Eel BBQ buffet in Seongsu with teriyaki chicken neck: Songnim Bok

I had lunch with my parents over the weekend, and since I heard a new all-you-can-eat eel place had opened in Seongsu, I went straight there!

Location and hours of Songnim Bok Jangeo Seongsu

Songnim Bok Jangeo Unlimited Freshwater Eel Seongsu Branch (송림복장어 민물장어 무한리필 성수직영점) is at 148 Seongdeokjeong-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, and is open daily from 11:50 to 23:00. It's near Seongsu 119 and Seongsu Small Theater. It's also close to Ttukseom Hangang Park, so it looks like a nice spot for a walk after eating.

Do they really give you the opening-event bokbunja wine?

This place only opened on May 16, so it's brand new~! The opening event is one free bottle of bokbunja (black raspberry wine) per table, and when we went, they really did give us a ₩9,000 bottle for free~ 😆

Is there a wait at weekend lunch?

The inside is a bit small, and when I went for weekend lunch it was full. There were also reservations, so walk-in customers even had to wait! It's a brand-new restaurant, but word has already gotten around. So many people came.

How much is the all-you-can-eat price?

According to the menu, unlimited for an adult is ₩29,900. Unlimited domestic eel for under ₩30,000?! I've honestly never seen a price like this.. why did I only find this place now!!! At a regular eel restaurant it comes to over ₩50,000 per person, so this price is just crazy.

Here's the proof. Freshwater eel, domestic!!!! Even the chicken neck is domestic!!!

Songnim Bok Jangeo's tips for grilling eel well

• Grill fresh eel skin-side down first.
• Once both sides are well cooked, remove the middle of the back, the side fins and the head fin.
• Cut it into bite-size pieces, then stand them up and brown the cut sides, and it'll taste great.

The restroom is inside, next to the self-serve bar. Also, Songnim Bok Jangeo is a partner of wholesaler No. 8 of the Freshwater Eel Aquaculture Fisheries Cooperative (민물장어양식수협). I guess being a partner is how they can get domestic eel at a low price.

First table setup and side dishes

At Songnim Bok Jangeo, the staff set up the side dishes and the first plate for you. Freshwater eel, pork belly and chicken neck all come out on one plate. The side dishes had everything you'd expect at a high-end eel restaurant!!

The white kimchi and green onion kimchi are the real kick! I can't even count how many times I went back for more. My parents also loved the perilla leaf pickles (kkaennip jangajji).

What's at the self-serve bar?

At the self-serve bar you can help yourself to lettuce, garlic, spicy sauce and more. The eel, pork belly and chicken neck are there too. The staff keep refilling it, so it never runs short.

We love garlic too, so we grilled it in the oil dipping sauce! And among the sauces there's a spicy one, which is delicious as a dip, so please try it.

Is the pork belly good too, not just the eel?

The eel was good, but the pork belly was good too. Maybe they treated it with herbs, because the aroma was sooo good. And it was really tender! It seemed like meat that had been tenderized very well.

Eel with ginger and teriyaki sauce

As for the eel, oh my,, my favorite combo is eel with ginger and teriyaki sauce, and I can eat this unlimited?! T_T I had this combo dozens of times, hahaha.

Eat and eat again,, refill, change the grill plate,, and keep eating.. The staff change the plate for you too! The service was so good T_T haha

Dip the chicken neck in teriyaki sauce before grilling

The last kick of the day was the chicken neck at Songnim Bok Jangeo. At first, when we grilled it all together with the eel and pork belly, I didn't appreciate the chicken neck, you know? But then I dipped it in teriyaki sauce and grilled it. Wow.. once grilled, it was like charcoal-grilled chicken skewers at the level of a yakitori place!!! I think I went back for it at least three more times.. The chicken neck was as good as the eel.

Songnim Bok Jangeo eel takeout price

At Songnim Bok Jangeo Seongsu you can take out 1 kg of prepared eel for ₩35,000. They even give you 3 sauces and ginger for 2 people. Taking eel home from here seems way more trustworthy and better than buying it half-heartedly elsewhere.

Is it a good Seongsu eel restaurant to take parents?

In my opinion, instead of settling for a so-so eel rice bowl in Seongsu, eating proper grilled eel all-you-can-eat at Songnim Bok Jangeo is a hundred, a thousand times better!! 👍 I think parents would especially love it. My parents also said they ate so much to their heart's content that they won't think of eel for a while, hahaha.