Cheongna eel and beef buffet with furikake rice balls: Jangsodam

Today I'm introducing Jangsodam (장소담), an all-you-can-eat eel buffet in Cheongna, Incheon. The Cheongna Main Branch offers courses from A to D to suit your taste, so there were plenty of choices. Let's go get some summer stamina food, GOGO~!

Parking and public transport at Jangsodam Cheongna Main Branch

The building's parking lot gives you up to 2 hours of free parking. If you take the bus, it's a 4-minute walk from the Cheongna 1-dong Community Service Center stop.

The parking lot is quite spacious, so parking wasn't difficult. Just note that it's free for 2 hours at most.

Here are the banners at the entrance~! One unusual point: Jangsodam allows pets inside.

Is Jangsodam spacious inside? Is there a kids' room?

The inside of the Cheongna Main Branch was clean and roomy overall. It's much bigger than it looks from outside~! I think it would be good for company dinners or group gatherings too.

There's also a playroom in the back where kids can play.

Jangsodam menu and ordering: why I chose the A Set

You can order eel on its own or choose among various set menus, so just pick what suits you. We wanted to try both beef and eel, so we ordered the A Set!

You order by table ordering. The beef and eel are brought to you first, and you can order refills through the table order. Special menu items are also cooked fresh when you order, so it's a nice way to try a variety, right~~?

Crab is served once as a freebie, so we ordered both kinds, soy sauce and spicy marinated~!

Eel and beef have to be cooked on a coated plate, and I was told it's provided only once.

They brought out assorted side dishes. The first portion was so small I panicked, but no worries since there's a self-bar! Two eel sauces came out, and the charcoal arrived right away too.

A Set: six kinds of beef and eel, and how do refills work?

The Jangsodam A Set came with six kinds of beef and eel. I loved being able to try so many different cuts of beef!

However, beef can only be refilled once you've finished it all. Since there were just two of us, the default portion was fairly big, and I wanted to eat more tasty stuff but was already full ㅠㅠ (next time I should ask them to bring it in smaller amounts).

What's at the Jangsodam self-bar?

The self-bar has meats like two kinds of marinated galbi, dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken), pork skin, pork belly and pork neck. While the meat grills, let me show you around the self-bar.

There are vegetables for grilling and tteok (rice cake) sari too.

The fried food corner~! If you pick a special item from the table order, such as french fries, you get them freshly fried.

There's white rice and furikake (rice seasoning) for making rice balls, and surprisingly the rice balls were so delicious!

There are also morning rolls and strawberry jam.

There are all kinds of cooked dishes, so you can have them while the meat cooks or with rice.

This is the self-bar where you can grab more side dishes. Personally, the spring onion salad and pickled chili peppers, which cut through the richness, suited my taste.

How were the yukhoe, beef short plate and crab?

The yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) was tender and sweet, easy to enjoy lightly. First bite: the yukhoe~!

Next, the quick-cooking beef short plate~! Being thin, it cooks fast, and with the smoky charcoal flavor it was delicious.

Grilling it golden brown~

The soy sauce crab and spicy marinated crab arrived. The crab was fresh, not fishy, and tasty. The spicy one wasn't hot but sweetish, and the soy sauce crab, with its subtle sweetness, especially suited my taste.

How do you eat Jangsodam's eel and beef for the best taste?

The eel is quite plump, and wrapped in a perilla leaf it was moist and mild. Grilled crispy, it was crunchy outside and juicy inside, even better.

The LA galbi (cross-cut short ribs) has a bit of springiness, and picking the meat off the bone is half the fun~

Perfectly cooked eel with a perilla leaf in one bite~ the moist, mild eel went so well with the various wraps and sides.

Beef cooks quickly, so I happily munched on the chuck flap and rib finger meat~ the rib meat was quite tender.

Sirloin grilled fast and eaten in one bite~! A light dip in salt makes it great.

Crispy-grilled eel, crunchy outside and juicy inside, suited me even better. And the baller move: beef and eel in a single bite~

The grilled potato I had to finish was plain mildness itself.

What does the special dish kongtteok kongtteok taste like?

Jangsodam's special dish kongtteok kongtteok (soybean-powder rice cake) tasted a bit like a Japanese mochi snack, and also like Korean injeolmi (soybean-coated rice cake) plus a glutinous twisted doughnut. I figured I should try at least one special dish, and it surprisingly suited my taste, so I ended dinner with kongtteok kongtteok~~!

Jangsodam Cheongna Main Branch location and hours

• Address: 206, 207, 208, 10-17 Jungbong-daero 612beon-gil, Seohae-gu, Incheon, South Korea (인천 서해구 중봉대로612번길 10-17 206호, 207호, 208호)
• Hours: daily 11:00–23:00

Jangsodam lets you eat a wide variety of dishes until you're stuffed. When you're craving summer stamina food, I recommend it for a family meal :)