Yangyang galbi restaurant for dinner with a 5-year-old: Yeoyejeong

We planned the last stop of our Yangyang trip as dinner before heading back to Incheon.

We'd always left in the daytime before and hit traffic, so this time we thought eating dinner first and then driving might mean less congestion.

The most important thing when choosing a restaurant was how convenient it was to reach Yangyang IC from there. Since it was our last meal of the trip, it also had to taste good and be comfortable to eat with our 5-year-old, so while searching for a Yangyang BBQ restaurant we could enjoy with a kid, we visited Yeoyejeong, a marinated galbi specialist.

Bottom line first: the location, the food, and how easy it was with a child were all satisfying, so it felt like the right choice for our last meal of the trip.

It's in a good spot for heading to Yangyang IC, and there's a free private parking lot right in front of the restaurant.

Kids' tableware and a baby chair were already set up, and they gave us two scissors and two tongs from the start, which made it easy to keep raw and cooked meat separate. Our family ordered 2 servings of marinated galbi, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), steamed egg, 3 bowls of rice, and a cola, coming to ₩51,000 total.

Why we stopped at Yeoyejeong on the way to Yangyang IC

Yeoyejeong is a barbecue restaurant on Ssangsolbaegi-gil in Seo-myeon, Yangyang. Since we had to head back to Incheon after eating, we checked first whether it was convenient for reaching Yangyang IC before visiting. Eating at a tourist spot and then having to backtrack the other direction can be surprisingly tiring.

Yeoyejeong worked well as the last stop on our route before getting on the highway. There's a large private parking lot in front, and it's free, so parking was easy. Being tucked in a quiet countryside village also meant we could eat dinner in a calmer atmosphere than a busy tourist-area restaurant.

Is Yeoyejeong easy to eat at with a young child?

When you visit a barbecue restaurant with a 5-year-old son, amenities matter as much as taste. Yeoyejeong had a separate baby chair and kids' tableware ready, which made things easy. Not having to split food onto an adult-sized plate for the kid — since rice and side dishes went straight into his own dishes — made the meal much smoother.

What I especially liked was that they gave us two scissors and two tongs each. One was for putting raw meat on the grill, the other for cutting cooked meat or serving it to our son. It might seem like a small thing, but not using the same tool for raw and cooked meat gave real peace of mind on the hygiene side.

They also gave us a separate plate for taking cooked meat off the grill and setting it aside. That way the meat didn't keep cooking and turn tough or burnt — we could move it to a good state for eating, which made for a more relaxed, slower meal.

What we ordered: 2 servings of marinated galbi and sides

Here's what we ordered:

• Marinated galbi, 2 servings — ₩36,000
• Doenjang jjigae — ₩5,000
• Rice, 3 bowls — ₩3,000
• Steamed egg — ₩5,000
• Cola — ₩2,000
• Total — ₩51,000

The signature menu item, marinated galbi (marinated short ribs), is ₩18,000 per serving, and we ordered 2 servings.

The marinated galbi had a sweet, savory sauce soaked into it — a familiar taste that went well with rice. The marinade wasn't overly strong, so we could still taste the meat itself along with the charcoal aroma.

Apparently Yeoyejeong marinates ribs that have been butterflied thin in their own house-made sauce. The meat was tender too, easy to cut into small pieces for our son.

They said they use coffee-wood binchotan charcoal, and while grilling, the flames didn't flare up too much and there was relatively little smoke, which made for a comfortable meal.

The meat smell didn't spread heavily through the indoor space either, which eased my worry a bit about our clothes smelling of barbecue on the last day of the trip.

Doenjang jjigae and steamed egg with the galbi

We also ordered doenjang jjigae and rice to go with the marinated galbi.

The doenjang jjigae was great for when we needed a warm broth between bites of meat, and it also went well with rice. We ordered 3 bowls of rice so the two adults and our son could each have their own. Piling the sweet marinated galbi on rice and adding a bit of doenjang jjigae made for a hearty dinner.

We also ordered steamed egg for our 5-year-old. True to its name as a 'bomb' steamed egg, it was fluffy and soft, easy for him to eat with rice. It was something we could feed him first while the meat was still cooking, or serve alongside when the galbi's seasoning felt too strong for him.

The lettuce wraps and side dishes served with the meat were also put together well for eating alongside it. Yeoyejeong noted that the kaipira lettuce used for wraps is supplied from a local smart farm.

The small touches at Yeoyejeong: two scissors, two tongs

The more we actually grilled and ate, the more I felt Yeoyejeong was a thoughtfully run place — more so than it seemed at the very start. From giving us two scissors and two tongs each, to the extra plate for cooked meat, the kids' tableware, and the baby chair, everything we needed was ready ahead of time, so we rarely had to call over staff.

When you visit a barbecue restaurant with a kid, it can be hard for the parents to actually get to eat while grilling, cutting, and handling rice all at once.

At Yeoyejeong, the tools and tableware were well set up, so the whole family could eat relatively at ease. There's also a separate space for group use, accommodating anywhere from 4 to 24 people, which looked like a good option for family gatherings or group meals too.

Yeoyejeong's lucky draw event after the meal

Inside the restaurant, they were also running a 'lucky draw event' for customers who write reviews. Writing a Google review or a Naver photo review earns one draw chance. Writing both a Google review and a Naver photo review earns two draw chances plus 150g of pork tail.

I've seen plenty of review events that give out a drink or a side dish, but getting a prize through a capsule toy machine was a unique touch. For families with kids, waiting to see what prize comes out could be a fun experience in itself. Being able to write a review during the meal and join the event right away felt like one more small memory added to the trip.

Yeoyejeong hours, parking and final verdict

Yeoyejeong, which we chose for our last meal of the Yangyang trip, turned out to be a satisfying Yangyang BBQ restaurant with a convenient route to Yangyang IC, free parking, and amenities for eating with kids.

With sweet marinated galbi alongside rice and doenjang jjigae, plus the soft steamed egg, both the adults and our son ate a hearty meal. Above all, small touches that actually helped during the meal — like giving two scissors and two tongs each, and a separate plate for cooked meat — were what I appreciated most.

We'd always left for Incheon in the daytime before, but this time we ate dinner first and then set off, which made the last leg of the trip feel more relaxed and wrapped up the dinner on a satisfying note. If you're looking for a place to eat a hearty dinner with family before heading home after a Yangyang trip, or a Yangyang barbecue restaurant that's easy to visit with a kid, Yeoyejeong seems worth a try.

• Name: Yeoyejeong, a Yangyang BBQ restaurant
• Address: 49 Ssangsolbaegi-gil, Seo-myeon, Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea
• Hours: 11:30–21:00
• Break time: 15:00–17:00
• Closed: Every Tuesday
• Parking: Free private lot in front of the restaurant