Cheongna eel buffet with a 2-year-old and DIY rice balls: Jangsodam

Where is Jangsodam Cheongna Main Branch? Hours and parking

Jangsodam Eel and Beef Buffet Cheongna Main Branch (장소담 청라본점) is at 10-17 Jungbong-daero 612beon-gil, Units 206, 207 and 208, Seo-gu, Incheon, and it is open every day from 11:00 to 23:00. You park in the building's parking lot, which is fairly spacious.

• Address: 10-17 Jungbong-daero 612beon-gil, Units 206, 207, 208, Seo-gu, Incheon
• Hours: daily 11:00-23:00
• Parking: building lot (fairly spacious)
• B Set (per adult) ₩34,000 - includes freshwater eel + chuck ribs + marinated crab + pork + special dishes + Hangang ramyeon + drink + rice + soft serve
• Kids' playroom and children's tableware

We went to Jangsodam, a Cheongna eel restaurant, with our 2-year-old. It's in a big building right in the middle of Cheongna, so parking was easy and the place was easy to find.

Jangsodam Cheongna Sets A, B, C and D: prices and what's included

Jangsodam is an all-you-can-eat place for eel, beef, pork and chicken, and there are four sets: A Set ₩39,000, B Set ₩34,000, C Set ₩32,000 and D Set ₩21,000. Here's the breakdown.

A Set (₩39,000)

Freshwater eel + 6 kinds of beef + beef tartare + marinated crab + pork + special dishes + Hangang ramyeon + drink + rice + soft serve. From eel to beef to tartare, you get to try everything. It's the most generous set!

B Set (₩34,000)

Freshwater eel + chuck ribs + marinated crab + pork + special dishes + Hangang ramyeon + drink + rice + soft serve. It's ₩5,000 cheaper than the A Set, with chuck ribs instead of the 6 kinds of beef and the tartare. If you love eel, this is a great-value set!

C Set (₩32,000)

6 kinds of beef + beef tartare + marinated crab + pork + special dishes + Hangang ramyeon + drink + rice + soft serve. This one swaps the eel for beef and tartare. Personally, if you're a meat person, the C Set looked pretty good too. It's ₩7,000 less than the A Set, so if you don't like eel, it might be the more sensible choice.

D Set (₩21,000)

Pork + 3 kinds of dakgalbi (spicy chicken) + special dishes + Hangang ramyeon + drink + rice + soft serve. A budget-friendly way to enjoy an all-you-can-eat meal.

After some deliberation, we ordered the B Set with eel, marinated crab and chuck ribs. When we heard the menu explanation, we learned that on Monday Eel Day each week you can get 1kg of eel for ₩29,900. A couple who loves eel like us definitely has to visit on a Monday.

A 2-year-old at Jangsodam Cheongna: an hour and a half at a seat by the playroom

The owner saw our child and set our table right in front of the playroom, so we got to eat for a whole hour and a half with our 2-year-old. The savvy owner said our kid looked mischievous and saved us the seat, hahaha. Parents, you know how hard that is, right...? I've never managed more than an hour at a BBQ restaurant, so the seating spot was really great!

The playroom was colorful, with stairs, a slide and more, and it was big enough that older kids could have fun too! The day we went, two sweet elementary-school boys played with the little kids, so we could eat in peace. I'm so grateful when kids like that smoothly help out with parenting once in a while... I hope only good things happen to you, big brothers...

How to order at Jangsodam Cheongna, plus the salad bar and self-serve meat corner

At Jangsodam, you order eel and beef from the device at your seat, and you can help yourself at the salad bar to spaghetti, fish cake, fried rice, japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), fried foods and more. Near the entrance, meats such as pork ribs (2 kinds), chicken, duck and camping-style pork neck are also set out for self-serve. The eel and beef alone would make it good value, so having this much variety was great.

A self-bar with seaweed, pickled radish and furikake for toddler rice balls

The self-bar at Jangsodam has seaweed, sliced pickled radish and furikake (rice seasoning), so you can make rice balls for your child right away. Another parenting-moment-of-gratitude! If you make rice balls with these, your baby can play in the playroom and come back for a bite at a time, like a baby bird. After a bowl of rice with this, plus the all-you-can-eat meat, our child's belly was round.

For dessert there were also ice cream, coffee and plum syrup, which was nice for settling a heavy stomach. The shabu-shabu chains that were trendy lately are mostly vegetables, so they felt expensive even after paying. At Jangsodam, you get a similar-quality salad bar plus eel and beef to boost your stamina, which I thought was the best.

We started with a light round at the salad bar,

and then ate the eel and beef that came after.

All-you-can-eat eel: how good is the eel at Jangsodam Cheongna?

The eel at Jangsodam is thick, so even fully grilled it stayed plump and bursting with juice. The charcoal was great too. According to my husband, who has been a BBQ grilling master at our country house for 10 years, the charcoal burned really well and lasted long, so we could grill the eel and beef quickly, and it came out a perfect golden brown.

If you're worried that all-you-can-eat means mediocre eel, just look at the thickness of this eel.... It's nothing like the eel sold at the supermarket, and even fully grilled it was plump and juicy. (The best eel I've had recently.)

Side dishes that pair well with the eel

The best combinations at Jangsodam were eel + ginger + pickled perilla leaf, and eel + green onion kimchi. There's a good variety of side dishes, so we kept hunting for tasty combos, and the eel quality is so good that even just dipping it in salt was heavenly!!!

Even light eaters couldn't resist, so we ordered another plate of eel. We ordered it from the device at our seat, and the staff kindly brought it out in the same portions as the original. With one plump eel each, we were really full.

Dining with kids: when to ask for a grill plate change

At Jangsodam, once you switch from the coated plate used for LA galbi (marinated beef short ribs) to the wire grill, you can't go back to the coated plate. So if you go with a young child, I recommend playing in the playroom first and eating after. But then,,, we still had to eat, so we said just one piece each and brought over pork and chicken. They changed our plate to the wire grill, and grilled with the lingering charcoal aroma soaking in, it was really delicious.

Personally, the LA galbi was tasty for a child, but for a 2-year-old, the soft pork and chicken seemed more suitable for a meal.

Before wrapping up, we also had Yeonpyeong Island blue crab, and the yield was really good. We finished the meal happy.

A meal at Jangsodam that was perfect right down to dessert.