Suwon eel buffet, first-time grilling and 3 eel rounds: Songnim Bok

When it's this hot out, you've got to eat eel to keep your stamina up — but it's always been kind of pricey, right? Songnim Bok Jangeo Freshwater Eel All-You-Can-Eat Suwon Main Branch is exactly what the name says: a place where you can keep eating eel, all you can eat! I didn't expect much flavor-wise since it's a buffet, but I was curious, so my husband and I headed straight over — and it ended up exceeding expectations. Let me share our review of Songnim Bok Jangeo Suwon Main Branch — if you're planning a visit, take a look^^

Parking and atmosphere at Songnim Bok Suwon Main Branch

Songnim Bok Suwon Main Branch has both underground and ground-level parking. We parked at the rear ground-level lot, and since we got there early, we could park right away.

Songnim Bok has big signage outside saying that not just eel but pork belly and chicken neck are also all-you-can-eat — it really caught my eye.

It was still early evening so there weren't too many customers yet, but it was a bit surprising to see some already having drinks haha. The restaurant is huge with really high ceilings and feels open and airy. Actually, eel restaurants that are cramped tend to fill up with smoke and feel stuffy, but there was none of that here.

Toward the back there's a partitioned area — not quite a private room, but it looked great for company dinners or gatherings.

Eel, pork belly and chicken neck from the self-serve corner

Eel, pork belly, chicken neck, lettuce, side dishes — everything is freely available at the self-serve corner.

Instead of ordering through a server, you go grab it yourself, which was nice because you don't have to feel self-conscious about how much you're taking. Both the eel and the meats looked colorful and fresh — I could already tell it would taste good.

The vegetables and side dishes were well stocked too, with lots of variety.

A 2-hour time limit, and you grill it yourself

The eel all-you-can-eat has a fixed 2-hour time limit. I thought that sounded short, but once we started eating, it took us just over an hour, so we actually had plenty of time to spare.

Staff don't grill it for you — you have to do it yourself — so there's a guide posted on the side showing how to grill eel well.

How much is Songnim Bok's all-you-can-eat?

The most important part — the price! All-you-can-eat is ₩29,900 for adults, ₩14,000 for children, plus a ₩3,000 table setting fee — really affordable. What's usually a single serving at most eel restaurants gets you unlimited eel here.

There's also a range of meal options like galbitang (short rib soup), yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) and makguksu (buckwheat noodles), plus alcohol, so it looked great for company dinners or gatherings.

Once you order, they set a simple table for you.

They bring out eel, pork belly and chicken neck, and then you just keep refilling eel onto this plate.

Grilling eel over charcoal for the first time — I fumbled a bit

Since it's charcoal grilling, fat dripping from the meat can flare up, so you grill meat at the edges and keep the eel in the center.

This was my first time grilling eel so I made a lot of mistakes, but since I like it well-done, I appreciated being able to control the doneness myself.

How does the eel taste? Thick-cut and savory

I took one bite of the eel and was genuinely surprised at how good it was. Honestly, since it's a buffet, I went in not expecting much flavor and told myself I'd just be happy eating eel at all. But it was salty, savory and rich — tasting just like it came from a famous specialty eel restaurant.

It's also delicious wrapped together with pork belly and chicken neck as an eel samhap (three-way combo wrap), and the ginger here isn't very spicy, so even I — who can't usually handle ginger — could pile it on and enjoy it.

The chicken neck was chewy and salty too — the kind of flavor that's basically a perfect drinking snack.

By the second round, it was so good we were just eating eel alone.

I thought the quality might drop once we grabbed more from the self-serve corner, but it was just as thick and just as tasty as the first batch.

We ate three full rounds of eel alone before even moving on to grilling pork belly and chicken neck — that's how good the eel was.

Would we go back for Suwon eel all-you-can-eat?

Among all-you-can-eat eel spots in Suwon, I can honestly say Songnim Bok Jangeo Freshwater Eel All-You-Can-Eat Suwon Main Branch is the tastiest — we were that satisfied. I even called a friend right away to recommend it as a must-try eel spot haha. That said, if it's your first time grilling eel, you might fumble a bit like I did at first, but you get the hang of it quickly, so there's nothing to worry about.