Geomdan charcoal-grill pork and scallops: Euljiro Yeontan Gui

Whenever we wonder where to go out to eat these days, the one thing the whole family ends up agreeing on is meat!!!! Haha. There are lots of good places where one visit feels enough, but this was somewhere that made me think, “We could definitely come back here next time!” as we walked out.

Euljiro Yeontan Gui Majeon Branch: location and parking near Geomdan Intersection

Euljiro Yeontan Gui Majeon Branch (을지로연탄구이 마전점) is near Geomdan Intersection. It’s about 200 m from Exit 2, so it’s close by.

The address is 494 Geomdan-ro, Geomdan-gu, Incheon, and it is open from 3:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. You can park in front of the restaurant, though there isn’t much space.

Briquettes and a retro dining room

Just as the name suggests, this is a meat restaurant where you grill over charcoal briquettes. We went with our child, who loved it because the briquettes made it feel like we were eating at a campsite ^^ We arrived a little after 7 p.m. on a weekday, and it was already nearly full.

The interior has an ’80s and ’90s retro feel, totally our style as a couple. You can have meat and seafood together here, and there were more menu choices than I expected. We started with their best-selling pork geun platter.

From the pork geun platter to grilled scallops

The staff were incredibly quick, kind and attentive, so we had such a comfortable, enjoyable meal out. Our table was set right away when we came in, and the meat we ordered arrived in no time.

We ordered the pork geun platter: samgyeopsal (pork belly), hangjeongsal (pork jowl), pork skin and more, plus potatoes and mushrooms!!!!

The meat looked good quality. You grill it yourself, and because the cuts were thick, they took a little while to cook at first ;;;

The basic table setting came with various sauces, lettuce and seasoned radish wraps, and the bowl of rice was pretty generous!! Such a hearty serving!

At the self-service bar, you can take as much kimchi, pickled radish wraps, perilla leaves, garlic and onion as you like. Empty plates, tongs, scissors and children’s forks are all there too!

At first, I put everything on at once, but since it was briquettes, only the spot right over the middle of the fire cooked well. Once I got used to how to cook it, though, it was easy to grill everything nicely.

At Euljiro Yeontan Gui Majeon Branch, they serve icy shredded radish salad with the meat, and that was such a special treat?!! It was my first time having it; the tiny ice crystals were wonderfully crunchy.

My husband always orders doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) when we have meat, you know? This one had lots of Cheongyang chili peppers and was a little spicy, so it was hard for our child to eat ;;

You can’t have meat without drinks, right? My husband and I are beer people, so we downed beer with our delicious meat! Can you see that gorgeous color? There are lots of meat restaurants around Geomdan Intersection, but this was our first time here, and both the atmosphere and the meat were really good. Especially the music—completely my style haha.

Because it’s charcoal briquettes, the flames can flare up when you grill pork belly!!! Be careful as you cook it. Still, that smoky char made it even tastier, you know? Haha.

Every cut was delicious. My son especially ate so much haha. He’s such a picky eater too lol. The grilled potatoes were a special treat as well.

The side dishes that came with it were clean and simple, with no unnecessary fuss, and went so well with the meat. My first-grade son tried pork skin for the first time and said it was delicious—then polished off every last bit haha.

We debated what extra dish to order, but we’d already had plenty of meat with the pork geun platter, and I was curious about the seafood, so we ordered one. Next time, I want to try the cold buckwheat noodles and bibimbap too!! They looked so good at the other tables, but I held back ^^

What we ordered was grilled scallops!!! Look at that presentation. I was honestly so surprised haha.

You just put them directly over the briquettes and remove the scallop shells. They were absolutely packed with filling. The seafood was fresh, so eat up haha.

Stir them now and then as they cook nicely, and with these too, it really felt like we’d had a proper full meal! Having this made the drinks go down even more easily, you know?

Why I want to come back

We completely cleared the table! Can you see how we finished almost all the side dishes? That’s exactly why we need to come back again haha.

More than anything, it’s good value for money, the meat quality is solid, the atmosphere has that old-school feel, and the staff are so warm and friendly—I absolutely want to revisit!!! There are lots of good restaurants, but some places are the ones that make you think, “Let’s come here again next time!”