Gwangjin Korean BBQ with kids: soy-glazed pork skin, kimchi stew

Kate's Food Spot

Pork belly is our family's favorite dish. Last weekend, to unwind after a long week, we all headed to Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal, a well-known BBQ spot near Guui Station.

Location and parking near Guui Station

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal, a popular BBQ restaurant near Guui Station, is on the 1st floor of the Jayang Skyview Ver commercial building, about a 10-minute walk from Exit 4 of Guui Station on Line 2.

There's no parking support from the restaurant, so you'll need a nearby public lot — but conveniently, there's a temporary public lot in Jayang District 5 right across the main road.

The vibe inside and weekend evening wait

The interior is a long, narrow layout split into two sections, connected at the back to a shared self-serve bar. It looked freshly renovated — bright, clean, and tidy.

There was no wait on a weekend evening, but the place was packed with customers, nearly full.

Menu and our order for three

The pork is 100% domestic Korean, and since the restaurant's parent company is a livestock specialist, they're confident about serving 'truly delicious meat.'

There's so much you can grill alongside from the self-serve bar, so I'd recommend ordering roughly one meat portion per person!

For reference, with two adults and one child, we ordered one portion of pork belly, one of pork neck, one of pork skin, and one kimchi jjigae.

Table setting and ice barley tea

Ta-da! This might be the first time I've posted such a big photo of water, but the ice barley tea was so refreshing and delicious that my kid drank five glasses of it haha.

For sauces, they bring out sesame salt and curry powder, and garlic and ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) come standard on the table.

What comes with the basic side dishes

And all the side dishes that pair well with pork belly were there without fail. Napa cabbage kimchi is a given, plus there's mustard leaf kimchi and seasoned pepper leaves. Bracken fern, wild garlic leaves, seasoned bean sprouts, pickled pepper strips, white kimchi, and pickled onion all come standard. Minari (water dropwort) needs to be ordered separately.

Self-serve wrap greens and grilling extras

You can grab as many extra side dishes as you want from the self-serve bar.

There were what looked like at least eight kinds of fresh wrap greens, and you can also grab eggplant, sweet pumpkin, and enoki mushrooms to grill.

400g of pork belly and neck on the cauldron-lid grill

Our order of pork belly and pork neck came out, 200g each for 400g total, and you could tell at a glance the meat quality was good. Time to grill it!

The staff grills everything perfectly for you, so we didn't have to lift a finger — it was such an easy, comfortable meal.

I'd briefly wondered whether we should've grilled over charcoal instead, but that thought vanished once I saw the power of the cauldron-lid grill. The surface of the meat sizzled and cooked beautifully under intense heat, which kept the juices locked in even better.

Kimchi jjigae

Eating only meat can get greasy, so we also ordered a spicy kimchi jjigae — and this one was thick, rich, and loaded with ingredients. It's a flavor I'm still thinking about.

The soy-glazed pork skin my kid loved most

Because the pork skin comes braised in soy sauce, it has extra umami and a sweet-savory flavor compared to plain pork skin, plus a softer texture. I think my kid ate more of this than the actual meat, haha.

Would we go back?

Walking out, both my kid and I were patting our full bellies, marveling at how well we'd eaten. Pork belly really is Korean soul food. Since we eat it so often, it's not easy to find a place that lives up to expectations every time — but I think I found one this time. We'll be back soon. :)