Jayang-dong Korean BBQ: cartilage pork belly and kkodeulsal, Ssamchae

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal in Jayang-dong: a BBQ joint you enjoy with a huge spread of wrap greens

Today I went to Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal in Jayang-dong. It's right next to Sanggune Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal, a place my spouse and I go to often, so I'd had my eye on it for a while. Since the name itself has 'ssamchae' (wrap greens) in it, I'd heard the variety of wrap greens here is huge, so this time we finally stopped by.

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal location and hours

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal is located at 658-153 Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. It's open from noon to midnight. Since it's right next to Sanggune Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal, a place we go to a lot, anyone who loves meat in this area has probably spotted it before.

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal

• [Location] 55 Jayang-ro, 102-dong 103-ho, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• [Hours] Daily 12:00–24:00
• [Last order] 23:00
• [Features] Groups welcome, kids' chairs, free corkage for outside alcohol not sold in store, no parking

Wrap greens that live up to the name

The first thing that caught my eye after sitting down at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal was, of course, the wrap greens. There was a reason 'ssamchae' is in the name.

At most BBQ places you usually just get lettuce and perilla leaves, but here we could pick from a wide variety of greens you'd normally only see at a ssambap (wrap-rice) restaurant.

There were quite a few greens I couldn't quite identify, including one that looked a bit like morning glory greens. It's rare to come across vegetables like these at a BBQ restaurant, so it was fun and a little novel picking through them one by one.

Vegetables grilled together with the meat

Besides the wrap greens, there was also a good variety of vegetables you could grill right on the pan — eggplant, bracken fern, pumpkin and more.

Grilling vegetables in between bites of meat felt like it reset my palate each time between the greasy bites — really nice. And best of all, when the meat felt a little short, grilling up these vegetables was a great way to fill up. Haha. It also just felt healthier than eating meat alone.

A wide range of meat cuts too

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal also had a fairly wide selection of meat cuts. There was everything from pan-grilled cuts like pork belly, pork neck and gabrisal (pork shoulder blade), to cuts better suited to the grill grate, like beef short rib flap and galmaegisal (pork/beef skirt meat).

Having such a wide range of choices to suit your taste is definitely a plus. We ordered kkodeulsal and pork belly that day.

The owner grills it for you

Once the meat arrived, the owner grilled it for us directly. Their hand movements were seriously impressive. Haha.

Since the owner did the grilling, we could relax and chat while we waited, and best of all, we got to eat the meat right at its peak.

Kkodeulsal

First up was kkodeulsal. It had just the right amount of fat, so the savory flavor was really good. True to its name, the chewy, springy texture was also fun to eat.

I'm not exactly sure which cut it is, but it reminded me a bit of head meat (meori-gogi). The savoriness of the fat paired well with the chewy texture, and I ended up enjoying it more than I expected.

Pork belly

What is there to even say about pork belly? Haha. As the nation's favorite meat, it was reliably delicious. The fat content and meaty aroma were great, and since our portion had cartilage attached, it added an extra chewy bite. A well-grilled piece of pork belly wrapped up with one of the many wrap greens was, as always, delicious — a different kind of enjoyment from the usual lettuce wrap.

Dessert: doenjang stew and kimchi noodles

As we were finishing up the meat, we ordered doenjang (soybean paste) stew and kimchi malin guksu (cold noodles in tangy kimchi broth) to finish.

It was really nice to wrap up the meal with these. The strong, refreshing tang cut right through all the greasiness from the meat. One bite of meat, one bite of kimchi noodles, and my appetite came right back to life. If it hadn't been for my workout today, a cold drink alongside all this would have been perfect… that part was a little disappointing. Haha.

In summary

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal struck me as a great BBQ spot for anyone who wants to enjoy meat together with lots of vegetables. Instead of just the usual lettuce and perilla leaves, there was real fun in picking through a variety of wrap greens you don't normally find at a BBQ restaurant. The kkodeulsal and pork belly were both delicious, and having the owner grill it all for us was a satisfying touch.

Finishing up with the kimchi noodles left us full and happy at the end of the meal. If you're someone who wants to eat plenty of vegetables along with your meat, this place is worth a visit 🙂 Another very satisfying meal today.