Hongdae Korean BBQ with AI pre-grilling at Dojeok Hapjeong

Looking for an outdoor-style pork belly spot in Hongdae, I headed to Dojeok Hapjeong

On my day off, I was meeting a friend in Hapjeong for the first time in ages. We were looking for an outdoor-style pork belly spot in Hongdae, but it suddenly got so chilly that we changed our destination to Dojeok, a Hongdae meat restaurant known for delicious pork belly. Everything on the menu was tasty, and the staff were so kind—we left very satisfied!

Dojeok Hapjeong (도적 합정점) is in Seogyo-dong between Hongdae, Hapjeong, and Sangsu Station, so it is easy to get to! It is within a five-minute walk of Seongsu Station :)

First-floor outdoor-style atmosphere and spacious tables

Dojeok Hapjeong has two floors. With the first-floor doors thrown wide open, it had that outdoor-drinking-area feel, and the atmosphere looked so nice!

This is the first-floor interior! The tables are nicely spaced apart, and they are all wood tables, which gives the place an upscale look. There are tables placed together too, so it would be great for groups!

You can see the aged meat too! The quality looked so good!!

Meat grilled by staff after AI robot pre-grilling

The AI robot pre-grilling system was so fascinating! This is a Hongdae restaurant where the staff grill the meat for you, but the AI robot does the initial grilling like this? I watched it for ages because it was so interesting, haha.

I found out that it pre-grills the meat at the right temperature to lock in all the juices, then the staff finish grilling it themselves with their know-how!!

Spacious second-floor seating for groups, too

I checked out the second floor too. Since the restaurant can accommodate groups of 20 or more, the upstairs was very spacious as well. The window seats looked atmospheric, and I loved that the chairs acted a bit like partitions, so you could have a fairly private meal, haha.

Pork belly and gabrisal ordered by tablet

Each table has a tablet for ordering. We had two servings of samgyeopsal (pork belly), one serving of gabrisal (pork neck jowl), one doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew), and one bowl of rice, haha. Ordering was easy, and the staff brought everything out right away, which was great!

As they set out the banchan (side dishes), I noticed the grill looks like a huge cauldron, haha. The staff took care of everything from the setup to grilling the meat, so it was so easy to catch up and chat with my friend after such a long time~~

The grilling order, from gabrisal to pork belly

First, the gabrisal! They grill it in the order of gabrisal, then pork belly. They came over from time to time to check on the meat, and even arranged it so prettily on the grill, lol.

Once the gabrisal is partly cooked, they put on the pork belly. It almost looked like smoked pork belly! The AI robot had pre-grilled it~~ The meat was nice and thick, and it looked so appetizing.

We enjoyed somaek, a soju-and-beer mix, and just watched the staff grill our meat, haha.

Once the meat was cooked :) we ate it with the prepared sauces, and of course—what meat tastes best? The meat someone else grills for you!

A sweet-spicy flavor like old-school gochujang pork belly

Normally, I would already be full by this point, but the table next to us was having gochujang samgyeopsal (pork belly marinated in red chili paste). Suddenly I was craving it... We ordered one more bottle of soju to have with it, and they changed our grill plate and cooked it carefully so it would not burn :)

It tasted like old-school gochujang pork belly. It was not spicy, but deliciously sweet and spicy, haha. Not many places sell gochujang pork belly these days, so I really enjoyed it!!!

An easygoing Hongdae meat restaurant experience at Dojeok Hapjeong

There are so many meat restaurants in Hongdae~~ But if you are looking for somewhere with a great atmosphere, pre-grilled meat that lets you eat quickly, and staff who grill everything for you, I would recommend Dojeok Hapjeong!!!

The pork belly, gabrisal, and gochujang pork belly were all delicious, and we also ordered steamed egg, which was really good!