Robot-served eel buffet in Cheongna with a grade-schooler: Jangsodam

Freshwater eel from Korea, plus beef, pork, chicken and a self-bar: that's Jangsodam in Cheongna. I hadn't had eel, the classic stamina food, in a while, so I headed to Jangsodam Eel and Beef Buffet Cheongna Main Branch (장소담 장어 소고기 뷔페 청라본점).

You see a lot of all-you-can-eat eel places these days.

Jangsodam Eel and Beef Buffet Cheongna Main Branch is an all-you-can-eat buffet in Cheongna, Incheon where you can try not just eel but beef, pork, chicken, a self-bar and a range of special dishes.

Where is Jangsodam Cheongna and how is the parking?

Jangsodam is on the 2nd floor (Units 206–208) of the building at 10-17 Jungbong-daero 612beon-gil, Seohae, Incheon, open daily 11:00–23:00. You can use the building's parking tower, which holds about 400 cars, so there's plenty of room.

Parking is free for 2 hours, which made it easy to come by car.

Atmosphere and the playroom

Take the elevator up to the 2nd floor and the restaurant is big and easy to spot.

A big sign and menu are posted on the wall, and there are seats for waiting. Inside, the space is seriously large: about 90 pyeong, and apparently it can hold over 100 people.

The tables are spaced out comfortably, and with so much room, several groups at once looked fine. There's also a playroom for little kids, which makes it look great for eating out with children.

Set menus and time limits

Jangsodam is an all-you-can-eat buffet where you can enjoy eel, beef and pork together.

There's a wide menu, from à la carte items to set menus, sides and lunch specials.

The set menus are split into A, B, C and D Sets, so you can choose to suit your taste and budget.

It's a good lineup for anyone in Cheongna looking for eel, beef or pork.

The posted limits are 120 minutes for eel and beef, and 100 minutes for pork.

Two adults and one elementary-schooler: what does the B Set look like?

We came as two adults and one elementary-school kid and ordered the B Set. It includes eel, chuck galbi (beef short rib), pork, one serving of ganjang gejang (soy-marinated crab) and the self-bar.

For the crab, they said you have to order it on the tablet and they'll bring it over. Eel and beef come out first as standard, and after that you order whatever you want on the tablet as unlimited refills.

Eel and beef ordered on the tablet are brought to your table, while pork you fetch yourself from the self-bar.

Once we'd ordered, staff set up the grill.

There were two kinds of grill plate: a coated plate and a wire-mesh grate.

Eel and beef delivered by robot

A robot served the eel and beef first. Kids always love the robot serving!

On the well-heated plate, we grilled half eel and half beef first. I was extra excited since it had been a while since I'd had eel^^ Both the eel and the beef were big pieces.

Cooking them nicely on the grill.

The golden-grilled eel had a faint charcoal aroma, slightly crisp outside and moist inside, chewy and nutty with no fishy taste. Delicious.

I wrapped it in mussam (thin pickled radish wraps), ate it with shredded ginger, dipped it in sauce, and kept grilling, even getting refills and eating it all up.

The beef we grilled alongside was good too. The kid ate almost all the beef, and we ate lots of eel that day. Haha! For stamina, eel is the answer!!

The kid's picks: beef, pork belly and pork galbi

The kid happily ate beef and pork. They said they wanted pork galbi, so we swapped to the wire grate and grilled that too. The marinade wasn't overdone, and grilled over charcoal it was, of course, delicious.

We parents ate our fill of eel, and the kid got to enjoy beef, pork belly and pork galbi. We also ordered the complimentary gejang (soy-marinated crab) and tried it.

What's at the Jangsodam self-bar?

The self-bar at Jangsodam Cheongna has plenty of food besides meat.

There was a wide range of dishes to go with the meal: tofu with stir-fried kimchi, jeyuk bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork), tteokbokki, muk (acorn jelly), sundae (blood sausage) and fried snacks.

There were rice balls and bread too, plus ice cream and cookies for dessert.

The Hangang ramyeon (instant noodles cooked yourself) selection caught my eye with its variety. I liked being able to eat eel, beef and pork and then finish with a hot bowl of ramyeon.

With meals and desserts besides the meat, it was fun picking whatever you felt like eating.

Made-to-order special dishes by tablet, and churros with condensed milk

Another thing that stood out was the special dishes you order by tablet: fried eggplant, kimchi jeon (savory pancake), tonkatsu (pork cutlet), tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), fried rice and cream shrimp.

They aren't something you fetch from the self-bar; you order on the tablet and they're cooked right away and brought to your table.

We ordered the churros with condensed milk. Having sweet churros and ice cream for dessert after the meal was a nice way to cleanse the palate.

Dinner crowd and overall verdict

I'd recommend Jangsodam Eel and Beef Buffet Cheongna Main Branch to anyone looking for an all-you-can-eat eel buffet in Cheongna, Incheon.

When dinner time came, lots of customers arrived, as you'd expect from a popular Cheongna spot.

All kinds of guests came: office workers on a company group dinner, moms and kids at a birthday party, families and college students.

Jangsodam Eel and Beef Buffet Cheongna Main Branch gave us a hearty feast of eel, all kinds of meat, the self-bar and made-to-order special dishes!

If you're looking for a barbecue spot in Seo-gu, Incheon for a family meal or group gathering, or an all-you-can-eat eel or beef buffet in Cheongna, give Jangsodam Eel and Beef Buffet Cheongna Main Branch a visit.