Ansan Korean restaurant after work on Friday: Yeongwolae Gondre

I went back to Yeongwolae Gondre, the Ansan Korean set-meal restaurant where we held my grandmother's birthday gathering last time, this time for dinner. Here's my honest review~🫡

Parking and how to get to Yeongwolae Gondre Ansan Branch

Yeongwolae Gondre Ansan Branch is on the 2nd floor of Gojan Praum City, 33 Danggok-ro, Danwon-gu, Ansan, 911 m from Exit 1 of Jungang Station. You can use the building's underground parking, and they cover up to 2 hours.

Take the elevator straight up to the 2nd floor~~

Once you get to the 2nd floor, Yeongwolae Gondre takes up a big space, so it was easy to find. There's a menu board outside, and comfortable chairs for waiting guests~

How long was the wait at Yeongwolae Gondre on a Friday evening?

We came early on a Friday evening, so luckily there was no wait, but once dinner peak time hit, the restaurant filled up~ There's a waiting area inside too, and you can register on the Catch Table waitlist.

Yeongwol Mureungdowon set for two: ₩40,000

Here's the menu. There were two of us, so we ordered the Yeongwol Mureungdowon set (₩40,000). It comes with soybean stew (gangdoenjang), spicy stir-fried pork (jeyuk-bokkeum) and grilled mackerel. I was going to order à la carte, but I wanted to try the soybean stew too, so Mureungdowon set it was!

Is Yeongwolae Gondre Ansan Branch good for family gatherings and first meetings between families?

The inside of Yeongwolae Gondre Ansan Branch is spacious, with wide gaps between tables and wide tables too~ There are rooms and baby chairs, so it seems great for family gatherings~~ Even on a Friday evening there were families gathering, and even a couple of groups having a first meeting between families~? You know rooms have to be reserved in advance, right?

The cutlery setup is neat~

There are no wet wipes, but there's a sink where you can wash your hands. I washed my hands properly before making wraps haha

They also sell homemade snacks.

Refills of side dishes, plum tea and sikhye at the self-bar

For side dishes beyond the first setup, plum tea, sikhye (sweet rice drink), and extra rice and sides, use the self-bar at Yeongwolae Gondre.

The Mureungdowon set spread and how the sides tasted

A healthy spread to soothe my Friday-after-work hunger has arrived~~

The Yeongwol Mureungdowon set comes with gondre rice, gondre namul (seasoned thistle greens), spicy pork, grilled mackerel and soybean stew, plus a variety of sides like napa cabbage kimchi, kelp, perilla-seed lotus root salad and doraji (bellflower root). All of them are refillable, so eat as much of the tasty sides as you like~ The lotus root had a nutty perilla flavor and was so good, and the doraji wasn't bitter at all, cooked sweet and savory so it went down easily~~

Spicy pork as wraps with extra greens

At first they give you only lettuce, but we also brought other kinds of wrap greens from the self-bar. How could you not wrap spicy pork,,? Wraps are total rice thieves!

Not-too-salty soybean stew and mild grilled mackerel

The soybean stew at Yeongwolae Gondre isn't salty either, it's mild and nutty, perfect for mixing with rice~ The tofu is good too! It tasted like something parents would love haha

My favorite, grilled mackerel~~ It came out very well cooked, and the flesh was mild and not salty, so it was delicious! Mackerel is an oily fish rich in omega-3 with plenty of protein, so I could eat it without worrying about my diet~~

Dessert: sikhye and plum tea

We finished the meal cleanly with sikhye and plum tea~! The sikhye was mild and not sweet, nothing overpowering, and the plum tea was sweet and tangy, just my taste. I had a healthy, filling, delicious meal:) If you're looking for a Korean set-meal restaurant with rooms or a place for a family gathering in Ansan, how about Yeongwolae Gondre Ansan Branch?