Yeongcheon-dong beef rib BBQ with black sesame salt: Jipbul Taebaek

Today I want to introduce a place I visited myself and completely fell in love with the meat at~ It's 'Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan Flagship Branch,' already word-of-mouth famous as a Yeongcheon-dong, Dongtan restaurant! I posted about the Ingye branch before, so this time I went to the flagship branch too haha

Where is Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan, and where do you park?

Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan Flagship Branch is at 11-8 Jisan 2-gil, 1st floor, Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, open daily 12:00–23:00, last order 22:30. At the time of my visit, September 25 (Friday) was posted as closed for Chuseok.

There's parking right in front of the restaurant, and there's also a public roadside lot right nearby so parking wasn't a problem at all. If that's full, there's a paid lot at Deokhwa P Tower two minutes on foot that gives you 2 hours free.

Roomy tables that suit a group dinner

Walking inside, even though it's a barbecue place, the air wasn't stuffy at all — really comfortable. And I loved that the tables were spaced far apart so we weren't bothered by the next table's conversation and could eat cozily on our own. There's also plenty of large-group seating, so I'd recommend it for a Dongtan company dinner too!

Of course the main event at Jipbul Taebaek Dongtan Flagship Branch is the uedae galbi! Besides uedae galbi, the menu has various beef and pork cuts pre-seared over a straw fire, plus good side dishes to pair with the meat. We ordered uedae galbi for two.

Udae galbi with a gentle straw-fire smoke

I ordered the 'uedae galbi,' the signature dish of Jipbul Taebaek, a Yeongcheon-dong, Dongtan restaurant~ True to the name Jipbul Taebaek, the meat comes pre-seared once over a straw fire, and the subtle smoky straw aroma that spread the moment it hit the table really hit my nose. You know that feeling of already knowing it'll be delicious before you even taste it, right? Haha! It's just an impossibly good-looking visual that couldn't possibly taste bad!!

Staff grill the beef ribs from start to finish

Before the meat arrives, the side dishes are set up — japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), green onion kimchi, radish salad, and other banchan, plus sauces that go so well with the meat: black sesame salt, angelica pesto, and mushroom pesto.

Another reason this place is loved as a Yeongcheon-dong, Dongtan restaurant is the 'grilling service'! Meat on the bone is notoriously tricky to grill, but the staff member grilled it from start to finish without burning it, and made it taste amazing haha. Even someone with clumsy hands like me could eat with total peace of mind, and nobody in our group had to struggle with grilling — we just chatted comfortably with chopsticks in hand, feeling totally pampered!

Once the meat is cooked, they tell you which combination to try. My absolute favorite was the black sesame salt!! I popped a well-cooked piece of uedae galbi into my mouth and... wow, the phrase 'melts in your mouth' really fit perfectly! The more you chew, the more the juices burst out — pure happiness, japchae-style.

Small tips before you visit Jipbul Taebaek

Here's a little tip for anyone planning a visit! If it's your birthday and you visit that day, they give you a complimentary raw beef tartare cake!! And if you make a Naver reservation before visiting, they'll give you a free 'guacamole tortilla' — leaving a Naver review also gets you a tortilla! If you're going, be sure to make a reservation so you can enjoy it even more. If you want to enjoy delicious meat in a comfortable, pleasant space, be sure to stop by Jipbul Taebaek, a Yeongcheon-dong, Dongtan restaurant.