Ansan eel buffet: all-at-once grilling and fin trimming, Songnim Bok

I was searching for a place in Ansan where I could eat all-you-can-eat with good value, and I found this eel buffet in Gojan-dong, so I went! It's Songnim Bok Jangeo Freshwater Eel All-You-Can-Eat Ansan City Hall Direct Store (송림복장어 민물장어 무한리필 안산시청 직영점). It's well known for unlimited high-quality eel, chicken neck and pork belly at a reasonable price!

Where is Songnim Bok's Ansan City Hall store, and where do you park?

The restaurant is on the 2nd floor of Gojan Prime City in Ansan. If you park in the building's underground car park, they register your car for free parking, which was really convenient!

What's the atmosphere like? Good for group dinners?

The inside is spacious and pleasant, so it never felt stuffy. The tables let a big group sit together, so it looked like a good spot for company dinners or get-togethers in Gojan-dong! The ventilation is good too, so I could hardly smell the eel or meat grilling inside!

What's at the self-serve bar?

On one side of the restaurant is a self-serve bar with meats like eel, pork belly and chicken neck, plus lots of side dishes and tableware.

I liked that you can also cook fried eggs and kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake) yourself!

As you'd expect from a top eel buffet in Gojan-dong, fresh, good-quality eel is ready at the self-serve bar, and the pork belly and chicken neck looked decent too! If you run out of side dishes or sauces that go well with the meat, just grab more from the bar!

Small plates, tongs and scissors are also kept at the self-serve bar!

Time limit and notices for the buffet

The buffet is limited to 2 hours. There are also notices about the health benefits of freshwater eel and pork, plus instructions on how to grill eel well, so it's worth reading them before you start grilling!

How much is the Songnim Bok buffet?

At the Ansan City Hall store, an adult costs under ₩30,000. Unlimited high-quality eel at this price felt like amazing value..! They also sell takeout, so if you loved it, you could take some home to eat there too!

Our review as two adults at the buffet

Basic side dishes and the complimentary bokbunja wine

When you sit down, they set out side dishes that go well with eel as standard. For extras like lettuce wraps, use the self-serve bar!

The owner also gave us a free bottle of bokbunja-ju (Korean black raspberry wine), which is said to be good for you and seemed a perfect match for eel, a classic stamina food! Sadly we had come by car so we couldn't drink it, but the owner said we could take it home and packed a bottle for us, which was so kind!! (The friendly owner is the best!)

Eel, pork belly and chicken neck: can you grill them all on one plate?

Conclusion first: at Songnim Bok I'd recommend grilling one kind at a time..! The first plate comes with eel, pork belly and chicken neck as standard, and for anything extra you just take as much as you want from the self-serve bar. I wanted to grill everything on one plate so I put it all on, but one kind at a time turned out to be better. Still, the charcoal heat was strong and the eel cooked up golden and crispy, so it looked delicious!

Maybe because we weren't grilling very well, the owner kindly came over, removed the eel fins and showed us how to grill it properly!

How does the crispy grilled eel taste?

I love crispy-style grilled eel, so I grilled it as crisp as I could, and Songnim Bok's eel had no fishy smell and let me taste the full nutty flavor, which made me realize once more that this is good-quality eel! The chicken neck was chewy and already seasoned, so it went well with the eel, and the pork belly paired nicely with the pickled onions, so I enjoyed it too!

Is Songnim Bok's Ansan City Hall store worth recommending?

Even if you go with someone who doesn't like eel, the good-quality pork belly and chicken neck mean they can still eat along to a fair extent! There were many pluses, but the most satisfying was getting this level of high-quality charcoal-grilled eel, all you can eat, for under ₩30,000 per adult! If you're looking for an all-you-can-eat eel spot in Gojan-dong, Ansan, I recommend Songnim Bok Jangeo Freshwater Eel All-You-Can-Eat Ansan City Hall Direct Store!!