Post-gym Bucheon Korean BBQ with garlic scape pickle: Dwaeji Gongbang

Filling in the blanks here — this post is about a Bucheon Okgil-dong favorite, a Korean BBQ spot I hit up after crushing it at the gym! Dwaeji Gongbang Bucheon Okgil-dong Main Branch review. Honey-sweet Iberico review starting now!!!

Where to park at Dwaeji Gongbang in Okgil-dong, Bucheon

Parking is available for 3-4 cars right in front of the restaurant, and if those spots are taken, you can park at Okgil Parking Tower (Okgil-dong 715-6), which will issue you a 2-hour parking ticket.

What the restaurant looks like inside

Dwaeji Gongbang's interior is full of old-school retro charm! Felt like anything they cook here would taste good.

Once you step into this charm-filled space, there's a phone charging station and a meat-aging area. The place is super clean and actually roomier inside than it looks from outside.

Menu and prices at Dwaeji Gongbang

Dwaeji Gongbang's menu and prices: mixed half platter (2-3 people) ₩49,000 (thick pork neck + rib meat + pork jowl + gabrisal), thick pork neck / rib meat ₩17,000, pork jowl ₩15,000, fresh Korean pork belly ₩17,000, gabrisal ₩16,000.

Ordering through the kiosk was convenient. We went with the mixed half platter, which brings together all the signature cuts!

Side dishes and the free soft tofu stew

The basic table setting included chive pancake, myeong-i namul (wild garlic leaves), white kimchi, pickled red pepper strips, pickled garlic scapes, salted hairtail guts, ssamjang, salt, and wasabi.

One great thing about Dwaeji Gongbang is that they give you a free bowl of soft tofu stew. It's genuinely rich, and hard to believe it's free — such a thick broth with a raw egg and hand-torn dough flakes thrown in.

Whoa!!!! Look at that steaming, thick broth.

How to eat the Dwaeji Gongbang platter in the right order

• First, boil the special salted hairtail sauce and dip your meat in it
• Second, grill the white kimchi
• Third, pair it with pickled red pepper strips and pickled garlic scapes
• Fourth, enjoy it with spicy soybean paste soup and rice

After trying it Dwaeji Gongbang's way,, you absolutely have to follow their tips!!!

Ta-da! Here's today's star, the mixed half platter! They say it's 2-3 servings, but the portion was genuinely generous. Thick pork neck > rib meat > pork jowl > gabrisal — I'll eat them in the order they're laid out on the plate.

1. Thick pork neck — best at about 90% cooked

True to its name, it's thick — not just plump but genuinely thick pork neck!! The fat is evenly and moderately marbled throughout, so just looking at it screams juicy and tender. Being aged meat, it also had this glossy, fine-grained texture, ugh so good.

The owner said he'd grill the thick pork neck for us himself while he had a free moment, and yeah, a pro's touch really is different. Anyway, it's genuinely thick, so it took a while to cook. He said it's juiciest and most tender at around 90% done, rather than fully cooked.

Can you see it?? All that juice from the thick pork neck👍👍

White kimchi grilled in pork fat

The white kimchi is another one of Dwaeji Gongbang's tricks, I think. This is the first time I've realized white kimchi grilled in pork fat could taste this good,, nutty, savory, salty, packed with umami.

The best bite of all: pork with garlic scape pickle

Personally, my favorite combination was the garlic scape pickle. This was so, so good that even someone like me — who's usually team plain salt — kept reaching for it.

Of course,, it's also great with a well-grilled piece of white kimchi, and piling on white kimchi, garlic scape pickle, and pickled red pepper strips all together is even better. So,, right when I was wondering if they sold these amazing things, my question got answered!

Turns out the pickled red pepper strips and garlic scape pickle are sold to go for ₩8,000, along with tofu stew and doenjang stew dipping sauce.. No wonder it's this good. I bet there's definitely a customer who always asks if these are for sale.

Every combination I tried was delicious.

The mushrooms and shishito peppers that came with the meal were also perfectly cooked, and we scarfed those down before starting the next round!

2. Gabrisal — firm texture and a strong pork aroma

The bottom cut is gabrisal! Unlike the pork neck, gabrisal had a firmer texture, and it had this charmingly strong, distinct meat aroma.

As expected, it was super juicy and delicious, and thanks to that bold flavor, it went great with the pickled sides too, and paired well with the other strong-flavored dishes.

As we ate, we ran out of pickled sides and white kimchi. If that happens, just head to the self-serve corner and grab more! FYI, there's also raw garlic and lettuce wraps there that aren't part of the basic side dish set!

The gabrisal didn't look like many pieces, but since the cuts were so thick, it ended up being a lot of meat.

3. Rib meat — springy, satisfying chew

The rib meat has such an interesting look to it! Just from the visual, you could tell it'd have a great bouncy, chewy bite.

I tried shaping it into a heart — how's it look? Pretty heart-shaped, right!!❤️❤️❤️

I diligently cut it into pieces with scissors and grilled it. Lots of juice, and the texture is different from gabrisal. Bouncy, rich, and nutty all at once.

Meanwhile, the white kimchi had gotten perfectly cooked. Eating it with the meat, the pork went down smoothly without feeling heavy.

Dwaeji Gongbang's go-to combo of meat + pickled sides + grilled white kimchi means you can easily eat more than two servings solo.

4. Pork jowl — chewy bite from the skin layer

Last up, the pork jowl went on the grill. The color's a bit lighter, and there's a bit of skin attached. Looked bouncy, with a good balance of fat and marbling!!!

True to its name, pork jowl went beyond bouncy into a genuinely chewy, springy texture! Of the four cuts, this one had the best pork aroma somehow — not overpowering, just quietly nutty.

Because the skin layer is thick, it had this super chewy, springy quality that paired really well with the kimchi and pickled sides.

However you eat it, this jowl is delicious~~~~

Final thoughts on Dwaeji Gongbang

It was a huge amount, but the two of us cleared every last bit!! Highly, truly recommend Dwaeji Gongbang Bucheon Okgil-dong Main Branch as an Okgil-dong Korean BBQ favorite! Since the pork is aged, it's packed with juice, and especially.. the side dishes are seriously on point. The pickled red pepper strips and garlic scape pickle were insane, and grilling the white kimchi is totally my style too.

Delicious again today. Record complete!