Bangi-dong gopchang restaurant open till midnight: Jinseong Hanwoo

Bangi-dong restaurant Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Bangi Direct Branch / the affordable beef gopchang spot that piles it on

Why a Bangi-dong gopchang restaurant works for a Friday team dinner

It's been a while since I got to properly enjoy a fire Friday, and this time I came out with my coworkers to demolish some good hanwoo (Korean beef) gopchang. Work's been a lot lately... after a busy week, Friday finally arrived! We came to Bangi-dong to enjoy the evening after work, and while debating what to eat, we landed on the ultimate office-worker Friday combo — gopchang and soju, of course, haha.

While looking for an affordable gopchang place near Bangi-dong, I found Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Bangi Direct Branch, a gopchang, daechang and makchang spot in the Bangi-dong food alley — let me introduce it!

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Bangi Direct Branch: address and hours

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang Bangi Direct Branch is at 19 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul (1F), right in the middle of the food alley near Bangi Station. Hours are Mon–Thu 4pm–11pm, Fri 4pm–12am, Sat 1pm–12am, and Sun 3pm–12am.

The moment you step into the Bangi-dong food alley, the smell of gopchang grilling fills the air, and if you just follow the scent, you'll walk straight into this place, haha. Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang stays open until midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, which made it even better for eating and hanging out late without worry.

Since my office is near Bangi-dong, I'd been looking for a well-known beef gopchang spot, and this turned out to be the place famous for affordable hanwoo gopchang, daechang and makchang.

How long is the wait on a Friday evening?

A good restaurant really is a good restaurant... since we came straight after work on a fire Friday, there was already a serious wait when we arrived! But even we, who hate waiting, couldn't walk away once we caught the smell of that beef gopchang. Good things come to those who wait, ha. We chatted away and before we knew it, we were called in — we walked in full of anticipation!

You could already tell from the wait that Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang, the gopchang spot in the Bangi-dong food alley, gets a lot of customers and has been featured on TV quite a bit. The vibe is old-school with round griddle tables, giving it a friendly, comfortable feel.

Three house-made kimchi and the special dipping sauce

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang doesn't serve Chinese-made kimchi — no way! They serve three kinds of delicious house-made kimchi: scallion kimchi, mustard leaf kimchi, and kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), all made with domestic ingredients. Eating them alongside the gopchang cut through the richness perfectly and tasted amazing — honestly good enough that I wanted to buy the kimchi separately!

For side dishes, there's a chive salad and their own house-made kimchi, plus a special little bowl of sauce — and this sauce was such a highlight!

Gopchang, makchang and daechang grilled on the griddle with a timer

We ordered gopchang, makchang and daechang! It's a system where you grill everything with various vegetables, and staff grill each one for you personally. Grilling rice cakes and vegetables in the clean fat rendered from the fresh gopchang made everything taste amazing. They even give you a timer, calculating the right temperature and time in advance to deliver a consistent taste every time — I thought, this isn't a restaurant that just happened to become popular by accident...!

The steamed egg was nice and fluffy too — good good. Eating it together with the house-made kimchi felt almost like a home-cooked dinner your mom made! It wasn't anything fancy, but since the kimchi was so tasty, that fluffy steamed egg combo alone was enough to make the soju go down smoothly.

This sauce especially was such a highlight for me — a sesame oil-based sauce combined with cilantro, minari (water dropwort) and chili. Dipping the gopchang in it, it wasn't the least bit greasy, and it completely erased any funky smell, leaving only chewy, nutty flavor. So good!

Potatoes fried crisp in gopchang fat

Because they use clean gopchang, daechang and makchang, the fat that renders out while grilling is really clear and clean, and the potatoes fried in that nutty fat were absolutely delicious. After a tough week, sharing stories with coworkers about what made the week hard and what was good about it — talking it all out really boosted team affection and teamwork. And eating good food together on top of that really blew the stress away. If you're looking for a good restaurant in Bangi-dong, a date spot, or a team dinner venue, I'd recommend Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang in Bangi-dong as the number one pick!!

Eating the crispy potatoes together with the house-made kimchi and the nutty gopchang gives you nutty, crispy and fresh flavors all in one bite — honestly, isn't that the perfect bite?

Daechang was the best cut of the night

The daechang was really, really nutty and delicious. It's grilled the longest, so the outer membrane turns crispy while the beef fat inside bursts out, and the nutty flavor overflows in your mouth, almost feeling like it runs through your veins — I felt a little sorry to my body just for today, but I wanted to soak in that overwhelming happiness anyway. Honestly, the daechang was by far~~~~ the be~~~st.

Finishing the meal with yangbap (beef rice)

After finishing all the gopchang, we enjoyed yangbap (fried rice) too — and really, nothing beats yangbap as a finisher, right? The nicely fried, fluffy rice paired so well, and mixing in a soft-boiled egg doubled the nutty flavor! I felt like I was going to burst, but somehow there was still room.

If you're looking for a team dinner spot in Bangi-dong, or want to enjoy a fire Friday in Bangi-dong after a tough week, this is the affordable beef gopchang spot that piles it on! Be sure to stop by Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang in Bangi-dong~~!!