Chinese restaurant in Seocho with parking & eggplant: Banpo Yangkkochi

Banpo Yangkkochi (반포양꼬치) is a Express Bus Terminal favorite where you have to wait for a table.

If you are near Express Bus Terminal and craving really good lamb skewers and Chinese dishes, I found just the place! It's Banpo Yangkkochi, a Chinese restaurant there with parking! Do you know what the Naver AI summary says about it? "The delicious taste makes you forget the wait" haha! I'd never seen an AI summary like that! It really was as good as the summary says, so let me tell you about my visit to Banpo Yangkkochi!

Where is Banpo Yangkkochi, and can you park?

Banpo Yangkkochi is in the basement level (B1) of Building 3, Banpo Shopping Town, 177 Sinbanpo-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul, and it's open daily from 15:00 to 23:00. You can park in front of Banpo Shopping Town, and the restaurant covers 1 hour of parking.

It's near New Core Department Store Gangnam, across from Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam, and a 1-minute walk from Exit 8-1 of Goteo Station.

Banpo Yangkkochi is in B1 of Building 3 in Banpo Shopping Town, famous as a food paradise. You can park in front of the building and the restaurant covers 1 hour of parking, so it's easy to come by car! A Chinese restaurant near Express Bus Terminal with easy parking is hard to find, so I loved this!

Tips for cutting the wait at Banpo Yangkkochi

I hear there are waits on weekends and in the evening. If you book ahead with the Catch Table app, you can cut the waiting time! We went on a day when the rain was pouring down, and luckily one table was open.

What is the atmosphere inside Banpo Yangkkochi?

I heard Banpo Yangkkochi is run by young (MZ generation) owners, and maybe that's why it was a hip lamb skewer place with a chandelier!

The smoke extractors installed at every table work really well, so smoke doesn't build up inside and the air was very pleasant! You can chat and have a beer without worrying about smelling of grilled meat afterward.

What did we order at Banpo Yangkkochi?

We ordered 2 servings of the original Banpo lamb skewers (₩19,000) and the fish-fragrant eggplant (eohyang gaji, ₩19,000). They say the skewers use an original recipe developed by Korean chefs trained in Chinese cooking. It tones down the strong spice smell typical of lamb skewers and aims for a comfortable, home-style Chinese feel, so even people trying lamb skewers for the first time can enjoy them!

I think you can tell a restaurant's skill from its zha cai (zhacai, pickled mustard stem), and the zha cai here was so good that I got excited for the food. If you write a Naver review, they give you a dried tofu salad, FYI!

The top-grade charcoal, bijangtan (비장탄), arrived. I always think good charcoal makes the meat taste better.

Do the original lamb skewers at Banpo Yangkkochi have a gamey smell?

The original lamb skewers at Banpo Yangkkochi had no gamey or off smell at all. They say they use only young lamb under 1 year old and age it at low temperature for 48 hours.

Big, fresh-looking pieces, wow! As you'd expect from a place with a wait, the meat quality is different! The color was a clear bright pink-red and glossy!

I put the cumin (zira), salt and chili-based dipping mix (chuanliao) from the table onto my own plate and got ready to eat!

You line the skewers up on the hot bijangtan charcoal and the machine rotates and grills them for you. The heat is strong, so they cooked fast. You know the rule for lamb skewers is to pull the meat off with your teeth like this, right? :)

Oh! No gamey smell at all! I'm really sensitive and can't eat it if there's even a little. Now I understand why Banpo Yangkkochi is such a hot lamb skewer spot near Express Bus Terminal.

Dipped in cumin or chuanliao, it has a faint charcoal aroma and goes down endlessly.

How is the fish-fragrant eggplant at Banpo Yangkkochi?

The fish-fragrant eggplant (₩19,000) at Banpo Yangkkochi is crispy outside, moist inside, and coated in a sweet, slightly spicy special sauce. I ordered it because I'd seen so many reviews saying it's good.

The eggplant is really crispy outside and moist inside, and the sweet, slightly spicy sauce coating the surface means it isn't greasy at all and has real savory depth!

Taking a bite of eggplant between pieces of meat is a perfect match! Even people who don't usually eat eggplant would come to love it!

Why I recommend Banpo Yangkkochi

If you want easy parking near Express Bus Terminal, plus clean, really tasty lamb skewers with a drink, and you're looking for a proper Chinese restaurant there, I recommend Banpo Yangkkochi!