Family-gathering hanwoo BBQ in Hapjeong, Seoul: fresh plates at No.9

Eutteum Aged Hanwoo is a place where you can eat 1++ hanwoo at a reasonable price. Since the staff grill everything for you, it feels like a semi hanwoo omakase, which makes it a good fit for family gatherings, company dinners, anniversaries, you name it!

Eutteum Aged Hanwoo No.9 Hapjeong: location, parking and hours

Eutteum Aged Hanwoo No.9 Hapjeong Branch (으뜸숙성한우No.9 합정점) is on the ground floor of the Mapo Han River Prugio 2nd retail building (Sangga-dong), opposite Outback, and you can use the building's car park. It is open daily 11:00-22:00, with last order at 21:00.

Coming via the road across from Kookmin Bank turned out to be faster. I don't know the area well and took a long detour, so since it's hot out, take the quicker way...^^~

This hanwoo restaurant near Hapjeong Station also sells a lunch special and has lunch discounts, so it works for lunch too.

Atmosphere and seating: is Hanwoo No.9 good with kids?

Inside there are tables for six and bar-style seating. There will probably be a wait in the evening, so I recommend booking ahead!

The interior is clean and calm, neither too dark nor too bright. It feels upscale, so it would also suit an anniversary or other special day.

There are coat hangers on one side of the restaurant, so visiting in winter should be comfortable too. There are also high chairs, so you don't need to worry about going with children.

Set menu or à la carte: which should you order?

The menu has sets and single items, and I heard the Hanwoo Special Set and Hanwoo Assorted Set both include 100g of yukhoe (Korean beef tartare). Sets seemed better than ordering single items, so we went with the Special Set.

Here is the meal menu. They say Eutteum Aged Hanwoo sells No.9 grade hanwoo, the highest grade within 1++!

Drinks and corkage fee

Here is the drinks menu. They have everything from premium soju to sake, wine, beer and highballs. Corkage is allowed! The corkage fee is ₩20,000.

Side dishes and the set's yukhoe with ankimo (monkfish liver)

The side dishes at Eutteum Aged Hanwoo No.9 Hapjeong Branch come out neatly. There were mustard leaf kimchi, jimichuri (pickled wild chive-like greens), pickled garlic scapes, white kimchi, dressed scallions and pickled perilla leaves, plus wasabi and sauces to go with the meat.

This is the yukhoe included in the set, and it comes with anki-mo (monkfish liver) and sushi rice to eat together. The yukhoe is chewy and nutty, and eating it with the anki-mo took that nuttiness to the max, which I loved. I saved some anki-mo to eat with the beef later and it was really good. I recommend saving some anki-mo and having it with the meat once the grilling starts.

They gave us a complimentary cockle salad (kkomak-muchim), and the cockles were chewy with a nutty flavor as you chew. It's on the side menu, and I think it would be great as a drinking snack too.

What's in the Special Set, and how staff grill it at your pace

The Special Set at No.9 comes with sirloin, saeusal (chuck flap tail), salchisal (chuck flap) and skirt steak, plus zucchini, mushrooms and eggplant. The moment it arrived, I couldn't help saying, "This is quality meat."

I liked that special cuts like salchisal and saeusal came in generous amounts. And the meat was sliced thick rather than thin, which I also liked. The staff first explain each cut kindly as they bring it, so it's fine even if you don't know much about them haha.

Because they grill it for you, it feels like an omakase, as I said above. We didn't have to fuss over the grilling ourselves, so we could focus on talking. They grill like pros, so the meat stayed juicy all the way through.

When each piece is done, they set it neatly on your plate, so all we had to do was eat. It wasn't only the sirloin: the salchisal, saeusal and skirt steak were each grilled to suit the cut, bringing out the best in every part.

Soy sauce, cheongyang chili or salt: how to eat each cut

As the staff recommended, we tried the meat with their house-made soy sauce and cheongyang chili (spicy green chili), and with just salt, a bit of everything. The meat is well aged with its fat, so it tastes great on its own and is delicious whatever you pair it with. It had a savory depth and a rich beefy aroma that I really liked.

The mushrooms and zucchini grilled alongside were good too, picking up both charcoal and beef aroma, and they were grilled nice and moist.

The jimichuri, perilla leaves and dressed scallions were all clean and tasty. You can feel they care about every side dish, not just the meat: nothing stands out too much, and everything finishes cleanly with the beef, which I liked.

Rice and stew: soy-based yukhoe bibimbap and doenjang-jjigae

The yukhoe bibimbap (mixed rice) at Eutteum Aged Hanwoo is soy-based rather than gochujang-based, and the yukhoe in it is good-quality meat, not frozen, which I appreciated. Pickles go in too, so the seasoning was just right and the flavor fresh. It didn't leave me feeling bloated and was easy to eat haha.

The doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) looks bland, but when you actually taste it, the seasoning is right and it's deeply savory. It has a country-style doenjang flavor, packed with onion, zucchini and brisket, and I think it would be great mixed into rice. The broth was cool and deep, and felt like it cut through the grease.

Is Eutteum Aged Hanwoo No.9 Hapjeong worth the price for a family meal?

For the mid-₩100,000s, with special cuts and a semi-omakase service included, Eutteum Aged Hanwoo No.9 Hapjeong Branch left me very satisfied. The meat and the side dishes were both good, but what I liked even more was that they grill to your eating pace, so every bite of meat was warm.

They also change the plate every time they serve meat, and little details like that were lovely. Not just the meat but the side dishes and meal dishes were all good, so I think it's a great place to go on a day you just want something delicious, even if it isn't a special occasion! haha If you're looking for hanwoo BBQ or a hanwoo omakase in Hapjeong, I recommend Eutteum Aged Hanwoo No.9 Hapjeong Branch.