Baekseok food alley BBQ: 3–4 person set for four, Baekseok Kkogijip

Why four high school friends chose Baekseok Kkogijip

The day I met up with friends I've known since high school! Thinking back, it feels like just yesterday we were glued to each other in our high school classroom, and now when we meet up we're at the age where we just talk endlessly about our lives.

Anyway, since we hadn't seen each other in a while, we had to eat a proper dinner — chatting burns a lot of calories, after all. After a long debate about what to eat, we landed on the conclusion that when a group gets together, nothing beats sitting around a grill eating meat, and we started hunting for samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) near Baekseok.

Talking while the meat cooks, eating a bite, talking some more, and it pairs perfectly with a drink too — nothing beats samgyeopsal for a friend gathering. I decided to focus on eating meat instead of drinking... and while looking for a place to have dinner with friends, we found Baekseok Kkogijip!

Where Baekseok Kkogijip is: the corner sign in Baekseok food alley

Baekseok Kkogijip is located inside the Baekseok food alley. This alley is packed with everything from restaurants to bars, so by evening it fills up with people and really has that food-alley energy!

We too were walking down the alley trying to decide on dinner with friends when we spotted Baekseok Kkogijip. There were so many shops around that just walking and looking was fun in itself, but Baekseok Kkogijip sits right on the corner of the building with a big, easy-to-spot sign, so even first-time visitors shouldn't have trouble finding it.

The front of the restaurant is especially open toward the alley, so you can get a decent look at the inside atmosphere from outside. When we visited, we could already see customers eating, and since we were planning to eat some meat anyway with friends, we naturally thought "this looks good" and walked right in.

One thing that matters a surprising amount when planning a meetup with friends is what to do after eating, and this place has the advantage of being right in the middle of the Baekseok food alley, easy to move on from afterward. It's a great spot for friend gatherings you don't want to end right after dinner, and also a good location-wise choice for anyone looking for a group dinner or work dinner spot around Baekseok.

It's a neighborhood with plenty of options for people like us who just meet up and start with "so, what do you want to eat?" After much deliberation over dinner, the four of us high school friends finally gathered in front of the meat! Since it had been a while since we'd seen each other, we decided to fill up properly and really catch up.

Entrance promotion and the mood inside Baekseok Kkogijip

A small promotion I spotted at the entrance! Apparently if you write a review, they give you a free old-style patbingsu (red bean shaved ice). After eating a ton of meat, something cold and sweet is oddly appealing, so a promo that lets you get dessert after your samgyeopsal caught my eye.

Maybe because it was a weekday evening, there were already quite a few customers eating meat — a lively, bustling atmosphere that really felt like a proper Korean BBQ restaurant. When meeting friends, a place where you can just chat comfortably feels much more relaxing than somewhere quiet.

We sat down and looked over the menu first. Alongside the regular meat menu, there were separate set menus designed for groups, which made it easy to order based on the number of people. You could also add individual items, and each table had a menu covering both food and drinks at a glance.

Ordering the 3–4 person set: raw pork plus kimchi jjigae

Since there were four of us, we went with the 3-4 person set. Without having to think too much, we could just pick the set matching our headcount, which made ordering easy for a group of friends.

There was also an option to choose when ordering the set, and we went with the raw meat + kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) combo! You can't resist scooping up a spicy spoonful of kimchi jjigae between bites of meat at a BBQ place. Especially on samgyeopsal days, the table feels oddly empty without a stew.

Self-serve bar with ramyeon noodles for the stew

On one side there was a self-serve bar where you could grab whatever side dishes you needed. If anything ran out from the initial spread, you could just take more yourself without calling a staff member over, which was convenient.

And at the self-serve bar we found something delightful — ramyeon noodles! Apparently you can add them into the kimchi jjigae we ordered and cook them together. Regular kimchi jjigae is already great, but being able to add ramyeon noodles suddenly makes the stew way more of a star, haha. We came for meat, but we were fully prepared to also stock up on carbs. And with that, starting from the 3-4 person set, the four high school friends' dinner officially began.

Beef tartare and steamed egg included in the set

Our 3-4 person set also came with beef tartare (yukhoe). Getting a plate of beef tartare before the grill is even fired up — the menu lineup alone won me over.

Served with julienned pear, the beef tartare was great for picking at one piece at a time while waiting for the meat, and perfect for four people sitting around to whet their appetite. (Of course, I couldn't eat it since I'm pregnant... I'll have to come back after giving birth.) Coming for samgyeopsal and starting with beef tartare — what a masterpiece of a set...

On top of that, a heap of side dishes came out — scallion salad and lettuce wraps among them — plus a piping hot steamed egg, and the table filled up in no time. Even before we'd seen the main meat, there was already so much to eat that all four of us had our chopsticks busy.

Especially with a group, a set that comes with this much variety is definitely more fun to eat than ordering individual items one by one. The four of us, having come looking for a good meat restaurant in Baekseok, dug into the beef tartare and steamed egg to get ready for the main event.

With one thing after another arriving, the table was suddenly packed edge to edge. Looking down at it from above, it really felt like a full spread! From beef tartare to steamed egg, lettuce wraps, scallion salad, and various sides, there was plenty of variety and more than enough for four people.

With meat, part of the fun is switching things up — wrapping it in lettuce, eating it with scallion salad, trying different sauces — so having so many sides to pair with made us even more excited for the meat to come. We joked with our friends, "what else is going to come out, haha," while snapping photos of the fully loaded table. Seeing this kind of spread for a group made me think it could be a solid option for anyone looking for a group dinner spot in Baekseok. And then, finally, the main meat arrived!

Thick samgyeopsal that arrives already grilled

Instead of grilling the meat from scratch at the table, Baekseok Kkogijip brings it out already grilled and ready to eat. Not having to keep flipping it over the grill meant no worrying about burning the meat while chatting with friends, and being able to eat it right away was really convenient.

The thickly sliced samgyeopsal had a nicely browned surface, and the grill plate was loaded not just with meat but also garlic and kkwarigochu (shishito-style peppers) as tasty extras. The pork belly, with a good balance of fat and lean meat, had a satisfying bite when you picked up a piece. It's great plain, but samgyeopsal really is best in a wrap.

I spread out a lettuce leaf, piled on the meat, added garlic and ssamjang (dipping sauce), and took a big bite. Since it was already grilled, all four of us just needed our chopsticks, and the pace of eating picked up fast.

Between chatting comfortably with friends and being able to grab perfectly grilled meat right away, this is a place worth remembering when you're looking for samgyeopsal in Baekseok. No one has to be stuck grilling — everyone gets to eat equally. Isn't that what true friendship is.

Changing it up with myeongi-namul leaves and wasabi

After a lettuce wrap, it was time for myeong-i namul (wild garlic leaf pickle)! Salty and tangy myeong-i namul topped with a piece of nicely grilled samgyeopsal, plus a little garlic and ssamjang, all in one bite. The distinctive flavor and seasoning of the myeong-i namul cut through the fattiness of the meat nicely, another great pairing with samgyeopsal.

The thick-cut meat tasted different eaten plain, wrapped in lettuce, or wrapped in myeong-i namul, so it was fun to switch up the pairing each time. Since the meat was already grilled, all we had to do was combine it however we liked.

This time I added a little wasabi on top! Since the samgyeopsal itself was thick and had a rich flavor, a bit of wasabi added a spicy kick for a different feel altogether. A ssamjang-loaded wrap is great, wrapping it in myeong-i namul is great too, but personally I also loved this combo of just a touch of wasabi to taste the meat's natural flavor. So we cycled through wraps, myeong-i namul, and wasabi. With so many pairings to choose from, the same samgyeopsal never got old and kept disappearing.

Finishing with 2 extra servings of marinated pork

Even after eating our fill of samgyeopsal, the chatter never stopped and the four sets of chopsticks weren't slowing down easily. The moment someone said "should we get a little more?" we ended up adding 2 servings of marinated pork! This too came out pre-grilled and ready to eat, with a completely different charm from the samgyeopsal.

The marinade was soaked appetizingly into the surface of the meat, with some parts nicely browned, so the second it hit the grill plate we were ready to pick up our chopsticks again. After filling up on the mild, savory samgyeopsal, ending with the sweet and salty marinated pork was a perfect change of pace to close out the meal. We finished it off completely, along with the garlic and kkwarigochu grilled alongside it.

We definitely started with just the 3-4 person set, but ended up adding 2 servings of marinated pork on top. True to form as high school friends reuniting after a while, we talked our fill and ate our fill. From samgyeopsal to marinated pork at Baekseok Kkogijip, we got to switch things up, and best of all, since everything came pre-grilled, we could eat comfortably all the way through. All things considered, our long-overdue meat gathering was a total success!