Seasoned rib and short rib soup at a Daejeon Doan hanwoo BBQ

I had a chance to eat dinner in Doan-dong, Daejeon recently, and while looking around for where to go, I ended up at Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch haha.

I'd actually eaten at Worang Myeongga Dunsan City Hall Branch just the day before, and it was better than expected, so I ended up visiting the Doan branch right after lol. Same brand, but the size and mood are a bit different at each location, so it was fun comparing them as I ate.

Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch in particular has a fairly large exterior, and once you step inside there's a separate hanwoo (Korean beef) butcher counter, so it really gave off a proper hanwoo specialty restaurant vibe from the first impression haha. This time, instead of picking beef from the butcher counter, I ordered two servings of Worang seasoned grilled short ribs and a young cabbage short rib soup.

Spoiler first: the seasoned ribs were tender as expected, and the young cabbage short rib soup was much spicier than a typical rib soup, which made the combination work really well lol.

Location and parking at Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch

Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch is located in Doan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon.

Doan-dong itself has gotten a lot more restaurants and cafés lately, so plenty of people come here for dinner. The building itself is big, so it wasn't hard to find once I got close haha. Visiting in the evening, the red brick exterior, green awning, and the lighting out front made it stand out even from a distance lol.

There's a large cow statue in front of the restaurant, so you know right away it's a hanwoo specialty place without needing any explanation. If you're in Doan-dong looking for somewhere with a bit of atmosphere for a family meal or to take your parents out, this seemed like a good fit haha.

There's also signage for a parking lot behind the building, so it's fairly convenient to visit by car. Parking around mealtimes in Doan-dong, Daejeon can be stressful, so that's definitely a plus lol.

What's the exterior like?

The exterior of Worang Myeongga felt a bit more polished and upscale than a typical BBQ restaurant. The red brick building has the Worang Myeongga logo and signage matched in green, and even though it's a Korean restaurant, it doesn't feel overly traditional haha.

Around the entrance there are large photos of hanwoo menu items and hanwoo gift set information. The cow statue is so big that it's worth stopping for a photo before going in lol. Near the entrance there were also photo menus for meal items like short rib soup, hanwoo gukbap, hanwoo yukhoe bibimbap, and hanwoo bulgogi.

The menu was diverse enough that you could visit for a simple lunch or dinner even without ordering grilled hanwoo haha.

The first thing you see inside: the butcher counter

What caught my eye most as I walked into Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch was the hanwoo butcher showcase.

Instead of just ordering off a menu like at a typical BBQ place, you can actually look at the hanwoo laid out in the showcase and choose it yourself haha. Under the red lighting, the finely marbled beef was arranged neatly by cut, and it looked great just to look at lol.

According to the signage, Worang Myeongga mainly handles 1++ grade hanwoo cows. Signs noting 30–40 month cows were visible in several spots too. You could even see staff trimming meat right behind the butcher counter, which really confirmed this is a proper meat specialty restaurant haha.

The showcase also had hanwoo gift sets ready to go. Good option for anyone looking for a hanwoo gift set for a holiday or for parents lol.

Ginseng liquor alongside the hanwoo

On one side of the restaurant, bottles of ginseng liquor were lined up. The golden liquor under the lighting looked quite striking haha. Gift packaging was displayed alongside it too, so it was fun browsing that along with the hanwoo gift sets lol.

Coming in just to eat meat and seeing sections like this made it clear this place is on a bigger scale than your average neighborhood BBQ spot.

Menu and prices at Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch

Worang Myeongga has quite a varied menu. On the grilled side, there's Worang seasoned ribs 300g for ₩38,000, raw beef sashimi 200g for ₩30,000, yukhoe (beef tartare) 200g for ₩25,000, and chadolbagi (beef brisket) 200g for ₩28,000 haha.

For tripe and intestine there's premium beef tripe 170g for ₩35,000 and grilled beef intestine 180g for ₩33,000. Being able to choose anything from hanwoo cuts to tripe and intestine at one place is pretty great lol. There were also more meal options than I expected.

There's short rib soup, abalone short rib soup, young cabbage short rib soup, hanwoo hot pot bulgogi, hanwoo yukhoe bibimbap, hanwoo stone pot bibimbap, hanwoo gukbap, and hanwoo bulgogi haha. After the meat, you can also order Hamheung water noodles or mixed noodles for dessert. It's a good setup for continuing on to a full meal rather than just stopping at the grilled meat lol.

What we ordered and the total bill

This time I ordered two servings of Worang seasoned grilled short ribs, the young cabbage short rib soup, and a drink. The two servings of seasoned ribs came to ₩76,000, the young cabbage short rib soup was ₩16,000, and the drink was ₩2,000 haha. Adding the ₩8,000 table setting for two, the total for the day came to ₩102,000. It was a similar order to what I had the day before at the Dunsan City Hall branch, but this time I chose the young cabbage short rib soup instead of the gukbap lol.

A solid basic table setting from the start

One thing I really liked about Worang Myeongga was the basic table setting. It wasn't just a couple of kimchi and garlic sides — there was white kimchi, myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves), pickled onion, and steamed egg, among other things that go well with the meat haha.

The white kimchi wasn't sharp in flavor, more subtly tangy and refreshing, so it was good to have alongside the seasoned ribs from time to time. Since the meat itself has a sweet marinade, this kind of clean side dish helped reset the palate in between lol.

Steamed egg topped with shrimp

The steamed egg was pretty impressive too. There was a whole shrimp sitting on top of the yellow steamed egg, and it looked clean and appetizing haha. Scooping it up with a spoon, it had a soft, fluffy texture, so I kept reaching for it even before the meat arrived lol.

If you're visiting with kids, having a dish like this means one less thing to worry about feeding them.

A table setting that even includes beef tripe and salted pollock roe

Personally, what surprised me a bit was that cheonyeop (beef tripe) and myeongnan (salted pollock roe) came out together. The tripe had a nice crunchy texture, and the pollock roe was salty in a way that woke up the appetite before the meat haha.

If you're a fan of tripe, you'll be happy just with the basic side dishes lol. There's a separate charge for the table setting, but the range of dishes you actually get is quite generous.

How was the Worang seasoned grilled short ribs?

Finally, the main dish of the day arrived — Worang seasoned grilled short ribs. Looking at the meat on the plate, the thick ribs had close-set knife scoring, so you could see the marinade had soaked in well haha.

Just looking at it, the thickness of the meat got me excited before it even hit the grill lol. I put it on the charcoal grill and let it cook slowly. Since seasoned ribs can burn more easily than plain raw meat because of the marinade, it was good to keep an eye on the fire and flip it often haha. As the surface browned, the charcoal aroma mixed with the sweet marinade smell rose up, and that's the hardest part to resist lol.

Thick but tender

Cutting off a piece and trying it, it was surprisingly tender for its thickness. Thanks to the close scoring, there was almost no toughness, and the more I chewed, the more the rib's distinct meaty flavor came through along with the marinade haha. The marinade is centered on a sweet soy-based flavor, but it wasn't overly sweet. There was a savory, salty depth alongside it, so it was fine eaten plain and even better with rice lol.

Personally, I think that if it's your first visit to Worang Myeongga, raw hanwoo is great, but the Worang seasoned grilled short ribs are worth trying too.

Even better grilled over charcoal

Grilling it a bit crisp on the surface over charcoal made it taste even better. The outside caramelized slightly with the marinade for a deep flavor, while the inside stayed juicy haha.

Since it's a rib cut with a good balance of lean meat and fat rather than something extremely fatty, I could keep eating without feeling too heavy lol. Adding a bit of pickled onion on top brought a tangy note to the sweet meat for a different feel, and eating it with white kimchi or myeongi namul reset my palate so I kept going back for more meat haha.

Is the young cabbage short rib soup different from a regular short rib soup?

The dish I was just as curious about this visit as the seasoned ribs was the young cabbage short rib soup.

From the name alone, I expected a regular short rib soup with a bit of young cabbage in it, but what actually arrived looked completely different lol. The earthenware pot was filled with a red, spicy broth, along with young cabbage and big chunks of rib.

It came out bubbling away, and just looking at it made me want to pour rice into it like a gukbap haha.

More meat in it than I expected

Stirring it with a spoon revealed big chunks of rib meat. Lifting up one piece, the meat and fat layer were still attached together and cooked down soft enough to eat easily with just chopsticks or a spoon lol. The broth is the opposite of a clear rib soup — spicy and rich. The earthy flavor from the young cabbage mixed with the rib broth gave it a bit of a hangover-soup feel haha.

Since the seasoned ribs lean sweet, ordering this spicy soup alongside it worked really well as a pairing. One bite of meat, one spoonful of broth, and you just keep going lol.

Also good as a closing meal after the meat

Personally, I thought the young cabbage short rib soup would also work well shared among a group after eating meat.

If you keep eating only the seasoned ribs, the sweetness can build up toward the end, but the spicy broth coming in revives your appetite haha. On the flip side, ordering just the rib soup alone for lunch would also make for a pretty filling meal lol. Worang Myeongga has such a wide range of meal options that there's reason to visit even on days you're not grilling meat.

A good spot for a family meal or group dinner in Doan-dong

Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch had a solid overall lineup, from the hanwoo butcher counter to the table setting, the grilled menu, and the meal menu.

The exterior and interior are both fairly spacious, so it's especially well suited for a family meal, taking parents out, or a group dinner haha. Above all, being able to look at and pick the hanwoo yourself would make the choosing process fun if you go with fellow meat lovers lol.

This time I mainly ate the Worang seasoned grilled short ribs, but next time I'd like to try picking the 1++ hanwoo from the showcase myself. Having visited the Dunsan City Hall branch the day before and then the Doan branch right after, both locations were solid on meat and meal-menu satisfaction haha. The Doan branch in particular has a larger exterior and a butcher counter that's more visible from the entrance, so it felt like it leaned more strongly into the hanwoo specialty restaurant vibe.

The combination of the sweet, tender Worang seasoned grilled short ribs and the spicy young cabbage short rib soup with big chunks of meat was really satisfying lol. If you're looking for a hanwoo restaurant, a BBQ spot, a family meal place, or a spot for a group dinner in Doan-dong, Daejeon, Worang Myeongga Daejeon Doan Branch is worth a visit haha.