Gajeong Station charcoal BBQ, 400g garlic pork jowl: Euljiro Yeontan

I was so satisfied on my first visit that I came back to this Korean BBQ restaurant near Gajeong Station in Incheon, Euljiro Yeontan Gui. But this second visit, I discovered a genuinely, ridiculously delicious menu item.

Why people also come to Euljiro Yeontan Gui Luone City Branch just to drink

This isn't a place with intense charcoal heat — the meat is grilled slowly over gentle coals. That's exactly why so many drinkers use it as a Luone City bar too. Strong flames burn out quickly, which doesn't suit lingering over meat and soju. But at Euljiro Yeontan Gui, the gentle heat never dies out, so you can keep ordering small amounts and grilling continuously.

The interior is all nostalgic round tables. It looked empty, but every table except these two was full. By the time we left, it was completely packed — during peak hours there's probably a wait.

Ordering meat in 100g steps: the best part of Euljiro Yeontan Gui

The real perk is being able to order small 100g portions over the gentle charcoal flame. At this Korean BBQ restaurant near Gajeong Station, you can sample many different cuts a little at a time. They sell everything by 100g and offer a wide variety of meat, so you never get bored. (The two of us ate a full 600g, haha.)

Side dishes and how to use the self-bar

The basic side dishes aren't all served at once. They bring out things like fresh seasoned greens and bean sprout kimchi soup directly, and everything else you grab yourself from the self-bar. I recommend grabbing the pineapple and grilling it.

The self-bar has side dishes that pair nicely with the meat. Grab extra bean sprouts and kimchi and grill them in the fat — highly recommend!

I was too far from the kimchi bean sprout soup to reach it this time, but I remember it being refreshingly good on my last visit.

There's an icy raw radish salad too — adding it into meat wraps gives an extra cold, delicious kick.

What two of us ordered, and what it cost

• Garlic pork jowl 100g _ ₩8,400 x 2
• Aged beef short rib 100g _ ₩8,900

The minimum first order is 300g, so we started with 200g of garlic pork jowl and 100g of aged beef short rib.

For drinks, it had been a while, so we went with Saero soju.

First up: aged beef short rib, 8,900 won per 100g

We put the aged beef short rib on first. It doesn't cook fast and hard — it cooks gently and slowly.

We tried the well-cooked beef short rib. It was delicious — not greasy at all for beef short rib. It tasted like beef short rib but also somehow not quite; it just tasted like clean beef.

Eating meat like this called for a drink!

My friend Din wrapped beef in a lettuce leaf topped with the icy raw radish salad.

I topped mine with cheongyang chili and garlic. Meat absolutely needs cheongyang chili and garlic — non-negotiable.

The grilled pineapple was sweet and a real treat.

Grilling kimchi and bean sprouts was so good that we grabbed more to grill. I'm a bean sprout fanatic, so I think I kept eating way too many of them — Din kept saying there weren't any bean sprouts left, haha. Grilled kimchi and bean sprouts at this Korean BBQ restaurant near Gajeong Station are seriously delicious too.

The garlic pork jowl is the real showstopper

Once we finished the beef short rib, we started grilling the garlic pork jowl. This pork jowl was genuinely insane. So tender, and tender again. The best pork jowl I've ever had in my life. The meat is truly soft — pork jowl has a texture that no other pork cut, or even beef, can give you. Seriously delicious, highly recommend.

The garlic sauce was on the sweeter side, and it tasted amazing. The sauce was thick and sticky, so Din guessed they probably add honey. Grilled plain, it has a subtle sweetness; drizzle the garlic sauce on at the very end and it becomes deeply, richly sweet.

No other meat can compare. I want to call this the strongest pork jowl in Incheon. Other cuts are great too, but you really have to try the garlic pork jowl. There's that other place once famous for pork jowl — I never thought their pork jowl was that good, but this place really is.

Sweet garlic pork jowl plus grilled pineapple — the strongest combo of sweetness = Din.

It was so good we scrapped our plan to try a variety of things. Back to the pork jowl we go.

We also got another bottle of Saero.

The mushroom, grilled whole then sliced, had a nicely wrinkled, well-cooked outside and a moist inside. Dipped in sauce, it was of course delicious.

400g of garlic pork jowl in one sitting

Even after a good while of drinking soju with the garlic pork jowl, I wanted more, so I ordered another 100g. In total we ate 400g of pork jowl alone. I think I'll be coming back to this Korean BBQ restaurant near Gajeong Station a lot more often. You can grill slowly, a little at a time, and the heat isn't so intense that your face gets hot. Pass with flying colors!

Finishing with gochujang pork belly, 6,400 won per 100g

Gochujang pork belly 100g _ ₩6,400. We were about to order more pork jowl again, but decided to try a different menu item this time.

Naturally, that meant ordering one more bottle.

They slowly cooked the pork belly over the coals.

The gochujang pork belly was better than expected too. I thought the sauce might burn it, but surprisingly it didn't burn and cooked just right. The gentle heat rendered the pork belly fat nicely and the gochujang sauce soaked in well. It was delicious even without dipping it in anything extra. Better than I expected. Gochujang pork belly grilled over gentle charcoal — thinking about it, of course it couldn't be anything but delicious.

I think this is going to become my regular Luone City bar. Imagine being able to drink and slowly eat meat like this. And above all, the meat is fresh and delicious across the board.

Euljiro Yeontan Gui, the Korean BBQ restaurant near Gajeong Station with genuinely delicious pork jowl. It had been a while since I'd been back, and the meat was so good I think I'll visit again soon. Adding it to my Luone City favorites list.