Jinju Yukhoe (진주육회) is a restaurant specializing in yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) that operates four locations around Gwangjang Market (광장시장) [article] in Jongno-gu, Seoul. It is a multi-location business that expanded to four branches in less than 10 years after opening its flagship location in 2016, and its signature dish is yukhoe-tangtangi, topped with chopped live octopus. Another distinguishing feature is that it remains open late into the night for a business in a traditional market district.
2016: The flagship location opened in July, according to the restaurant’s introductory materials. 403-22 Dongho-ro, toward Jongno 5-ga Station.
2018: The second location opened in May. It subsequently expanded to a third location (403 Dongho-ro) and a fourth location (86 Changgyeonggung-ro, next to the entrance to Gwangjang Market).
Operating model: All four locations are either inside Gwangjang Market or directly adjacent to it, and all locations offer the same menu.
Yukhoe-tangtangi (육회탕탕이): A signature dish of yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) [article] topped with chopped live octopus and mixed together before eating. Priced in the 30,000 won range.
Menu range: The menu includes yukhoe, beef sashimi, yukhoe bibimbap, and live octopus sashimi, as well as bindaetteok, meat patties, yukgaejang, and beef tteokgalbi. Unlike long-established restaurants that specialize solely in yukhoe, it offers both drinking food and meals at the same table.
Sesame oil: Accounts of visits commonly mention that the restaurant uses sesame oil from an oil mill in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province.
Opening hours: The flagship location is open daily from 10:00 to 23:00, year-round. Closing times vary somewhat by location (the fourth location is listed as closing at 22:00). It serves demand for evening gatherings among market businesses, where early closing is common.
Size: It operates across the first and second floors and offers group seating. It has a conventional restaurant layout rather than a market-stall format.
Restaurant introductory materials (opening dates, addresses and contact details by location, and opening hours)
Compilation of visit accounts (menu composition and price range, and references to Yecheon sesame oil)