Songpa Korean BBQ for family gatherings and pork galbi: Hantiok

A family gathering spot after a walk around Olympic Park

We had a family get-together over in Songpa. After doing a full lap around Olympic Park, we looked for somewhere near Jamsil that would be perfect for a lively gathering!! That place was Hantiok.

It is close to Bangi Station, so getting there on foot is easy too. Just walk about five minutes and you are there.

I am sure everyone strongly relates to the parking nightmare around Bangi-dong Food Alley. Here, though, you can head around the back of the building and use the valet parking service. It is such a huge plus that anyone driving can arrive without parking stress!

Spacious interior, private rooms, and a kids’ playroom

Inside Hantiok

The moment you walk in, the space feels wonderfully roomy and comfortable. There is plenty of space between tables, and the restaurant itself is large, so it seems just right for a company dinner or a big family gathering.

There are private rooms at the back of the restaurant. They look like they would work easily for work dinners or formal family meet-the-parents occasions, and I loved how clean and spacious they were.

Even the restrooms are kept very clean!

Kids’ playroom

What surprised me most was that one side of the restaurant has a proper playroom for children! There is an arcade machine, plus a soft jungle-gym-like structure that kids can climb up and down safely. For families visiting with young nieces and nephews, it would be absolute heaven, haha. The adults can grill their meat in peace while the kids play their hearts out! Truly the best of both worlds.

A Korean pork galbi platter and meal dishes

A basic setting served in brassware

As soon as we sat down, the basic setting immediately lifted the mood. From the cutlery to the bowls holding the meat and side dishes, everything came in a sophisticated brassware set with a soft glow. Even though it is a barbecue restaurant, you feel properly looked after, as if you were at an upscale Korean set-menu restaurant. The banchan (Korean side dishes), including napa cabbage kimchi, pickles, and fresh wrap greens, were neatly arranged in clean brass bowls and made a wonderfully substantial spread to enjoy with the meat!

Our main order that day was the Korean pork galbi platter + Andong broth set! We also added doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), the meat’s perfect companion, and refreshing kongguksu (noodles in chilled soybean broth) for our meal. After a short wait, hot charcoal was set right in the middle of the table. Then beautifully colored Korean pork galbi arrived alongside king oyster mushrooms stamped boldly with the stylish Hantiok name.

We laid the galbi on the grill and cooked it with that lovely charcoal aroma—wow, the smell of the meat was seriously unreal ㅠㅠ The moment we took a bite of the tender, gently sweet pork galbi, everyone clinked their cold beer glasses as though we had planned it, haha. What a thrilling burst of refreshment that washed away the tiredness after work in one go! The marinade was not overly strong or salty, just subtly sweet, making this dangerously moreish galbi impossible to stop eating.

When you are eating meat, you would really miss having a hot soup, right? The Andong broth that comes with the set had such a deep, rich flavor. It arrived bubbling away in an earthenware pot, and we scooped up every last bit until we could see the bottom. The extra doenjang-jjigae was also packed with ingredients and wonderfully savory—such genuinely comforting flavor! Since it comes in the pot, it stays warm right through to the end of the meal. It is the kind of taste that makes you want to mix in a whole bowl of rice and eat it like doenjang sulbap, a rice-and-stew dish that just begs for drinks.

After grilling and eating our fill of meat in front of the grill, we wanted a cool, clean finish, so we ordered kongguksu. (Because I am a kongguksu lover..) The milky white soybean broth came shimmering in a weighty brass bowl, prettily topped with red tomato and julienned cucumber, and it looked incredibly appetizing from the start. The broth was so nutty and rich that, even while saying we were full, everyone scraped up every last drop and drank it all.

Hantiok was a successful choice for a family gathering

The quality of the meat goes without saying, and every meal dish is prepared with care rather than being treated as an afterthought. With its comfortable space and perfect parking setup, this was a successful gathering spot that everyone in our group praised together. If you are looking for a delicious Korean barbecue restaurant around Jamsil, Bangi Station, or Olympic Park, I highly recommend Hantiok! I am absolutely going to push for this place again for our next group gathering, haha.