Company dinner for 16 at a Jongno3-ga Korean BBQ: Cham Dwaejitgan

Every time I passed by Jongno3-ga, Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch was always packed and caught my eye! The waitlist was always long so I kept putting it off, but the timing finally worked out and I got to properly eat there.

Where is Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, and how long is the Friday evening wait?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is located right across from the Jongno Piccadilly CGV. It's right next to Jongno's outdoor drinking street, so it's easy to have your first round here and move on to a second.

There's a CatchTable kiosk by the entrance, so I registered for the wait as soon as I arrived. I went at 6pm on a Friday and still got waitlist number 2 — I get why it's known as one of the pork belly spots near Jongno3-ga Station.

Group seating for up to 16 people

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch has tables starting from 4 people up to a full 16-person group seating area. Walking in, the restaurant was clean and the tables had a fairly generous amount of spacing.

Maybe that's why I saw a lot of people there for group gatherings or company dinners.

The menu: Jirisan black pork and Boseong green pork

The pork at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is largely split into Boseong free-range pork and Jirisan black pork. They also have quite a few specialty cuts and side meal options.

For a first order I went with a safe choice of two servings of pork belly and one serving of pork neck, and they threw in doenjang stew (soybean paste soup) as a soup to spoon up in between bites.

Free-refill side dishes and six sauces

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch first puts kimchi, bean sprouts, and fresh minari (water dropwort) on the grill. Aside from the minari, all the basic side dishes come with unlimited refills.

The dipping sauces come in a wide range too, from plain salt to wasabi to buldak (spicy chicken) sauce, so it's easy to pair with whatever suits your taste.

Pork belly and pork neck grilled for you by staff

The pork belly and pork neck we ordered were thick-cut with a vivid rosy color — you could tell at a glance how fresh it was.

The fat-to-meat ratio was just right, with pretty marbling running through the grain of the meat. They also bring out potatoes, mushrooms, and shishito peppers to grill alongside it.

True to its reputation as one of the pork belly spots near Jongno3-ga Station, the grilling service is flawless too. Staff grill it all for you, so there's no worry about the meat burning and no oil splattering — really convenient. Charcoal sits underneath the grill plate, so it picks up a subtle smoky aroma.

In the empty space on the grill, they lay out minari, bean sprouts, napa cabbage kimchi, and potato. As they soak up a bit of the meat's fat and sizzle away, the savory smell is no joke.

The pork belly comes out glossy with the excess fat rendered off, and the pork neck stays moist — just looking at it makes your mouth water. 😋

Once the meat is done, they move it over to the vegetable side of the grill. The direct flame doesn't reach that side, so there's no worry about the meat burning, and it stays warm down to the last piece. Being able to just focus on eating made every bite taste even better.

Grilled potatoes like potato chips, plus minari wraps

The thinly sliced potatoes have the feel of freshly fried potato chips. It's a different kind of treat from the meat, and picking at them one by one was genuinely fun.

You absolutely have to try wrapping the grilled vegetable combo. I wrapped the golden-grilled kimchi and bean sprouts in minari, and it worked better than expected. The crunchy texture plus the aroma meant I couldn't put my chopsticks down.

There are six kinds of dipping sauce, which makes it fun to eat according to your taste. True to its reputation as one of the pork belly spots near Jongno3-ga Station, everything from plain salt to a spicy-sweet sauce blend pairs well no matter the combination.

Finishing the meal with doenjang stew

The spicy, clean-tasting doenjang stew (soybean paste soup) arrives with good timing right in the middle of eating the meat. It's packed with ingredients and has such a clean aftertaste that you'll want to add a bowl of rice right away. 🤤

Is Cham Dwaejitgan a good spot for a group dinner in Jongno?

Since the staff handled all the flipping and grilling for us, I never had to touch the tongs the whole meal. It's a pork belly spot near Jongno3-ga Station where you can eat without lifting a finger — I'm already planning my next dinner get-together here!