bb•q Cafe @ Seoul

Beer and fried chicken became synonymous with K-Pop culture when it was eaten by the stars in K-dramas that are shown around the world. Overnight, everyone was looking for one of these beer and KFC places.

The BBQ brand is part of the Genesis BBQ Group, a Seoul-headquartered global franchise group that operates restaurant concepts under 14 brands in over 3,800 local and international stores. One of their store was featured in a K-drama called “Goblin” and since then people have been flocking to their Jong-no and Gangnam stores where the filming took place.

BBQ Cafe is primarily a dining spot for chicken and beer, although it features café items in its menu. That includes 50 kinds of other dishes including rice, pasta, pizza, salad, coffee, mocktails, and craft beers on tap. The menu here is similar to the one that Goblin was filmed, so if you do not want to queue, this is OK too.

통새우 멘보샤 Whole Shrimp Menbosha (5 pieces)

First up, a deep fried starter called 통새우 멘보샤 Whole Shrimp Menbosha. Menbosha, or  ‘mian bao xia’ 面包虾, is a Korean-Chinese dish of deep-fried shrimp paste sandwiched between two pieces of white bread, creating a crispy exterior and a juicy, savoury interior.

It is also known as shrimp toast in the West, but who’s checking. Anything deep fried always tastes good with friends and ice cold beer.

[황·양·반] 황올 반+양념 반 [Hwang·Yang·Half] Half Hwangol + Half Yangnyeom

If you cannot decide what to order, you can order a combination of golden olive chicken and spicy seasoned chicken. You can choose the flavour of the second half, from their spicy hot flavour to sauces like American buffalo wings.

황금올리브치킨 Golden Olive Chicken

Crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside, this “healthy” fried chicken is their signature dish. So proud of it that they even trademarked the name 황금올리브치킨 Golden Olive Chicken

I find the marketing a bit misleading. By calling it Olive Chicken, they are implying they used a healthier olive oil to deep fry their chicken, and calling it healthy is really a misnomer. And I find KFC (Korean fried chicken) strangely sweet in flavour.

황금올리브치킨 핫크리스피 Golden Olive Chicken Hot Crispy

This is just a variation of their signature hot golden olive chicken coated with seasoning powder made from havanero red pepper and garam masala spices. Not really crazy about the coating, as it made the chicken really salty (not really spicy). And the masala did not really come through.

I wouldn’t say I really enjoy KFC, but after a long time in town and always going for KBBQ and noodles, this is something different.

This place is like the neighbourhood KFC place, where people come in their casuals and hangout. Food is OK, fast-food standard.

bb•q Cafe Seoul Station Twin City Branch
Room 102, 1st floor, 366 Hangang-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (Dongja-dong, Twin City Namsan)

Visited Aug 2025