Gangneung hanwoo restaurant with private rooms: Chodang Uga beef set

Where is Chodang Uga, and what are its hours and parking?

Chodang Uga is a charcoal-grilled hanwoo (Korean beef) restaurant at 298-4 Haean-ro, Gangneung-si, near Gangmun Beach and the St. John's Hotel. Hours are 11:00–21:30 with a break time from 15:00–17:00, last order at 20:50. Parking is available right in front of the building, free for up to 2 hours, restrooms are indoors, and there was no wait when we visited.

A dog-friendly Korean BBQ spot right behind the St. John's Hotel

Right behind the St. John's Hotel, where we stayed on this Gangneung trip, there's a BBQ restaurant nice enough to bring your parents to — and dog-friendly too. It's close to Gangmun Beach, so we went for a walk on the beach and then showed up right at our reservation time.

This place shares a parking lot with other restaurants, so it's technically a paid lot, but if you're eating here it's free up to 2 hours, and the lot was spacious enough to park easily.

Our dog is a 12kg Jindo mix, and when I called ahead to ask, the staff were really kind about it, so we came without worry. That said, the posted dog policy says only small-to-medium dogs under 10kg are allowed in, so if your dog is a bit over or well over that, it's best to call ahead first.

Inside Chodang Uga: the dining room and the private room

The interior of Chodang Uga was really spacious. Lots of seats with wide spacing between them, so eating never felt cramped. The decor is Korean-style but upscale, the kind of place older parents would like too. We'd booked a room ahead of time, so we were shown straight there haha.

There's a self-serve corner where you can refill any side dishes you need. The first round of side dishes and the menu itself were brought out by a serving robot haha.

We were shown to Sageunjin Beach Room 5. The room had upscale gray-toned decor, and the clean line lighting made the mood even nicer. Two 4-seat tables were pushed together, so it looked like it could fit up to 8 people.

What a group of five ordered at Chodang Uga, and the prices

There were 5 of us, and we had to decide whether to light one grill or two — in the end we went with one grill so we could all chat close together while eating, with one person squeezing in tight haha.

• Antibiotic-free hanwoo one-cow set 700g – ₩186,000
• Fruit-fed pork galbi – ₩22,000 x 2 servings
• Dessert mul-naengmyeon – ₩5,000 x 2 servings
• Dessert doenjang-jjigae (with rice) – ₩5,000
• Plus drinks and soju

Table setting, side dishes and Chodang sundubu (soft tofu)

The basic setting includes onion, onion sauce, cutlery, salt, ssamjang (dipping sauce), garlic, and vegetables. Then the basic side dishes come out.

They set the same side dishes on both sides of the grill. Both the plates and the plating were done so neatly it put me in a good mood. And Gangneung's famous chodang sundubu (soft tofu) came out as a side dish too, which was a nice touch haha.

The 700g hanwoo one-cow set: which cuts, and how they tasted

Here's the hanwoo one-cow set we ordered. It's 1+ grade hanwoo, made up of saeu-sal, kkotdeungsim (marbled ribeye), deungsim-deossal, buchae-sal (flap meat), and chadolbagi (brisket).

They told us the chadolbagi is best grilled on the small stone plate because of the fat. We started with buchae-sal since it has the least fat. You put it on once the charcoal is nice and hot.

The chadolbagi here was seriously incredible haha. It genuinely tasted like top-tier, luxury-grade chadolbagi. If they sold it as a standalone dish I'd keep ordering it forever haha. The chimasal (skirt-ish cut) was also really clean-tasting but full of juice.

Here's the kkotdeungsim. The marbling on it looked amazing.

We grilled the tendon bits nice and crispy too, chewy and delicious, so we cooked those alongside everything else. Eating everything to our own preferred doneness, the kkotdeungsim especially had such incredible flavor that we kept exclaiming over it haha.

I think this one was saeu-sal and deungsim-deossal. We cooked this a little longer, and it was tasty too.

Chimasal and the rest of the cuts. (I'm not too familiar with beef cuts, so I might not have these exactly right ^_ㅠ) Whatever the cut, this was a hanwoo one-cow set we thoroughly enjoyed.

Fruit-fed pork galbi and doenjang-jjigae at Chodang Uga

We also ordered 2 servings of pork galbi on top. It came with 2 rib bones, and the ribs were wide enough that the portion felt generous haha.

Maybe because the pigs were fruit-fed, the galbi had a genuinely sweet, tender flavor. We also ordered doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), which came with a bowl of rice on the side. It had chadol (brisket) mixed in, making the stew even richer and more savory.

Since the pork galbi is marinated, you have to watch it closely so it doesn't burn. It was tender enough that it just melted in haha.

Dessert: house-made mul-naengmyeon cold noodles

For dessert we ordered naengmyeon (cold noodles), which they say is made in-house. The noodles are really thin and paired perfectly with the cold broth, slurped right down haha.

The restrooms here are indoors and separated by gender, so they were easy to use.

At the register they also sell apples, plus a range of dog supplies and treats haha. You could really tell how much they love dogs haha. It's close enough to walk from St. John's Hotel or the Shilla Monogram, so if you're traveling with your dog and looking for a great hanwoo restaurant, I really recommend this place.

What stood out at Chodang Uga, and who should book a room

✨ What we liked

• Clean private rooms, great for family gatherings
• 1+ grade hanwoo with excellent quality and flavor
• Sweet, tender pork galbi

👨‍👩‍👧 Who should visit

• Family gatherings, friend meetups, couple dates
• Anyone looking for a team dinner spot
• Anniversaries, wedding invitation gatherings, or hosting honored guests
• Anyone staying at St. John's Hotel or Shilla Monogram looking for dinner
• Anyone looking for a dog-friendly hanwoo restaurant

⭐ Would visit again: yes