Seoul Restaurant guide_Yetmat Seoul Bulgogi

*Bulgogi : thinly sliced marinated barbecued beef

Location : Sangsu-dong, Seoul

Type of Cuisine : Korean Food (primarily beef dishes)

Hours : 12:00~15:00, 18:00~02:00

(You can put your name on the wait list one hour before serving time. Ingredients may run out during opening hours.)

Holidays : 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month.

Telephone : 02-336-9371, 070-4090-9371

Address : Yetmat Seoul Bulgogi, 115 Sangsu-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul

Located under the pedestrian bridge between Sangsu Station and Kwangheung-chang Station.

Parking not available.

You will have to expect a long wait to eat at Yetmat Seoul Bulgogi. I had to wait 70 minutes to be seated, and it takes additional time for the meat to be prepared and served. As the quantity of food is enormous, it takes a while to finish eating, as well.

There was a closed “Take-out Booth”, which I suspect is opened during lunch, or after hours.

Lunch hours are from noon to 3 p.m., and seating requests are accepted from 11 a.m.

The Kalbi-tang (soup made with beef short ribs) and the beef soup with white radishes are known to be as popular as the Bulgogi.

 The price is quite reasonable, considering that they use only Korean beef.

Expect to pay 15,000 won for 300g of Bulgogi or 200g of sirloin.

The lunch menu consists of just three dishes.

 Laos Charcoal is used for cooking. 

The first thing you must do when you arrive at the restaurant is to put your name and total guest count on the waiting list. Be sure to look for the waiting list clip board!

This man is the owner of the establishment. His beard and red apron makes for a charismatic, Santa Claus-like appearance.

From slicing to seasoning, every step is done by him - alone. He does not pre-make any of his dishes.

As more people started to come to this restaurant, some customers started to voice complaints about the long wait.

Even so, he has no intention of changing his policy.

To watch him season the beef is like watching a dance. It shows how much he enjoys his work.

Here are the side dishes :

Kimchi

Green onion strips in sauce

Kkadugi (kimchi made with white radish)

Lettuce, chili, garlic, onions

Dongchimi (watery kimchi)

In the kitchen, you can see a refrigerator and a meat slicing machine. A huge bucket of green onion strips stand nearby. 

Before the owner relocated to Sangsu-dong, he used to do all the cooking, serving and billing all by himself. The store is bigger now, so he hired some employees and started to focus mainly on the cooking part. 

This is a picture of Bulgogi for two people. Regard the huge amounts of mushrooms and green onion.

 It is served in a small steel bucket. You can hardly see the bucket because of the sheer amount of ingredients.

Dig a little deeper and you can find an enormous quantity of beef. 

Beef freshly sliced by the owner just minutes ago. 

Finally, the reward of a long, long wait. I had to contain myself from eating it raw.

The cellophane noodles are served generously. Everything here is served generously. In fact, many other people were taking leftovers home, too stuffed to eat more. I resolved to clean my plate, though.

 When you order Bulgogi, you are served a free bowl of beef soup with white radishes.

 Lots of meat and vegetables bits are in the soup.

 One taste is all it takes to see why this restaurant is such a success.

I liked the soup better than the Bulgogi. I wonder how the Kalbi-tang taste? 

 The Bulgogi is all cooked on the copper pan. At this point, I’m so starved that I’m on the verge of passing out!

 So, it’s not the most unbelievably tasty dish in the world, but for this price and this quantity, I deem it excellent.

Next time, I’d like to try the sirloin and the raw beef dishes, too.

 I stuffed myself to the point of exploding. I even gained a few kilograms. But like I resolved earlier, I cleaned my plate. What can I say? I love meat!

Against my tummy’s better judgment, I ordered the cold kimchi noodle. 

 Not only did I want to finish the meal with something cool and spicy, but also, I did not think I’d be coming back here in the near future. I did not enjoy waiting for over an hour.

Maybe I was too full - the noodles were just so-so.

I recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants large quantities of reasonably priced beef. But those of you who are impatient should look elsewhere.

Keep in mind that there are more people waiting than the picture.

Yetmat Seoul Bulgogi is where you can meet the eccentric and stubborn owner, where you can’t believe the quantities of food, and where you really do have to wait for an hour to be able to eat.

I missed a lecture I wanted to attend, but I have no regrets.

from http://blog.naver.com/imcyl?Redirect=Log&logNo=110122774506

and translated