Sangbong Korean BBQ restaurant with self-service bar: Super Naengsam

A frozen pork belly spot near Sangbong Station after moving

We safely finished moving from Yangju to Seoul—yay! ★ I’ve always heard that after a move, when you’ve inhaled loads of dust, you need to wash it down with samgyeopsal fat ^,^ My partner and I especially love naengsam (frozen pork belly)—it cooks fast and is great value!!!!!! After a furious search, we found a well-reviewed, affordable naengsam place near home. Found it.

What is the Sangbong food alley restaurant like?

We immediately headed to this Sangbong naengsam place, which is fairly close to our neighborhood. It’s in the Sangbong food alley, and the huge sign made it easy even for someone with no sense of direction like me, hehe.

Everyone who knows Sangbong knows it’s a mecca for outdoor drinking, so restaurants that aren’t good can’t survive ;ㅡ; But this place was already full, and we barely snagged the last available table!!! Lucky~ There was space between the tables, and even though it’s a barbecue restaurant, it was clean without being smoky or stuffy!

The meat is frozen pork belly only! (Even better~) The sides are simple too, with only delicious things ㅎㅅㅎ They have Hangang ramen, too!! And the prices are so kind... Great value overall~~

• 3 servings of frozen pork belly
• Doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew)
• 2 bowls of rice
• One each of draft beer (300/500) and soju

The basic side dishes arrived as soon as we ordered, and each table has its own pull-out cutlery drawer. Am I the only one who loves this kind of cutlery setup? (It’s so neat.)

The chairs have storage for your clothes, bags, and other belongings, so they don’t pick up the smell. Loved that~

For reference, the restroom is outside. Go out and turn left around one corner. The men’s and women’s facilities are separate, but definitely lock the door once you’re inside!!!! (An older lady tried to open it several times while I was in there ^,^..)

Thick frozen pork belly and king oyster mushrooms

Ahh, the naengsam arrived so quickly ㅜ As a frozen-pork-belly lover, I can tell... this isn’t ordinary naengsam... There’s quite a lot of low-quality naengsam out there, but this was thick and good quality ㅠㅠ I love king oyster mushrooms too, and I think they give you one per serving~~

Oh noㅠ I’m salivating even while writing this ㅠ There are five commandments inside the restaurant, as big as the menu board, hahaha. We grilled it just like they said, and it was insanely delicious ㅠ I’m a lightweight, but that 300 ml draft beer went down so easily ㅠ Personally, I love grilling meat with vegetables, so all the veggies made me so happy ㅠ By the way, we’re pepper lovers ^ㅠ Pile on the pepper!!!!!! And as the five naengsam commandments say, don’t flip it too often... patience...

Grilled vegetables + naengsam + a lettuce wrap = Jinu naturally ordered another draft beer ^^... The soju had been finished ages ago...

Hearty doenjang-jjigae and the self-service bar

The doenjang-jjigae we ordered as a side was crazy—so many ingredients. Personally, I think it’s hard for doenjang-jjigae to beat kimchi-jjigae, but this one was spicy and delicious too. I’m genuinely mad. I could seriously eat a whole bowl of rice with that alone.

I personally love vegetables, so I refill my wraps and side dishes often. It can feel awkward asking staff, so I loved that this place has a self-service bar!! They also have enoki mushrooms, which weren’t among the basic side dishes!! Definitely grab some and grill them ^,^ Right beside that is Hangang ramen!! I’m definitely trying it next time;; I loved that they had lots of mixed-noodle varieties as well as soup ramen! I especially want to try Buldak 볶음면 (spicy stir-fried noodles).

More frozen pork belly, then K-dessert fried rice

After that, we ordered 2 more servings of naengsam... but there are no photos ㅜ Was I drunkㅜ? The extra naengsam came with king oyster mushrooms too!! Anyway, after demolishing the naengsam, we started on K-dessert fried rice.

No long explanation needed. It. Is. Delicious. Put this on your must-eat list right now. I already really love frozen pork belly, but this place is high quality among naengsam spots, great value, and delicious across the board, so I think I’ll visit often. The weather is getting cooler, perfect for outdoor drinking, so I need to go again soon~~~~