Pork belly in eel sauce at a Siheung Baegot eel buffet: Songnim Bok

Summer or winter, grill restaurants are always popular, and eel is the classic stamina food. I heard there's a place where you can eat that eel, freshwater eel at that, in unlimited amounts, so I went to check it out.

What are Songnim Bok Jangeo Baegot's hours and parking?

Songnim Bok Jangeo Baegot Direct Branch is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., and parking is free, so it was easy to visit. I've been feeling really drained this summer, and oddly, every time I visit Songnim Bok Jangeo I feel energy coming back.

They get good-quality freshwater eel through partner suppliers, so I could enjoy it at a great value.

The very symbol of recovery and stamina: Songnim Bok Jangeo's energy booster, eel extract, sells for ₩50,000. It would make a good gift, whether for a housewarming or a promotion.

At the self-serve corner you can grab extra side dishes, and the eel, pork belly and even the duck neck were all neatly and generously prepared.

Everyone knows freshwater eel is good for you, but what exactly does it do? It's said to be excellent for preventing adult diseases, high blood pressure, obesity, aging, cancer and for skin beauty. It's also considered good food when you lack energy, have anemia or chronic ailments. That's why eel has always been the first thing that comes to mind as a restorative dish.

Songnim Bok Jangeo all-you-can-eat prices and meal menu

Unlimited refill is ₩29,900 for adults and ₩14,000 for children, plus a ₩3,000 table setting fee. There are also meal dishes like eel soup, yukgaejang (spicy beef soup), buckwheat makguksu (cold noodles) and spicy ramyeon, the kind of things that wash the grease right down.

Can you get freshwater eel to take out?

Songnim Bok Jangeo also sells takeout: for ₩35,000 you can enjoy freshwater eel at home. I'd recommend it for get-togethers or housewarmings at home. Once you try it, you'll want to take some home.

Self-serve sauces, meat quality and the coated grill plate

The self-bar at Songnim Bok Jangeo has side dishes and various sauces: ssamjang (dipping paste), sesame oil, salt and eel sauce.

The meat looks really high quality at a glance, right? It's incredible. I was amazed you can eat this unlimited at this price, and the eel looked very fresh in color too.

This grill plate was a game changer: no matter how much I grilled, it hardly burned, so I enjoyed the meal comfortably from start to finish without changing the plate.

Scallion kimchi, perilla leaf pickles, ginger white kimchi and onion pickles: the side dishes were put together to match the meat well.

Do freshwater eel and pork belly go together?

Honestly, Songnim Bok Jangeo's unlimited freshwater eel is a regular spot for me: once you visit, it keeps coming to mind and you end up going back periodically. It feels like coming to recharge with a stamina meal, and it tastes so good that you keep eating. Eel is mild and nutty whenever you eat it.

I wondered whether pork belly and eel would work together, but amazingly, they really do go well together.

Oh, and the water isn't plain water but hovenia tea (heotgaesu), which was a nice special touch.

The pork belly cooked first, so I put it on white kimchi and ate it with ssamjang, chili and garlic. The quality is far better than most grill restaurants.

I grilled pork belly to eat with the eel, but by the time the eel was done I'd already eaten all the pork belly... it's terrifyingly good. I wish I'd had a glass of soju with it... I came by car, which is a shame, but next time!

They cut the eel into bite-size pieces and grill it for you, and the meat doesn't stick to the plate and cooks nicely. Maybe it's the good coated grill plate, but everything cooked really well.

Finally, I ate the fully cooked pork belly and eel together, and wow, who thought of this combo? I'd only had eel on its own, never with pork belly, but the mild eel and the nutty pork belly go great together. The eel sauce also goes well with the pork belly.

Songnim Bok Jangeo duck neck dipped in salt

Duck neck is a cut that's hard to find elsewhere, and it's included in Songnim Bok Jangeo's unlimited refill. I tried it for the first time here too, and once you taste it, you can never forget this texture and flavor...

You might think a neck cut doesn't have much meat, but it's actually generously meaty, so it's fun to eat, and the texture is wonderfully crunchy.

I just dipped it lightly in salt sauce and needed no other sauce. Duck neck dipped in salt sauce had a texture on a different level from the meats I usually eat, and it was delicious.

Who should you bring to Songnim Bok Jangeo in Baegot?

I kept eating in a daze and left stuffed with eel, pork belly and neck meat. It felt like a proper stamina boost, so I strongly recommend it for a drink with your parents or friends in summer.