Late-night Korean BBQ in Seongsu, Seoul: Marblejeong perilla pesto

A Seongsu Korean beef restaurant: Marblejeong

Where is Marblejeong, and what are its hours? (Ttukseom Station Exit 5)

Hours: Daily 11am–midnight (last order 11pm) Parking available

I took a trip out to Seongsu today for the first time in a while, haha, and while looking for good spots I found Marblejeong. It's closest if you come out of Ttukseom Station Exit 5! I'd heard the atmosphere and the meat quality here are both great, making it a good place for anniversaries. Not an anniversary for me, but let's go set the mood anyway~

Marblejeong's interior and private group rooms

The interior at Marblejeong was clean and nicely decorated. I went late so there weren't many other guests, but with all the group seating here it looks like a great spot for gatherings or work dinners.

They have everything from small rooms to large ones, so it works for a formal small get-together or a big group event. The large group room can hold 16 to 56 people, and a full buyout seats 110. Also, for reservations of 10 or more, they'll prepare whatever special cuts you request.

Maybe because a lot of foreign guests come here, the menu also has English, Japanese, and Chinese versions, haha. Must make things really convenient for visitors from abroad.

Marblejeong's menu and the 400g grade 1++ mixed grill

The menu ranges from grade 1++ Korean beef to pork. Apparently the beef here is really something. They also sell set menus so you can enjoy a well put-together spread. Prices start from around ₩70,000 for a solid-value meal, all the way up to premium courses — I liked having that range.

I went with the grade 1++ mixed grill! It comes with three cuts and totals 400g.

Side dishes and dongchimi (cold radish water kimchi)

The side dishes were simple — mountain leek greens, pickled radish, and so on — plus a cool dongchimi (watery radish kimchi). I'm not usually a big dongchimi person, but the broth here was clean and delicious, so I ate it all up, haha.

Five sauces at Marblejeong — the perilla leaf pesto stands out

There were five sauces total: salt, fresh wasabi, shiitake horseradish, perilla leaf pesto, and a house special sauce. Each came in its own neat little bowl, which was great — especially good for group visits, I'd think! I'd never tried perilla pesto before, and it was pretty good, actually. Had a bit of a basil-like feel to it.

There was also pickled lettuce and a ricotta cheese salad served separately, and all the vegetables were fresh and tasty.

Sirloin, chuck flap and brisket: staff grill every cut for you

Marblejeong's grade 1++ mixed grill comes with three cuts: sirloin, chuck flap, and beef brisket. Besides the meat, there were plenty of sides to grill alongside it too, like button mushrooms, asparagus, and potatoes.

Apparently Marblejeong's grade 1++ beef is handled and quality-checked directly by a meat processing specialist, which is why it's such top-tier Korean beef. And true to that, doesn't it just look amazing even before you taste it? Haha.

Starting with the sirloin! Here, the grilling service means a staff member grills everything from start to finish, so all you have to do is sit back and eat. They grill it cut by cut, timing new batches to be ready right as you finish the last.

Sirloin

Sirloin is honestly a cut that's basically impossible to mess up if the meat quality is good, haha. So soft it practically melts in your mouth, lol. I tend to chew for a while and don't usually like big bites of meat, but with Marblejeong's grade 1++ beef, even the bigger pieces just released more juice the more I chewed, which made it even better.

That mountain leek and wasabi combo is just unbeatable~ The house special sauce was clean and delicious too. The meat was clearly good enough that even a light dip in just salt let you taste the meat's own flavor, which made it even better.

Raw garlic grilled without oil

Interestingly, they grill the garlic raw with no oil at all. It kept its crunchy texture while losing that sharp raw bite, which was great. They grilled it really well without burning it, lol. The button mushrooms were also full of flavor and so tasty...

Chuck flap

Next up, chuck flap! I really love this cut — I like that it's not overly juicy, more clean and light. It wasn't tough at all, and the chuck flap here was soft and delicious too.

Beef especially tends to turn dry and unappetizing if it's not grilled well, but this was grilled so well that it was even more delicious. Piece after piece, before I knew it, I'd finished it all while it was still hot, lol.

Brisket

Last up, beef brisket~ It's nice because it cooks so quickly, lol. It wasn't greasy at all either, just clean and tasty.

The brisket wasn't tough either, which I liked. Overall, the meat quality was really satisfying.

Abalone porridge and Marblejeong's 20% lunch discount

Since just meat felt like it wasn't quite enough, I ordered abalone porridge! Marblejeong actually has a lot of meal options beyond the grilled meat — galbitang (short rib soup), Korean beef seaweed soup, yukgaejang (spicy beef soup), abalone porridge, and more, so it seems like a good spot for lunch too. Apparently if you order the grade 1++ mixed grill at lunch, you can get 20% off.

The portion of abalone porridge — what is going on, lol. I was surprised at how much there was. I was debating between naengmyeon (cold noodles) and rice, but since they had abalone porridge, which I love, I ordered that, and it was so good! It had a deep flavor and was nutty and rich, haha.