Hwaseong meat restaurant anniversary dinner with yukhoe: Morakmorak

We had something to celebrate, so we decided to go somewhere nice for dinner. Morakmorak Jeongyuk Sikdang turned out to be exactly the right spot for a family party, so here's my record of it.

Where is Morakmorak, the Namyang-eup meat restaurant near Hwaseong City Hall?

Morakmorak Jeongyuk Sikdang is about 5 minutes by car from Hwaseong City Hall. There's a big red banner out front, so it's easy to spot.

Is parking easy at Morakmorak? A private lot right out front

There's a large dedicated parking lot right in front of the restaurant.

Morakmorak Jeongyuk Sikdang has plenty of dedicated parking space right in front of the store.

There's enough room for several cars at once. It looked convenient not just for family meals but for company dinners or group gatherings too.

Can you tell how close the parking lot is to the entrance? It seems like it wouldn't be a burden to visit with kids or elderly parents. (This reminds me of a friend who's always thinking about her 90-year-old in-laws — I should tell her about this place.) Not having to circle through crowded alleys looking for parking — 'parking, done' — is definitely a big plus.

Morakmorak hours and address

Address: 70 Yeokgoljungang-ro, 1F, Namyang-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do Hours: Daily 11:30–23:00 / last order 21:00 I love that it's open every day of the year.^^

You go from the parking lot straight to the entrance. Reading the guide message posted at the entrance before going in makes using Morakmorak Jeongyuk Sikdang a bit more comfortable.

You all know that knowing this kind of information about the meat going into your mouth makes it taste twice as good, right?!!

A wide interior at Morakmorak that seats big families

The inside of Morakmorak Jeongyuk Sikdang is roomy, with wide gaps between tables. It's spacious enough to be perfect for a big family, which made me very happy.

Wait, honey, where did Dad go?

How do you order meat? Pick your cut from the showcase

Choose the meat you want from the showcase and tell the counter.

My husband is picking out meat in front of the showcase. It's a large refrigerated display case with beef and pork on show. The meat is trimmed by cut and neatly packed on black trays, lined up at even intervals on each shelf, so it was easy to look over and choose what we wanted.

Look at that vivid red color and marbling — we've got to eat this one.

The table setting and self-bar side dishes at Morakmorak

While we were off picking meat, the table got its basic setup: a plate of sweet pumpkin, mushrooms and kkwari peppers, and a pan of doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) sitting right in the middle — that stew was genuinely delicious, we ended up asking for a refill and finishing it too.^^

Fresh wasabi, coarse salt and ssamjang (dipping sauce) come as standard. (We didn't realize that and ended up making five separate little bowls of ssamjang one by one, oof.) The side dishes were also really generous — green onion kimchi, kimchi, myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves), bracken fern and more, all set up at the self-bar.

The doenjang jjigae keeps bubbling away, and if you get thirsty from all the meat, there's water too. We also had dotorimuk (acorn jelly) with icy cold broth, jelly and roasted seaweed flakes on top — the kind of thing that just sticks to your mouth.

How was the yukhoe (Korean beef tartare)?

The yukhoe (raw beef tartare) came sliced thick, in nicely bite-sized pieces. The glossy sheen suggested the seasoning was evenly worked through. I asked my husband, who loves yukhoe, how it tasted.

The yukhoe is soft yet chewy, and with the egg yolk it feels rich and mellow.

Order shredded green onion via the kiosk and they'll bring it over (no extra charge for that). The onion salad we got ourselves from the self-bar.

Tableside knife service and the dry ice presentation

We put mushrooms on the grill, and then—

a staff member came over and sliced the pre-grilled meat right in front of us.

What's this under the grill grate?

It's an event Morakmorak prepares.

They laid the sliced meat on the grate and poured a little water into the bowl underneath—!!

Ooh~!! The dry ice makes the meat on the grate look even fancier.

Since the meat was already pre-grilled and then sliced, it finished cooking in no time. It seemed done in a flash~!! We ate it dipped in wasabi sauce, dipped in coarse salt,

and wrapped with myeongi namul too.

My son ordered rice, and thanks to the staff bringing it out quickly, we got to enjoy warm rice too.

How to build a Morakmorak self-bar taco

The self-bar has everything set up for making tacos. We got tortillas and cilantro ready,

then added guacamole and salsa sauce. We ate them in the different ways shown on the instructions. Can you picture the taste~?!! A time when everyone's tastebuds were won over on a full and lively evening.

The unlimited Korean beef bone ramen we were too full to eat

There's a pot and ramen noodles set up right in front of the showcase like this.

Let's cook some Korean beef bone ramen too~!!

By this point my family had already eaten so much. They said they were too full to eat anything more. Given how much effort clearly goes into making that ramen broth, does it make any sense not to eat it? Just look at the broth stocked up in the fridge like this.

It looks like they sell the broth too.

But even after thoroughly working through pork, beef, tortillas, tacos and even naengmyeon, our family... never did get to try this ramen that's supposedly so delicious. Ugh. I think we'll have to go back soon just for the ramen. To everyone living in Hwaseong, and everyone not living in Hwaseong — I highly recommend Morakmorak Jeongyuk Sikdang.