Yangyang hanok BBQ with single-serving fresh ribs: Yeoyejeong

Yeoyejeong, a Yangyang barbecue spot worth the trip

There's so much to unpack from my 3-day, 2-night Yangyang trip — I had no idea Yangyang had this many good restaurants. It's far so I can't come often, but every time I do, I plan to eat my way through it haha.

Staying multiple nights at a Yangyang hotel meant the luxury of eating breakfast, going back to sleep, and lazily heading out around lunchtime. That's only possible with a multi-night stay. A real vacation isn't 1 night 2 days but at least 2 nights 3 days haha. So we headed to Yeoyejeong, a barbecue restaurant close to the hotel.

Yeoyejeong opening hours and break time in Yangyang

Yeoyejeong is a local Yangyang barbecue restaurant on Ssangsolbaegi-gil in Seo-myeon, Gangwon, open from 11:30 to 21:00. Break time runs 15:00–17:00, meat orders for lunch close at 13:30, and lunch specials close at 14:00. Closed every Tuesday.

• Hours 11:30 – 21:00
• Break time 15:00 – 17:00
• Lunch meat orders close 13:30 / lunch specials close 14:00
• Closed every Tuesday

Hanok-style building, yard parking and a play corner for kids

Yeoyejeong feels like a former home remodeled into a restaurant. Plenty of parking in the wide yard, and the exposed rafters give it a clean hanok (traditional Korean house) dining room feel.

At the entrance there's a gacha (capsule toy) machine for kids and a drawing corner by the window. Yeoyejeong sacrificed one table to give kids a memory.

Maybe that's why there were so many families with kids. Watching foreign families enjoy their meal with their kids gave me an odd surge of pride. Since when did I become this patriotic haha.

Seeing everyone eating so happily made me want to dig in fast too.

Yeoyejeong menu and what we ordered

Yeoyejeong's menu includes lunch specials — meat sotbap (hot pot rice), meat naengmyeon, sotbap kimchi jjigae, and sotbap galbitang. I'd read Naver reviews saying this place is known for its lunch specials, but we were craving meat, so we ordered meat instead — one serving each of fresh ribs, pork jowl, and pork belly.

The basic side dishes were salad, kimchi, eggplant namul, and pickled cucumber. There was a chive-soy sauce for the meat, salt, ssamjang (dipping paste), fresh wasabi, garlic to grill, and a bouquet of lettuce.

Our pork belly, fresh ribs, and pork jowl arrived. We didn't order king oyster mushrooms but one came on the house haha — nice.

Fresh ribs on the grill first: firm, meaty and juicy

Yeoyejeong's fresh ribs, lightly salted and grilled, had the umami turned way up. As someone who knows good meat, we started with the fresh ribs first.

Cut into bite-size pieces and grilled through. Maybe it's just me, but fresh rib meat somehow looks more delicious.

That first bite of the fatty, savory part was crisp and nutty, the meat firm and springy. Turns out it wasn't just me — this was real rib flavor.

Dip it in soy sauce with fresh wasabi on top and it gets a sharp kick that boosts the meat flavor. Wrap it in fresh lettuce with various veggie side dishes for a healthy bite.

Pork jowl grilled in one whole piece is the highlight

The fresh ribs disappeared before I knew it — next up, pork jowl. At Yeoyejeong they grill the pork jowl as a whole piece.

While the pork jowl cooked, we gnawed on the bone-in ribs. The meat was fresh and springy, really tasty.

Worried the flow would break while waiting for the pork jowl, they threw on some fresh pork belly too. But would that move for the sake of flow bring a bloodbath?

Crispy outside, juicy inside. Pork jowl is all about that savory fat and slightly chewy texture.

When did I start loving wasabi this much? My family got me hooked on wasabi, and now eating meat without it feels incomplete.

Now, teaming up for the sake of delicious meat, we set the grill.

Ah~ the beautiful form of the pork jowl. It almost looks like ham, honestly my limited vocabulary can't do it justice haha. Pop that long strip of pork jowl in one bite.

Complimentary grilled king oyster mushrooms at Yeoyejeong

Grilled whole this whole time, the king oyster mushrooms burst with juice. That distinct mushroom aroma, the springy-chewy texture, plus whole garlic fried well in sesame oil ~ a whole different treat from the meat.

The overcooked pork belly was our own fault

Too absorbed savoring the pork jowl, we let the pork belly overcook. It's supposed to be crisp outside, juicy inside... but it cooked too long and lost its juices. That's not the meat's fault, that's us cooking it too long! We're on a happy trip, who's there to blame!

Finishing lunch with 5,000-won dessert naengmyeon

After all that meat, time to finish with naengmyeon (cold noodles). Yeoyejeong's dessert naengmyeon is ₩5,000.

The noodles were green, maybe made with seaweed. Firm noodles, and the broth was refreshingly clean. Great eaten alongside the pork belly, nice and nutty.

Too full to think straight, I noticed among the various paintings on the wall one by actor Ha Jung-woo. Apparently he came while filming a movie, ate here, and left this drawing. Wait, so I just went to a top-tier restaurant among restaurants? Next Yangyang trip, I need to come back for the lunch special.

Yeoyejeong's lucky gacha review event

At Yeoyejeong in Yangyang, if you write both a Google review and a Naver photo review, they give you 2 gacha spins and a pork tail.

A satisfying meal plus a lucky gacha event on top ~ this is our third consecutive summer vacation trip to Yangyang, and this year was especially good, so it's a family decision now — Yangyang every year! See you again next year, Yangyang ~