Hapjeong Korean BBQ restaurant: parking tips and pre-grilled ribs

I was meeting up with an old friend and we couldn't decide where to go, until my friend who lives in Hapjeong suggested a place that sells both beef and pork, big enough that everyone in Hapjeong, Hongdae, and Mapo knows about it. So we headed to 'Jeongyukdo'!

Where to park at Jeongyukdo near Hapjeong Station

This place is really close to Exit 5 of Hapjeong Station (Lines 2 and 6). There's no parking lot on-site, but if you use the Modu Parking app, you can park for around ₩3,000-something for 2 hours, so visiting by car wasn't a hassle at all. The lot I used was the Mapo Hangang Prugio 1st Complex parking lot, and through the Modu Parking app it came to ₩3,500 for 2 hours!

A standalone building covered in celebrity autographs, with hall, outdoor, and room seating

Jeongyukdo, right near Hapjeong Station Exit 5, is in its own standalone building. That means there's a spacious outdoor terrace barbecue area as well as indoor seating. Walking in, I noticed tons of celebrity autographs on the walls — looking around, it seems a lot of top stars have stopped by~

The dining spaces are broadly divided into hall, outdoor, and rooms. The rooms are quite well set up, which probably explains why so many celebrities have come here haha. The place is big with plenty of tables and staff, and it seemed clean and well-managed overall.

Jeongyukdo menu and prices

• Hanwoo Pork Special Cuts Set: ₩65,000 — pork jowl + neck fat + skirt meat, choice of anchovy sauce or soybean paste stew
• Pork Set: ₩49,000 — fresh ribs + flower neck meat + pork belly, choice of anchovy sauce or soybean paste stew

There were also à la carte hanwoo (Korean beef) and hanwoo pork options — the beef is 1++ top grade and the pork is 1+ grade, so it felt trustworthy. There were actual certificates on the menu board, and they even give you a meat tag when you order. Being able to order both beef and pork and eat according to your preference seems to be one of this place's strengths.

1++ Hanwoo Set: ₩99,000 — sirloin + rib meat + chuck flap + hanwoo shepherd's purse soybean stew. Good for 2–3 people, with a whopping 400g of hanwoo!!

There was also a wide range of additional menu items, alcohol, and drinks after the meat course.

• Hanwoo ugeoji-sol soup: ₩10,000
• Hanwoo soybean rice: ₩10,000
• Cheese spicy braised ribs: ₩13,000
• Steamed egg custard: ₩4,000
• Cold noodles: ₩6,000
• Anchovy sauce: ₩3,000

Lunch special available from 2 people

Here's the info on the lunch special and lunch menu, only orderable during lunch hours! The lunch special comes with 150g of seasoned sirloin plus a choice of a meal, and it's a value set orderable from 2 people. The meal dishes were generally in the low ₩10,000s — pretty reasonable.

Side dishes and sauces

The basic setup is a clean one-side-dish-per-person arrangement. I liked that the small plates and side dishes were kept separate, and there were three types of sauces: salt, whole grain mustard, and wasabi.

The ₩49,000 pork set, and a tip on ordering the anchovy sauce and soybean stew

Pork Set ₩49,000: fresh ribs + flower neck meat + pork belly, choice of pot-style anchovy sauce or hanwoo soybean paste stew. The stew is ₩5,000 on its own but the anchovy sauce is only ₩3,000 à la carte, so if you want both, it seems better value to get the stew as part of the set and order the anchovy sauce separately. A distinctive touch here is that when you order meat, they give you the same kind of meat tag you'd see at a mart or butcher shop.

There were three types of meat: fresh ribs, flower neck meat, and pork belly. The staff recommended grilling the fresh ribs first, and separated the meat from the bone for us right on the grill~ They don't grill everything for you, but if you look lost they'll come over and help~

Hanwoo shepherd's purse soybean stew and steamed egg custard

Maybe because it's made with hanwoo and shepherd's purse, the broth had a refreshing quality unlike other BBQ places, with hanwoo beef, mushrooms, and tofu inside. I added the steamed egg custard for ₩4,000, and it was so soft and fluffy that I'd recommend it. The tables next to me and the one after that all ordered egg custard too haha.

They say the meat right next to the bone is the real deal, right? It was super chewy with standout juiciness. Even after picking all the meat off the bone and grilling it again, there was still quite a bit left!

After finishing the rib meat, it was time to grill the pork belly and neck meat~ As you can see, so glossy and shiny~

They also gave us large mushrooms on the house to grill alongside. The grill plate and charcoal here were really good. The grill plate is made of a material that doesn't burn easily, so we could keep going without needing to swap it out!

Rice can be added for ₩1,000 and comes in a heaping bowl. The hanwoo pork, being 1+ grade, was free of any gamey smell and very tender. My recommended sauce is the wasabi! I've been really into wasabi lately, and the sharp kick paired with the tender juiciness of the meat was an amazing combo.

Pre-grilled seasoned pork ribs, 250g

The meat quality here was so much better than expected that I got curious about other menu items and ended up ordering more~

Seasoned pork ribs 250g: ₩19,000. Unusually, they bring these out pre-grilled, which was really convenient. Seasoned ribs usually burn easily on the grill because of the sauce, making them tricky to cook, but as you can see, they came almost fully cooked, so it was easy~ haha

Honestly, the meat we had earlier was fresh and delicious, but I think the real gem here is the seasoned ribs. Maybe because of that pre-grilling, the smoky char flavor really came through, and the seasoning wasn't overly sweet or salty, so I didn't get tired of it~

Restrooms and the overall dining atmosphere

A lot of BBQ places in busy downtown areas aren't very clean and don't have separate men's and women's restrooms, but here they were separated and kept clean. There's also a draft beer machine, which is great news for anyone looking for a Hapjeong dinner spot or a good restaurant near Hapjeong Station~

Receipt event and business hours

Jeongyukdo, a well-known restaurant near Hapjeong Station, is currently running a Naver receipt event! There are two events going on — first, writing a review gets you a free hanwoo soybean rice, and second, saving the restaurant on Naver Map or Naver Place gets you a free highball!

I also caught some video of the meat sizzling away on the grill~

• Business hours: 11:30–23:00
• Last order: 21:30
• Break time: none

If you're looking for a big, clean BBQ restaurant in the transit hub that is Hapjeong, I don't think you can do better than this place~~ It's open late until 11pm, the staff are friendly, and best of all, they give you a meat tag with every order so you can see for yourself just how fresh it is — that really built my trust.