Yongsan Korean BBQ for thick pork cuts: Muttuk Sookdae Main

Muttuk Sookdae Main Branch location and parking

Muttuk Sookdae Main Branch (무뚝 숙대본점) is located on the first floor at 289 Cheongpa-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It is close to Sookmyung Women’s University Station, so it is easy to reach by public transportation. It is about a 4-minute walk from Exit 10.

Hours are 11:30 AM to midnight every day.

Public parking for drivers

Parking can be a bit of a concern when visiting the Sookdae area by car. For Muttuk Sookdae Main Branch, the nearby Cheongpa-dong Community Center Public Parking Lot seems like the safest bet.

Cheongpa-dong Community Center Public Parking Lot is at 6 Cheongpa-ro 49-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and has 32 spaces. Rates are ₩150 per 5 minutes, ₩900 for 30 minutes, or ₩1,800 for one hour.

If you are planning dinner and perhaps a drink around Sookdae Entrance, public transportation would personally be the easiest option. But if you need to drive, this public lot is worth noting.

A neat interior with wooden tables

Inside, the restaurant is neatly arranged around wooden tables. Rather than feeling like an overly traditional Korean barbecue spot, its concrete-look walls and wood-tone tables create a more modern atmosphere.

The side dishes served with the meat

When you order meat, several basic side dishes arrive to eat alongside it. There is everything from wasabi and salt to ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), kimchi, and pickled onions.

There were also lettuce, shredded scallions, and pickled perilla leaves, so I could keep changing up the combinations with each piece of meat.

The meat was thick and quite juicy, so these tangy and salty side dishes paired with it even better.

How thick is the Korean pork assortment?

When the meat hit the grill, my very first thought was, “This meat is seriously thick.” Haha. From pork neck and pork belly to skirt meat, every cut had impressive thickness.

Rather than quickly grilling thin slices, this was closer to a style where you slowly cook thick cuts and really enjoy their juices. The pork neck in particular came out large and thick, almost like a steak. Watching the surface turn golden already looked so good.

Golden pork neck and pork belly

As the meat starts to cook, the outside develops that golden grilled color while the inside stays moist. You can even see the juices beading on the surface in the photo! Once the thick cuts are sliced into bite-size pieces and start grilling, the whole grill is almost full of meat, haha.

The pork belly also clearly showed its distinct layers of fat and lean meat.

After the skirt meat was cooked well on the outside, it had a savory exterior while keeping its juices inside, making it wonderfully moist when chewed.

Thick, with proper juiciness too

Once it was cut into easy-to-eat pieces, the thickness became even more obvious. Personally, this thickness and juiciness were what I liked most at Muttuk.

The meat was thick enough to have a real bite, but it was not dry at all; it released juices as I chewed, which was very satisfying. Pork can become tough when cut thick, but the meat I had that day balanced thickness and moisture really well.

The whole skirt meat I remember most

And the cut I personally remember most from the Korean pork assortment! It was the whole skirt meat. Skirt meat has that naturally springy, chewy texture, and because it was served thick here, that texture came through even more clearly.

After grilling the outside until golden and taking a bite, more juices come out the longer you chew, along with skirt meat’s distinctive savory flavor. The pork neck and pork belly were tasty too, but the skirt meat was the most appealing to me. If I came back, it would be the first cut I reached for again, haha.

Soybean paste stew included with the set

The Korean pork assortment also comes with Muttuk’s signature doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew). It arrives bubbling in a ttukbaegi (earthenware pot), with a good amount of ingredients such as zucchini and chives. After eating plenty of meat, a spoonful of hot stew broth is such a good combination.

Especially with a bowl of rice—you know that combination where you are eating meat, then suddenly finish a whole bowl of rice in no time, haha.

Beef brisket ramen to finish

And the dish I ordered to finish after we had eaten almost all the meat was beef brisket ramen! It was not just plain ramen: there was a fairly generous amount of beef brisket on top, making it feel more substantial than regular ramen.

It was also topped generously with scallions, and the broth had the savory flavor from the beef brisket, making it perfect for ending a meat meal. Honestly, I was already quite full from all the meat, but the ramen still went down somehow, haha.

A place remembered for thick, juicy meat—especially the skirt meat

Muttuk Sookdae Main Branch is a place where the meat itself from the Korean pork assortment was what I remembered most. The pork neck, pork belly, and skirt meat all came out thick, but they were not simply thick—they were properly juicy when chewed.

Personally, the whole skirt meat especially was really appealing. Its springy, chewy texture paired beautifully with the juices inside the meat. The thick pork neck had a steak-like chew, while the pork belly delivered both the savory richness of its fat and its moisture.

There was also a wide variety of side dishes, from wasabi and salt that bring out the meat’s flavor to shredded scallions, pickled perilla leaves, and pickled onions that cut through the richness. The beef brisket ramen at the end was a success too! I was full after the meat, but hot ramen with beef brisket felt like a whole different dish, haha.

If you prefer thick pork over thin slices near Sookmyung Women’s University Station, or want to try pork neck, pork belly, and skirt meat all at once, Muttuk Sookdae Main Branch could be worth a visit! 🥩🤍