Seoul Korean BBQ in Yeongdeungpo with shiitake salt dip: Dongnaejeong

I don't sleep well normally, and I still can't sleep now, so here's my honest late-night review of Dongnaejeong! Since the restaurant is called Dongnaejeong, I asked the owner if they were from Busan — turns out 'Dongnaejeong' is just the owner's name haha… a little awkward moment for me.

Where is Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Main Branch, and what are its hours?

Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Main Branch is at 5 Dangsan-ro 30-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, a 3-minute walk from Exit 5 of Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station. It's open daily from 3 PM to 11 PM, with last order at 10:30 PM, and group reservations are possible.

How long is the CatchTable wait at Dongnaejeong?

When we arrived, Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Main Branch was almost fully booked, so we registered right away on the CatchTable waitlist! We were number 1, and we got seated faster than expected!!

Inside, people kept pouring in! There were about 10 tables, with a wood-tone interior and round tables — clean and neat all around!

Menu and ordering rules at Dongnaejeong

Looking at the Dongnaejeong menu, the BEST picks among the meat dishes were jeong-gabri (the gabrisal set) and Dongnae pork neck, with sides and accompaniments listed separately, which made choosing easy! After some thought, we ordered the jeong-gabri set for two!

• ⭐️First order must be for at least 2 people
• After that, you can add single portions one at a time, except pork neck

Side dishes and the complimentary meljeot-jorim

The basic side dishes came out first — garlic scape muchim (seasoned side dish), gat kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi), wasabi, and white kimchi — plus a complimentary melchorim (anchovy sauce braise) served in a stone pot!! It wasn't just about eating the meat; there were plenty of things to dip and pair with it, which I loved!

Shiitake salt with sesame oil poured over it

There was also sesame oil set out on the table — pouring a little into the shiitake salt doubles the nuttiness. They said it's 100% sesame oil sourced directly from the grain market!

How does the 34,000-won gabrisal set for two taste?

The jeong-gabri arrived! Dongnaejeong's jeong-gabri is apparently 100% pure gabrisal (pork skirt meat) with no sirloin added in! Honestly I wasn't expecting much, but after tasting it — total plot twist haha

Best of all, the staff grilled the meat for us directly, which made things so easy! They picked out the pieces right when perfectly cooked and made them easy to eat, finishing it off by topping with shishito peppers!

Will your clothes smell of grilled meat?

For those of you worried about smelling like meat after eating — this place has a system that sucks up the smoke right away, and as you can see in the photo, the smoke really does get pulled straight in haha. No meat smell worries here!

Once the meat was cooked, we followed the staff's suggestion and dipped it in the shiitake salt first — wow wow, it just melts, seriously haha. I expected gabrisal to be a bit dry, but it wasn't dry at all and was so soft it surprised me! The chubby friend I went with said it's the tastiest meat he's had recently haha

Mushrooms served wrapped in foil

And what's wrapped in the foil is mushrooms!!! It stays wrapped whole in foil until it's cooked through, then the staff takes it out and even cuts it up for you, snip snip. Once cut, the juices just gush out~~~~ the mushrooms were juicy and so delicious!!

Adding chadolbagi (beef brisket) for 15,000 won

The meat was so good that we ended up ordering an extra portion of gabrisal plus a portion of chadolbagi (thin-sliced beef brisket)!

The chadolbagi came with a seasoned sauce on the side — grilled briefly on the pan and dipped in, it was sweet and savory and also delicious haha

Finishing with icy milmyeon noodles

After grilled meat, milmyeon (chilled wheat noodles) is a must! We ordered the version with floating slush ice, and wow, it was truly refreshing and cooling. It tasted just like the milmyeon I remember from Busan, and the noodles were chewy too — this is exactly the taste haha

There were also Dongnaejeong's own tips for eating the meat written on the table, so give it a read! I read it and tried eating exactly as instructed, and it really added to the fun hahaha

The meat was delicious, and there were so many dipping sauces to choose from that you could eat according to your own taste, which I loved! Wrapped it all up neatly in lettuce wraps too~~~~

Is Dongnaejeong worth a visit? Final verdict

On the way out, they even had mouthwash ready! The staff were friendly and grilled the meat for us directly, so we could eat comfortably, and above all, the gabrisal was so much tastier than expected — very satisfying! I'll definitely order gabrisal again next time haha. Dongnaejeong Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Main Branch — recommended for anyone who loves gabrisal~~~!!!