Uijeongbu pork belly restaurant with Haenam cabbage refills: Cheonpo

One of my top five most satisfying meals out recently was at Cheonpo Hoegwan Uijeongbu Main Branch. The facilities, location, service and taste were all great, so it's a pork belly place in Uijeongbu I want to go back to. The store is spacious with plenty of tables, so I'd recommend it for group dinners too, and since it opens from lunchtime, it's also great for office workers' lunch.

Where is Cheonpo Hoegwan Uijeongbu Main Branch, and when is it open?

Hours are Mon–Sun 11:00–23:00. There's parking for 3 cars in front, and if it's full, there's a public parking lot just 30 seconds away.

We went right when it opened haha, so it wasn't quite lunch peak yet and was fairly quiet! It's also an easy walk from Gyeongjeoncheol Uijeongbu Station. We had a reservation, and the staff were incredibly kind in guiding us — it felt great from the moment we walked in.

What to order: pork belly for two with stone-pot rice

Main dishes start from 2 servings! There's also a lunch special, so it's good for office workers to visit for lunch. The freshly made stone-pot rice here is genuinely, genuinely delicious, so definitely order it at least once! We ordered pork belly for 2, stone-pot rice, and a drink.

Beef tartare and free refills of Haenam cabbage and minari

The reason Cheonpo Hoegwan Uijeongbu Main Branch is great is that the basic banchan (side dishes) include beef tartare and kimchi pancake, plus unlimited domestic Haenam cabbage and minari (water celery)...! There were two of us, and the default amount of beef tartare was huge +_+ It wasn't frozen beef tartare but chilled, which made it even better, and the banchan came out generously, nothing skimped... satisfying.

The minari is refillable, but even the first serving already comes in a generous amount! The cabbage and other wrap greens weren't wilted at all and were fresh — I don't usually eat much of the wrap greens, but I finished them all that day.

Pork belly is always good... I can see why this is known as a great pork belly spot in Uijeongbu. The quality was great, and both the juiciness and thickness passed the test!

I'm a beef tartare killer, and it came mixed with minari, which made it fragrant and lovely 🤎😌 No gamey smell, nutty and delicious, and it was a generous portion even though there were just two of us.

This doenjang (soybean paste) is served like a stew — great wrapped up with the greens and meat. It was a side dish I was seeing for the first time. Deep, savory flavor!

Grilling your own minari kimchi pancake at the table

The reason this place really felt like they know food is that you can grill your own minari kimchi pancake (jeon). The batter is provided, and you just grill it to your taste at the self-serve station.

There are multiple pans, so if you want it extra crispy, I recommend making several small ones!

With such generous banchan, we didn't need to order much else and still ate our fill — a real pork belly gem in Uijeongbu, Cheonpo Hoegwan...

The heat comes up well too, so everything cooks quickly. Eating it with the free minari and kimchi was such a great combo +.+ Truly a pork belly place I want to go back to. No gamey smell, fresh and delicious.

The sauce at Cheonpo Hoegwan Uijeongbu Main Branch is also super good — not just plain sesame oil sauce, but one with scallion and garlic that pairs perfectly with the meat, giving you the strength to keep eating without getting tired of it.

Finishing the meal with freshly cooked stone-pot rice

Something I found interesting was that there are stone-pot rice cookers along the wall, and as soon as the order comes in, they start cooking the rice right away. While you wait, the smell of stone-pot rice drifts over -

I highly recommend the stone-pot rice. Eat the rice served first, then soak the scorched rice at the bottom in the hot water that comes with it to make sungnyung (scorched rice tea) — it's so good. Compared to other places, the freshly made stone-pot rice here is offered at a very affordable price, so I really recommend it as a great-value pork belly spot!

If you're looking for a great pork belly spot or a place for a group dinner in Uijeongbu's new town area, give Cheonpo Hoegwan Uijeongbu Main Branch a try :)