Having exercised due diligence with regard to Korean fried chicken, we now turn to our reviews of some restaurants offering perhaps the most famous Korean cuisine, especially to non-Koreans, Korean barbecue. As they say, it’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it.
Musso (무쏘)
[As of May 2021, the Musso location in Campus Town has closed. See below this review for the address of another Musso in Songdo, and an alternative all-you-can-eat barbecue place, also in Songdo.]
This is an all-you-can eat-barbecue place. It is a chain; the one we eat at is at Campus Town in Songdo, about a 20 minute walk from where we live. It’s classic Korean barbecue, so we start with this one, and before our specific review of of this restaurant, offer a little introduction to Korean barbecue as a meal. Most important: it’s cooked at your table, to which the waiter will bring raw meat, along with a pair of tongs, for you to cook on a grill at the table’s center. A chimney hangs down to carry away most of the smoke.
The other key part of the Korean barbecue experience is the sides. Like many Korean meals, Korean barbecue will always come with sides to enjoy with the main meal, and the quality and variety of the sides are key differentiators between barbecue restaurants. Musso is again classic, with the most usual sides and condiments: kimchee, yangpa changachi (양파장아찌), which are onions in a slightly sweet soy/rice vinegar marinade, ssamjang (쌈장), a dipping sauce made from soybean paste and red pepper paste (also a bit sweet), garlic (eaten raw or cooked on the grill), green hot peppers (also eaten raw or cooked on the grill), salt and pepper, and whole lettuce leaves. The last is important. There are a lot of ways to eat the results of your grilling, but the most usual is to make a little sandwich with a piece of meat or two and your preferred sides by wrapping these up in a lettuce leaf and eating them all together.
Now to our review of Musso. As a classic, there’s nothing surprising about Musso, but it knows what it is about: grilled meat. The highlight of Musso is the quality of its beef. It is richly flavored and cooks well on the grill, with that nice barbecued meat smell. If you like the smell of barbecuing as it is done in backyards or parks in the US, you get the same olfactory experience at your table at a Korean barbecue. Coming off the grill, the beef at Musso is delicious. (Musso also has pork, but they were out on this most recent visit.) There is also nothing especially surprising about Musso’s sides. The meal comes with a salad that Robert likes very much. It is dressed with a spicy, slightly sweet dressing of (Robert believes) soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and a bit of sugar, along with red pepper flakes. Speaking of sesame the sides at Musso do not, however, include sesame leaves, which are often offered along with lettuce leaves as an alternative wrap. Robert finds the piney flavor of sesame leaves too strong, but Teresa much prefers them to lettuce leaves. She thinks they are perfect for cutting the richness of barbecue, so is disappointed when, as at Musso, they are not on offer.
There are so many flavors and styles of kimchee, that it’s hard to say what’s good versus what’s preferred. Robert very much likes Musso’s kimchee, as its deeper flavor comes (Robert thinks) from fish sauce or some added fish, rather than long, funky fermentation. Musso did have marinated sesame leaves as a side, but we did not have these. The onions for the yangpa changachi (marinated onions) were too thickly cut, so the sauce to onion ratio was suboptimal.
Of course, besides being classic, the other calling card of Musso is that it is all-you-can eat. We never seem able to take advantage of that. The first serving of meat is usually enough for us, and we need to make sure we do not eat more just because we can, and then feel like we have overeaten. We must not have the appetites, or perhaps sociability, of Korean customers, who eat for the long haul. Once when we left without asking for more meat a surprised waiter worriedly told us we could order more servings. Speaking of freebies, Robert likes that Pepsi is on the house (along with other soft drinks) and that there’s also a coffee machine that provides free cups of sweet, Turkish-like coffee on the way out. Bottom line for Musso: reliable, and a great introduction to Korean barbecue, if not especially distinctive. A great place to go with lots of friends when you might hang out and eat for a long time.
Alternative location for Musso in Songdo:
80, Cheomdan-daero, Yeonsu-gu, #203
http://kko.to/4I6x8l44j
Alternative all-you-can-eat barbecue in Songdo:
Dino’s Grill(디노쓰 그릴)
110, Haedoji-ro, Yeonsu-gu, 2F, Incheon
http://kko.to/uXQh52f4H
Hanam Pig ( 하남돼지집)
If Musso is a place where quantity is king, Hanam Pig is much more buttoned-down. For one thing, the quantities are not unlimited. For another, here the pork is cooked for you. The pork is rich. It is cooked in a lot of oil, as is the kimchee, which gets a nice caramelized flavor. Hanam Pig has great sides, a tasty red sauce, a wasabi paste with citrus, and a fish paste that Robert much enjoyed. Another highlight might be the marinated sesame leaves, which both of us liked more than usual. Hanam pig has lots of intense flavors that build on each other as you eat. The quantity may be smaller than at an all-you-can-eat place, but the tastes are large. We may have enjoyed Hanam Pig more as well because the person who cooked the pork was a student of Teresa’s. In general, we found this restaurant to be a very friendly and festive place.
하남돼지집 송도트리플스트리트점
33-3, Songdogwahak-ro 16beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
http://kko.to/boY5fEvY0
1989 barbecue (1989 고깃집)
At 1989 Iberico pork is the star. The pork at 1989 comes off the grill with a nice crispy char. We find too that this pork has a very fresh taste. The red sauce side is good and so are the onions. The sesame leaves that Teresa loves to wrap the crispy pork up in are always abundant and taste just picked. The pancake side is excellent, if you like spicy pancake. We miss the soup and more various side dishes that some barbecue places include with your meal. The staff is always friendly. This barbecue place was the first we went to where you cooked your own meat, rather than the waiter doing it for you. I still remember our waiter taking pity on us and cooking our pork at the table, which is how we learned how to do it.
Can barbecue be fresh and light? 1989 makes that case. For this reason, it is one of our favorite places. It helps too that it is the closest of the restaurants in this review to us—just about a 15 minute walk from campus. And Robert’s favorite bike shop is right next door, so sometimes we combine bike accessory purchases or repairs with some great pork barbecue.
1989고깃집
28, Songdomunhwa-ro 28beon-gil, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
http://kko.to/eL59txXDj
Yakihwaro (야끼화)
We splurged at this restaurant, which features Waygu beef. The cost was 69,000 won, about $60, for two people. It’s worth noting that one of the pleasures of Korean barbecue is that it is usually not that expensive. For example, the pork dinner for two at 1989 is 29,000 won, about $25. Was the added expense of premium beef worth it? The beef was excellent: buttery, with good flavor. We also liked the kimchee, which was not spicy or funky but salty and vinegary (this is kimchee for the western palate). The sides were fine, but the restaurant did not provide the sense of abundance one usually gets at a Korean barbecue, even when it is not all-you-can-eat. Usually, the sides are on a buffet, so you can take more, or the servers are very attentive if you need more sides. At Yakihwaro there was no self-serve buffet, it was hard to get the server’s attention, and the replenished sides, such as more lettuce, when they were brought, were in small amounts, so we had to keep asking. There were no napkins or wet cloths, which are usually provided. Overall, it was fine, but not incredible, especially for the price.
Really, the highlight of our night at Yakihwaro was the walk after, along the canal in Songdo’s Central Park, with its pedal boats and bridges lit in neon.
야끼화로 송도점
126, Convensia-daero, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
http://kko.to/dMIINWvY0
Migak (미각)
Migak is one of our favorite restaurants in Songdo. (Like a number of the restaurants reviewed here, it is also a chain.) Not a typical Korean barbecue, its cuisine is rather northern Chinese. There are also Korean culinary influences, but the most Korean thing about this restaurant is the tradition of barbecue at the table. Here the meat barbecued is lamb, and the method of barbecue novel. Lamb comes to the table raw on skewers. There are a number of kinds of lamb to pick from. We usually get one regular and one with a spicy rub. The skewers have on one end something like a several-pointed star. The skewers rest over a rectangular frame that sits atop burning coals. On each side of the frame is a rail with little slots. A little motor moves the rail back and forth. The spikes of the star fit into the slots and as the rails move, the skewers rotate.
The contrivance is clever, but it’s not cleverness alone that makes this place so good. The lamb barbecues beautifully on these skewers, and its flavors are enhanced by a dipping spice mixture heavy with cumin, plus red pepper and salt. The sides are tasty—Robert loves their version of a sweet-salty sesame dressing—and sometimes they throw in (we’re not sure what triggers this; we get it about half the time without ordering) a large bowl of jjamppong (짬뽕), Korean spicy seafood soup. The restaurant also has excellent northern Chinese dishes. Teresa’s favorite—Robert likes it too—is an amazingly crunchy eggplant stir-fry. The stir-fried bean sprouts and the tofu are also delicious.
We like the friendliness of the place. Though we do not go here more than once a month, they always remember and greet us with a smile and a sense that “we’re glad you’re back.” Often we join a trip to this restaurant, or to Cafe Chosun below (both in the same “Dream City” area) with a trip to Subling, our favorite Korean shaved ice milk dessert place.
Warning: This picture was taken when we were eating at the dessert place with another couple. It was two desserts for four people. Unless you’re really hungry, and dedicated, it’s better to split a dessert.
미각양꼬치 송도신도시점 (Migak)
69, Convensia-daero, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
http://kko.to/3uA6NivDo
설빙 (Sulbing)
118, Haedoji-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
http://kko.to/Zw0tqWXYM
Cafe Chosun
Even if this restaurant were not terrific, Robert would love it. This restaurant was the very first Robert ate at in Korea, just a few hours after landing there. The hotel he was staying at pointed him toward a good area for restaurants, and when he got there he picked Cafe Chosun because it had an English menu. It was an amazing meal. And also incredibly cheap for the amount of food, which Robert didn’t know until he learned how to convert won into dollars. First impressions count: Cafe Chosun was part of Robert’s first impressions of Korea, and represents what we still love about it.
So memories aside, what’s good about Cafe Chosun? The meat is fine, but the stars are the sides. This is a place where a waiter cooks for you, and the grill in addition to the ordered meats always includes fried mushrooms, fried onions, a fried egg (cracked in an onion ring), fried kimchee, fried bean sprouts marinated in red pepper paste, a bowl of steamed egg custard, another of soybean paste soup, and little pork or tteokbokki (떡볶이; rice cake) sausages. Cafe Chosun’s soybean paste soup is one of Robert’s favorite versions of this common dish. All together, the experience is so rich because there are so many flavors and different bites. In addition to plenty of lettuce, sesame leaves and long hot green peppers, there are the usual accompaniments—red sauce, onions in a sweet sauce, green onions and sesame oil, etc. Though not unusual these accompaniments are also all great versions. Very tasty. And all of this for about $11 per person.
카페조선 송도신도시점
81, Convensia-daero, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon
http://kko.to/LGSMuWXDj
As we finish this review, we are strictly confined to our apartment for two weeks of quarantine because we have just returned from the US. It’s not difficult to get groceries or take-out delivered to our door. But take-out Korean barbecue? If that exists, it should not. We are looking forward to finishing our quarantine and visiting one of these restaurants, or a new barbecue place, soon.