Hongdae terrace Korean BBQ: 360g dwitgogi with minari, Chopilsal

I went to a Korean BBQ place in Hongdae, Seoul, and ate dwitgogi (pork scraps cut from around the head and neck). If you want that springy, bursting pork texture while a cool breeze blows on a terrace seat, I recommend Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch (초필살돼지구이 홍대점).

What kind of Korean BBQ place is Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch?

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch is a Hongdae BBQ place famous for pork skin, salted five-layer pork belly (osgyeopsal) and dwitgogi. Craving pork belly in Hongdae? Chopilsal is the answer. But really, it's better known for pork skin, five-layer pork belly and dwitgogi than for regular pork belly.

What are the window terrace seats like?

The place is small, but the tables are arranged smartly. It's definitely not a big space, yet it didn't feel stuffy at all. Sitting at the window seat while eating meat, it wasn't hot and the breeze felt so good. I was heading to a Hongdae outdoor-drinking spot, but I was craving dwitgogi so much that I came here instead, and I got a bit of that outdoor-drinking vibe by luck.

What's on the Chopilsal Pork Grill menu?

The meat menu has pork skin, salted five-layer pork belly, real dwitgogi and Choryang pork ribs. Come here when you want Korean BBQ in Hongdae. There's no regular pork belly ^^ but the real dwitgogi is delicious. I wanted to try both the five-layer pork belly and the dwitgogi, but the pork belly needs an order of 2 servings or more (sob).

For meals, there were country pork kimchi stew, zucchini doenjang stew (soybean paste stew), mixed cold noodles and double cheese steamed egg.

Free side dishes

The sides you get at Chopilsal near Hongik Univ. Station are scallion salad and pickles. The pickles come out neatly, in small portions.

The seasoned radish was good and went well with the meat.

How much is the real dwitgogi, and how big is a serving?

The real dwitgogi is ₩10,500 per 120g, and I ordered 3 servings, 360g in total. It's been ages since I had dwitgogi. It's an uncommon menu item, so if a BBQ place sells it, I always try it. The meat looked fresh.

Is the zucchini doenjang stew worth ordering?

The zucchini doenjang stew is ₩7,000 (rice bowl included), and if you plan to have a meal, I recommend ordering it. They serve a well-simmered doenjang stew piled high with zucchini.

It looked like fresh zucchini, and the crunch tasted so good. From now on I'm going to make my doenjang stew like this too.

The broth was deep and rich. The two of us finished the stew without leaving a drop. We practically scraped the earthenware pot. It had tofu and loads of meat with the skin still attached. The ingredients were really generous and the broth was nutty and delicious. A bowl of rice comes free, but I thought there'd be hardly any stew left over for it.

Dwitgogi with minari and garlic pollock roe

Minari (water dropwort) in a half portion is ₩7,000, and since we love minari, we ordered it. It gets a bit chaotic on the grill, but it's fragrant and tasty when you eat it.

The ssamjang (dipping paste) is made with extra ingredients, so it tasted a bit better than regular ssamjang. The real star was the pollock roe (myeongranjeot), made with ground garlic. The dwitgogi + minari + ssamjang + pollock roe combo is the best. I wondered whether to get more, but it's ₩2,500 extra, so the decision was easy. I have pollock roe from Sokcho at home, so I'm going to try meat + roe at home.

Don't just look for pork belly in Hongdae; look for the dwitgogi and minari combo too. I like meat more than I used to, but this was the tastiest meat I've had lately.

How does the dwitgogi taste with green salt and soybean powder?

Chopilsal uses a tasty salt, too. It had a slight green tint. I don't know what it is, but dipping the meat in it gives a deeper flavor than regular salt, so I kept dipping.

The dwitgogi itself was springy, chewy and bouncy. Why is dwitgogi so good? There was no gamey smell, it was fresh, and the texture was great. Plus the sides include lots of sauces, so there were plenty of ways to combine them with the meat and I never got tired of it.

The soybean powder (kongbingnal) wasn't just nutty; it had a slight saltiness. So even dipping the meat in the soybean powder alone gave a touch of salt that paired well with the meat.

The myeongi-namul (wild garlic leaf) combo was the most ordinary. Still tasty though~

Would I go back to Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch?

Chopilsal is a Hongdae restaurant where the dwitgogi and zucchini doenjang stew are a work of art. I'm curious about the salted five-layer pork belly, too, but what I ordered this time was better than I expected, so if I come back I'd probably order the same thing again. How about dwitgogi instead of pork belly at Hongdae Korean BBQ~?