprised me when I saw the meat! I have visited quite a few other butcher restaurants at similar prices, and the freshness, quality, and selection of cuts here were definitely excellent!

The self-service corner and free soybean-paste stew

There is also a self-service corner where you can freely help yourself to vegetables, ssamjang (seasoned soybean dipping paste), and side dishes:) I tend to eat lots of ssam (leaf wraps) with meat, so it is much better to take as much as you want rather than ordering more over and over!!

We tried the beef brisket first, and there was absolutely none of that occasional gamey smell you get from imported beef!!!! It looked fresh even before grilling, and sure enough, it was tender and so delicious!!

There is also free doenjang-jjigae (soybean-paste stew) in an earthenware pot at the center of the grill—grill the beef brisket nicely and add it to the stew^^! Even the stew was so delicious.. This was not just a token stew included to round things out; it had that salty, satisfying style of doenjang stew you would order separately at a barbecue place. The staff checked on tables throughout and refilled the broth too, so the service was really good:)

Eat it as soon as the redness disappears, haha. I also loved having so many sides to pair with it, including seasoned scallions, pickled onions, and pickled chili peppers.

Six cuts with different textures, plus doenjang rice

Since the platter had a nice range of cuts, each one had a slightly different texture, but they were all generally tender and soft, so we really enjoyed them! The chuck flap and sirloin in particular released rich, savory juices the more we chewed, with a wonderfully tender bite. The rib finger and hanger steak were chewy with a deep beefy aroma, so we could properly taste that distinctive beef flavor.

Because beef is not very fatty, the grill can start to stick or burn if you cook it too long, but the grill coating was sooo good, lol. If anything stuck, you could just wipe it away with a tissue!

For dessert, I debated adding naengmyeon (cold noodles), but instead added a bowl of rice and made doenjang sulbap (rice mixed into soybean-paste stew). The stew was already nicely salty, so adding one bowl of rice made the seasoning perfect...😍 We polished it off so deliciously as both dessert and a drinking snack! Overall, the meat quality was good, the price was not too burdensome, and it was a great place to enjoy a generous beef meal. I will have to come back next time I am craving beef!