STAGE 28 Barbecue Combo is Perfection

So with my brother and mom's birthdays coming up (they actually share the same birthday), my family and I went out for a special lunch at Stage 28, a steakhouse/barbecue grill restaurant located in a relatively remote area of Seoul. Luckily I had just quit my job and had a few weekdays to spare, since on weekends this place is so popular you need to make reservations weeks/months in advance!

The restaurant is extremely spacious due to its location, and is definitely not accessible by public transport. I recommend bringing your own car, or taking a taxi from Godeok station (subway line 5) which shouldn't take too long. I really loved the atmosphere here! It didn't feel like Korea at all; during the day the whole restaurant is basked in natural light, thanks to the glass walls that also grant you some fantastic scenic views.

The meal we had is actually not on this menu here; we ordered the S2 BBQ COMBO menu, which needs to be booked at least a day in advance and even demands a deposit fee of 50,000 KRW! You'll get to see why. As I'm aware, the menu we had (for 4) cost about 200,000 KRW total but was totally totally worth it!

We start off with a fresh salad, quite delicious especially since it has ingredients Koreans don't normally eat, such as olives and sun-dried tomatoes and eggplant.

Three types of dipping sauces waiting on your table when you arrive. I don't even know what they're called but they were all yummy.

And THIS is the highlight of the meal - a complete barbecue platter that has just about every source of animal protein I can think of (in meat form), presented in a super long platter topping a plate of assorted vegetables (sauerkraut, bean sprouts, chives) and with other baked goodies like sweet potato, carrot, corn, pineapple, zucchini, eggplant, mushroom, bell pepper...



As for the meat, oh my. Off the top of my head and from what I could see in the photo, there was regular beef steak, pork belly, lobster, octopus, shrimp, mutton chops, tandoori chicken, and sausages. The seasoning was not too strong or salty, which meant I could pleasantly stuff myself without becoming too parched. Topped with a bottle of red wine, and this meal was perfection. Oh, and since Koreans can't let a meal go by without rice, we are also provided a generous bowl of fried brown/black rice which was slightly spicy and surprisingly heavenly for how simple it looked! And a side of naan.

My momma

This is definitely not a place to think about weight loss or diet - and everything seems pretty healthy, anyway. I didn't feel that discomforting fullness you get when you stuff yourself with bad things, like doughnuts or chocolate. I was full and completely satisfied.

And of course, a family portrait taken with my dad's phone (what was my camera doing?) to end the blog post - me looking chubby due to my recent cheat day marathon, but whatever lol.