Sunday charcoal beef and pork ribs with crab side, Neul Gogi Jip

How's this cool autumn weather treating you? I'm really feeling that 'sky-high and horses fattening' season lately haha — everything tastes good, and lately I'm especially craving meat. So I went with my mom to Neul Gogi Jip, a galbi (grilled ribs) restaurant in Icheon.

Beyond the beef and pork ribs, it's run by a certified Korean-cuisine master, so I heard the side dishes are generous too! Here's my detailed review after trying beef ribs, pork ribs, and soy-marinated crab at this Icheon galbi spot.

Neul Gogi Jip Icheon Main Branch basic info

• Location: 2541 Gyeongchung-daero, Icheon, Gyeonggi, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–21:30 (break 15:30–16:30)
• Sat–Sun 11:00–21:30 (no weekend break)
• Parking: free lot in front (about 30 spaces)
• Seating: hall plus group rooms (120 seats total)
• Waiting area available, corkage allowed, takeout available, reservations available

Location & parking

Neul Gogi Jip is near Anheungji Recreation Area. It's about 3 minutes by car from Icheon Bus Terminal and 4 minutes from Icheon Station, so it's easy to reach from anywhere in the city.

I arrived around 3pm on a Sunday. Every time I've passed by, the lot has been packed, but maybe because of the odd hour, I parked easily. There's room for about 30 cars.

Right when you walk in, you see certifications for the Korean Cuisine Master and the 2026 Blue Ribbon Award. Walking in with high expectations.

Interior mood and group seating

The interior felt like a neatly kept Korean restaurant. It's a barbecue place, but there wasn't a speck of grease anywhere, which made a great first impression.

The hall was mostly 4-person tables, but they had backed sofa seats, which was comfortable, and the partitions between tables were quite tall so it felt nicely separated. Since it was just the two of us, we picked a window-side table.

Group seating comes in private rooms with doors, which would be great for family gatherings or company dinners. There were both 6-person and 8-person rooms. High chairs are available too, for anyone who needs one!

From the main galbi menu to a great-value lunch special

Neul Gogi Jip has both a paper menu and tablet ordering. Older folks tend to prefer paper menus over tablets, so it was nice they had both.

First, the main charcoal-grilled menu at this Icheon galbi spot — marinated pork ribs, marinated beef ribs, raw beef ribs, raw pork belly.

Lunch special *served daily 11:00–14:30 — crab & jeyuk set (min. 2), crab lettuce-wrap set (min. 2), jeyuk lettuce-wrap set (min. 2), traditional galbitang.

Everything in the photos looked delicious so I agonized over it, but figured — it's a galbi place, so let's eat galbi! We decided on one order each of beef ribs and pork ribs, plus the soy-marinated crab I'd been curious about.

They provide a 500ml bottle of water, and the table drawer has utensils, tissues, a bottle opener, and a wine opener.

Leave a receipt review for a free ₩8,000 golden steamed egg

If you join the receipt review event at Neul Gogi Jip Icheon, they give you a golden steamed egg (gyeranjjim) worth ₩8,000. Usually other restaurants offer a drink or a rice ball for review events, but Neul Gogi Jip is really generous here. I thought about doing it, but since we'd already ordered two servings of meat plus extra crab, I saved it for next time haha.

How does the galbi taste from this 'Korean cuisine master' restaurant?

The meat finally arrived — the marinated ribs looked so delicious.

Wait, is this a hanjeongsik (full-course Korean set meal) restaurant...?😲❤️ The side dishes came out as varied as a proper rice-table place. It wasn't just a lot of side dishes for show either — there were many kinds and none of them overlapped.

Japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), soy-marinated crab, yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi), seasoned cucumber peppers, black sesame lotus root salad, tofu with sweet-and-sour sauce, sweet pumpkin salad, pickled vegetables, and jellyfish salad — quite the spread!

Tasting the side dishes while the meat cooked. The sweet-and-sour tofu was a real standout, with a sweet, tasty sauce. The lotus root kept its crunch and had a wholesome flavor.

Now let's grill today's main event — beef ribs! The smell of the beef ribs sizzling on the charcoal was incredible.

Cutting into bite-size pieces to finish cooking. Marinated beef ribs taste best when you grab them right as they're done — cue the staring game to catch the golden moment👀

Whether it was the good charcoal or well-managed heat, the fire stayed at a good level for a long time, which made grilling easy.

How were the marinated beef ribs?

The beef quality felt good right away. The lean part was tender, and the fat melted nicely too — delicious. The marinade wasn't overpowering, so you could really taste the meat.

Beef ribs were best plain or with pickled onion, but they were also great wrapped in lettuce...

I didn't know the soy-marinated crab already came as a default side dish — I ordered extra because I wanted crab, but a few pieces show up as standard too. This is the added portion. Naturally it's much more generous since it's an add-on.

The crab was on the bigger side with quite a bit of meat, and eating it with rice made for a sweet, spicy, delicious bite.

What about the pork ribs?

Next up, pork rib time! Pork ribs are basically my soul food...♡ They're at their best grilled on charcoal, rolled around constantly so the marinade doesn't burn👍

They clearly used a good cut for the pork ribs too. At cheaper pork rib places you sometimes get chunks that are neither fat nor skin, just an unpleasant soft bit stuck on — but at Neul Gogi Jip, every piece was pure, tasty meat, nothing to discard.

The meat was thick and evenly sized, so the marinade didn't burn and it was easy to grill evenly. Best of all, the smell of the marinade made me crave rice so badly...!! Extra rice, please🍚

After a satisfying sizzle, time for one bite of meat, one wrap. Perilla leaf, pickled onion, rice, cheongyang pepper, garlic, ssamjang (dipping sauce) — and dig in. Simple with white rice, meat, and sauce.

The self-serve lettuce-wrap bar

You'll run out of wraps eventually — just go grab more from the self-serve bar. That's one of the perks of Neul Gogi Jip Icheon!

There's a wide variety of wraps — leaf lettuce, green lettuce, cabbage, perilla leaves, chicory, and blanched cabbage. There's also cheongyang pepper and raw garlic; the pepper was just spicy enough to eat raw, and the garlic came sliced, not too overwhelming, just the right amount of heat with a hint of sweetness — really good.

Had a proper feast of galbi after a while. A satisfying meal haha.

Don't skip dessert!

Head to the lounge and you'll find this space. If there's a wait for a table, you can wait here, and after the meal you can enjoy coffee and ice cream.

Make sure you have dessert before you leave~ On the way out there was also a display of ingredients and snacks for sale, and I ended up buying some red snow crab soy sauce. If it tastes good, I'll write a follow-up review!

Overall verdict on Neul Gogi Jip Icheon

• Both the beef and pork ribs had great meat quality and taste — I'd go back
• Despite being a barbecue place, the side dishes were generous and tasty, great for treating elders
• Spacious parking and good accessibility make it great for group gatherings

If you're looking for a good galbi restaurant in Icheon, or a barbecue spot suited for group or family gatherings, I recommend Neul Gogi Jip Icheon!