Seoul Korean BBQ in Gwangjin with 200g pork belly: Ssamchae

Lidded-pan pork belly near Guui Station after an exhibition

A few months ago, before summer had even started, I bought an early-bird ticket for an exhibition at Ground Seesaw. But since it was an early-bird ticket, I had to go by the end of September. Aaaah—September, with Chuseok in there too, leaving even less time! So we hurried over after Illang got out of school. Even when you're in a rush, you still have to look up good food, right? And then I found Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal (쌈채솥뚜껑삼겹살), with an incredible 4.9 Google review rating!!!!! I mean, that rating! It felt trustworthy!!!!!!

So we finished the exhibition in a flash—just one hour—and went for food. The vivid orange sign immediately catches your eye.

Illang was saying she was so hungry, so we arrived a little early, around 4:30? Luckily, it didn't seem to have a break time. Phew, thank goodness~ I considered the lidded-pan set, but nobody wanted pork rind, so we ordered three servings of pork belly for the lidded pan. They also had frozen pork belly. Frozen pork belly has its own charm too, haha. But today, we ordered fresh pork belly because it's Illang's favorite!

The standout points of Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal near Guui Station! 1. One serving is 200 grams. 2. The self-service bar has zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, and even arugula!!!!! All of it is unlimited!!!!!

A self-service bar full of wrap greens and grilling vegetables

Once we were seated, I went to check out the self-service bar.

I mean. What is this? I honestly think this was my first time seeing such a substantial self-service side-dish zone. I found myself wondering, can this really be possible in Seoul?

Lettuce, perilla leaves, napa cabbage, arugula... and lots of different wrap greens whose names I don't even know!!!!!! But here's the really amazing part. Even at Korean barbecue restaurants with a wrap-greens self-service bar, refills of grilling mushrooms usually cost extra. But at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal in Guui-dong? Enoki mushrooms are unlimited and free!!!!!!! And that's not all. They also have eggplant and zucchini. Oh my goodness, is this for real? We all know how delicious eggplant is when grilled in pork fat. Oh my, oh my. And they had so many kinds of kimchi, too: green onion kimchi, godulppaegi kimchi, napa cabbage kimchi, white napa cabbage kimchi, mustard-leaf kimchi, bracken fern, and seasoned bean sprouts!!!!!!! The three of us kept automatically saying, “This place is really good~.” Hahahahahaha.

They even provide turmeric powder for dipping the meat. The flavor when you dip it in turmeric powder is a special treat, too.

It is all available at the self-service bar, but they also bring it out as the basic spread. For people who don't eat much, this might be enough. But us... I think we truly went back for unlimited rounds. The item next to the mustard-leaf kimchi is pickled chili pepper cut into thin strips. You know how slicing it thin makes the texture so much better, right? That's why we don't put a whole thick carrot in gimbap (seaweed rice roll)—we julienne it. And there were pickled wild garlic leaves, too. Wow~ It was completely our family's style: we love sitting down to a table piled high with food. And normally, the three of us eat 500 to 600 grams of meat in one meal. That is just enough to fill the three of us up. But you know how Korean barbecue places these days don't give you 200 grams for one serving. Since when did one serving become 140 grams? Some places are really bad—even 100 grams is one serving. But at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal near Guui Station, the price is the same at ₩17,000 per serving, yet you get a whopping 200 grams of meat!!!!!! I absolutely recognize it as a great restaurant with nothing to criticize. That must be why its Google rating was so high.

Grilling service for thick fresh pork belly

They even provide grilling service. They bring over pork fat and thoroughly coat the lidded griddle with it first.

Can you see the meat? Ah, I should have taken a close-up. It was incredibly thick. It was honestly so thick that it would have been hard to cook through by flipping it front and back. Maybe that's why the staff member doing the grilling was so professional, carefully standing the pieces upright to cook them too.

₩5,000 cheese-bomb mountain steamed egg

A steamed egg dish is essential whenever we eat out with Illang. Don't be surprised. This cheese-bomb mountain steamed egg costs only ₩5,000. Wow~

You know how skipping a steamed egg like this feels like a loss, haha.

After all the meat was cooked, they piled on napa cabbage kimchi, bracken fern, and bean sprouts like this. Then you can add eggplant, mushrooms, and zucchini from the self-service bar and grill them to eat.

With so many wrap greens, the pork-belly wraps felt more varied and delicious—like I could eat endlessly. They had taken the sharp bite out of the onions so well that they tasted sweet.

And then there was the eggplant, which could not possibly be anything but delicious! I have no idea how many times we went back for more to grill.

A Guui Station barbecue restaurant made for lidded-pan grilling

It was so delicious that we couldn't leave a single thing behind, haha. Why is even the water delicious here? It tastes like hovenia tea~ At Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal near Guui Station, you can also choose charcoal grilling. But if you want to grill all the different eggplant, zucchini, bracken fern, bean sprouts, and more, I recommend the lidded pan. The sign itself says lidded pan, after all~~~~~~ Oh, it was truly so delicious—I want to go again. Illang said Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal ranks among the top three Korean barbecue places she has been to, haha. The catch is that it's so far from home. How wonderful would it be if a Korean barbecue restaurant this good were nearby~~~~ If Ground Seesaw opens another exhibition that is this appealing, we'll revisit. ^_^