Yeouido Korean BBQ: lamb ribs for 2 with fresh wasabi at Yuk Lab

This was my last feast before a diet (well, I say that, but I still haven't started the diet..), at Yuk Lab Yeouido (육랩 여의도점)! I actually went to try the beef tongue, but it was sold out that day, so we had lamb ribs instead. And honestly, what would I have done if they'd had tongue?! The lamb was so good that I made a huge fuss the whole time, so let me tell you all about it!

Where is Yuk Lab Yeouido?

Yuk Lab Yeouido is on the 2nd floor of the Yeouido General Shopping Center, right in front of Exit 5 of Yeouido Station. Being on the 2nd floor, it's easy to find: come up the stairs and head to the far end of the building along the wall, and you'll find it tucked away quietly.

The Yeouido General Shopping Center looks like an old building from the outside, but it has tons of good places for a company dinner or a date. I was surprised to see quite a few omakase restaurants in particular, and they were all full too.

Can two people sit in a private room?

Every seat at Yuk Lab Yeouido is a private room, so even a party of 2 gets assigned a 2-person room. Like the other restaurants in the same building, it's great for company dinners or dates, and I especially liked this point.

After a tiring day, being in a room felt calming, like our own little time and space. I just arrived and sat down, and I already felt secure and relaxed.

We went with a reservation, and reserved tables have the basic banchan (side dishes) set up like this. Looking at the other rooms, quite a few seemed to be reserved, since a lot of them were already set up.

What's on the menu at Yuk Lab Yeouido?

This is the full menu at Yuk Lab Yeouido! I loved that the meats range from beef to lamb. There are plenty of hanwoo (Korean beef) options, and set menus from 2 to 3 people. For 3 people in particular, there seem to be different sets, like a mixed set and a value set, depending on whether you want side dishes.

There are also dishes that go well with drinks at a company dinner or in the evening, like yukhoe (beef tartare), chadol jjamppong (brisket spicy noodle soup), kimchi fried rice, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), mul naengmyeon and bibim naengmyeon. The grilled cheese caught my eye! Yuk Lab also has a variety of drinks like highballs, wine and traditional liquor, so grilled cheese is perfect as a light snack after the meat.

The review event was especially generous. You get up to ₩10,000 off! If just one person in the party writes a review, it's ₩5,000 off per 2 people, so ₩10,000 for 4 and ₩15,000 for 6, with no limit. And only one person in the group needs to leave a Naver receipt review;; I think it's a shockingly generous event!

What do the basic side dishes look like?

The banchan at Yuk Lab Yeouido are nicely seasoned to go with drinks, appetizing and savory. It's not just kimchi: the cabbage salad tossed in a tangy, salty sauce like ponzu and the braised potatoes also go so well with a highball that you'll want one before you even start grilling, haha.

There's also a good variety of things that go well with meat, like myeongi namul (pickled wild garlic scapes), and they were delicious. I wasn't going to order rice, but the side dishes were so tasty that I added rice so I could have meat, rice and myeongi namul in each bite, haha.

What comes with the lamb ribs for 2?

At Yuk Lab Yeouido we ordered lamb ribs for 2, plus rice and mul naengmyeon. I only ordered the lamb ribs, but zucchini, king oyster mushrooms, tteok (rice cake) and cherry tomatoes came too, so instead of wrapping the meat in leaves, you can enjoy it with these grilled vegetables.

Do you grill the meat yourself?

At Yuk Lab Yeouido, staff don't grill the lamb ribs for you; you grill them yourself. I'd thought it might be awkward to have someone grill meat in a private room, so this was a relief. Even the two of us, who are really bad at grilling, got it nicely done.

When you order ribs, it's a shame about the weight of the bones, right? It's not just me? lol But Yuk Lab's lamb ribs have thin bones, so even with 4 ribs, picking the meat off the bone felt like part of the fun.

How many sauces come with the lamb ribs?

There were 4 basic sauces at Yuk Lab Yeouido: basic ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), a salty garlic sauce, wasabi and mustard sauce. On top of that, when you order lamb ribs, you also get salt as standard, plus curry salt, tzuran (cumin seasoning) powder and a soy sauce.

• Basic sauces: ssamjang, garlic sauce, wasabi, mustard sauce
• Added with lamb ribs: salt, curry salt, tzuran powder, soy sauce

The fresh wasabi isn't spicy and tastes great, so I piled it on the lamb ribs, and they were really, really good.

The other sauces were really good too. Dipping the tteok, zucchini and king oyster mushrooms in them made everything even tastier.

Is there any gamey smell in the lamb?

The lamb ribs at Yuk Lab Yeouido have no gamey smell at all and are tender and delicious, so they were great even without dipping in tzuran, but it was nice that tzuran came along.

How was the mul naengmyeon to finish?

The mul naengmyeon at Yuk Lab Yeouido comes with seasoning sauce on the side, so if you don't like naengmyeon with seasoning sauce in it, I think you can just tell them in advance!

The mul naengmyeon comes in a perfect portion for a taste, and it was flawless right to the end.