While mostly known for its airport that is, well not very close to Seoul, Inchon is also very much its own town too, and a beach one at that, meaning Incheon BBQ is indeed a thing.
We discovered this slightly day out after heading out to the northern part of south Korea to take a loving look over the border to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) – aka North Korea.
The the Incheon?
To an extent a satellite city of Seoul, it had enormous importance during the Korean War due to the Incheon landings. Had it not been for that perhaps there would be only Korea, with Seoul known as Kim Il Sung City.
Nowadays it is mostly famous for its amazing airport, but there is very much a town here, as well as bars, restaurants and indeed beaches.
Heading to the beaches of Incheon
When going to the beaches of Incheon, it is important to measure your expectations. If for example you are used to Palawan, this will disappoint, even in the summer.
To be honest even if you are used to other Korean beaches, such as Wonsan, or Sokcho, the beaches of Incheon are not amazing. What they do have here though is classic Korean seafood BBQ, as well as beer and soju, oh so much soju.
Incheon Beach BBQ
Having our own vehicle meant they we could easily pass the airport and head down towards where the going was good and a nice secluded beach known to few outside NKNews.
Not speaking all that much Korean, we were happy to find out the servers were for the most part ethnic Korean living from China. These people tend to move in large numbers to the Republic of Korea for work, although sadly they are far from always treated that well.
They did though treat us fine, with them adding the charcoal for our BBQ, before then setting us up with spicy soup. This may of cooking it, while not as good as a strict BBQ was much in common with Beijing and beyond Ma La Tang. You then eat away, while washing it all down with Soju. We personally went for the Jeju Soju, which was that bit stringer, and acquiring to our hosts had much more in common with North Korean soju.
And after finishing the soup we then switched to a more traditional style of BBQ by changing our coals and putting everything on the grill.
I really cannot list everything we ate, but defray favorites were the sashimi, with real wasabi, as well as the clams. Koreans are big into their squid too, but with the exception of Rason it largely does not hold a candle even to Cambodia.
How not to drink and drive after Incheon BBQ?
It would be fair to say that we managed to get fairly lubricated during our trip, but the problem was that one of our group was driving. In Korea though this is not a problem, with there being a service whereby a guy will come and meet you and drive you home in YOUR car.
For us this meant that the party very much continued, with us turning the 4X4 into a mini-disco, stopping for multiple toilet breaks and very much keeping ourselves well oiled.
North Korea and South Korea are thus very different, with each having plus and minuses and perhaps this is why the DPRK now says no to reunification.
Regardless though, having Incheon BBQ then being taken home by our very own personal chauffeur made this a day to remember.