Yangju dakgalbi with soju and water makguksu: Seorak Makguksu

I went looking for a good dakgalbi spot in Yangju and ended up at Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi.

I love charcoal dakgalbi, but it's a menu you usually have to keep grilling and flipping yourself, which gets tiring. Here, the dakgalbi comes pre-grilled once already, and the staff grill it for you — and it was so good :D

Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi / Manson-dong 483-3, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do / 11:00–21:00 / Closed Tuesdays

Is parking convenient? The exterior

There's a large parking space in front of the restaurant, so it was easy to visit by car. When you're hunting for good restaurants in Yangju, parking can weirdly be a pain at a lot of places, so being able to visit without worrying about that was great haha.

A spacious, clean interior

Once we walked in, the inside was way bigger than I expected! Plenty of tables, and overall it felt clean and open, never cramped. It must have opened not that long ago because everything looked genuinely spotless haha. It would be great for a family dinner too! The owner was super friendly too, T_T.

Menu and prices at Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi

Charcoal dakgalbi ₩16,000 / Soy dakgalbi ₩16,000 / Doenjang jjigae ₩3,000 / Water makguksu (dessert) ₩6,000 / Saero ₩5,000

You could order dakgalbi by the single serving, which was nice!

And it was kiosk ordering, which made things even easier!

Side dishes that pair well with dakgalbi

After we ordered, the basic banchan (side dishes) came out first! Julienned radish kimchi, yeolmu kimchi, garlic, lettuce wraps, cabbage, and even cold dongchimi (radish water kimchi) broth — quite a variety. A good lineup for pairing bite by bite with the dakgalbi.

Extra side dishes are available from the self-serve bar!

We ordered soju and zero cola too! Honestly a drink on the side has been feeling so good lately, T_T lol.

Pre-grilled dakgalbi, cooked tableside by staff

Finally, the dakgalbi we'd been waiting for! The best part of this Yangju spot was that the dakgalbi came pre-grilled. Instead of waiting a long time for raw meat to cook, it arrives already partly cooked, so the wait wasn't long at all! And on top of that, staff grill it perfectly for you, so we just sat back and talked lol.

How were the charcoal and soy dakgalbi?

Wow, genuinely amazing dakgalbi. I'm usually more of a griddle-dakgalbi person, but I actually prefer this charcoal version. The meat was so tender it practically melted in your mouth lol. The seasoning wasn't overly strong either, just perfectly soaked in, so I kept reaching for more. Both the charcoal and soy versions are so good!!!!! You immediately understand why this place is busy.

The rice cakes were really good too T_T — the kind of good where you seriously consider ordering an extra portion.

Doenjang jjigae

The stew was textbook good doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew)!

Water makguksu for dessert — should've ordered the big size

After dakgalbi, you can't skip makguksu (buckwheat noodles) haha. We ordered the water makguksu as a dessert-size portion, and after eating it, I genuinely regretted not getting the large one T_T lol. We ordered it small thinking it'd be a light finish, but it was so much better than expected that the portion felt almost too small... Next time I'm definitely getting the large makguksu lol. The noodles were great, but the broth is truly on another level from other naengmyeon (cold noodle) places.

We got lucky and even got a free buckwheat crepe on the house T_T. Ugh, owner, I'll be back soon, for real.

Why we finished with zero leftovers

The food was great overall, but what I really loved about this place was the spacious, clean interior, the generous parking, and the fact that staff grill the pre-cooked dakgalbi for you. I'd definitely recommend Seorak Makguksu Chuncheon Dakgalbi Yangju Branch to anyone looking for good dakgalbi in Yangju.