Namyangju BBQ: cheese tomato pork belly, 2002 Witch's Arpeggio

A Namyangju drive out beside the stream

After getting scalp care in Hanam, we were like, what should we eat now...? Then we thought, shall we drive out to Namyangju for a meal for the first time in ages? So we started looking for a good spot. The weather that day was seriously perfect, though. Not hot at all, just cool enough to sit outside, so we went, beside a stream? Let's go!!!!! And that is how we found 2002 Witch's Arpeggio.

2002 Witch's Arpeggio 142 Sure-ro 661beon-gil, Wabu-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Daily 11:00–21:00 Parking available Outdoor seating beside the stream / indoor seating available

The first thing I felt on arrival was that this did not have the vibe of a trendy new restaurant that just opened, but rather a Namyangju favorite that has been around forever haha. It even has 2002 in its name, and the entrance had that atmosphere of time gone by (?). We visited at an awkward weekday time, around 2–3 p.m., but there were more people than expected, which surprised me a little.

There was a wide parking area in front, so it was easy to come by car. Given the location, it felt like far more people would drive here than use public transport! It seemed like a nice option when you want some fresh air near Seoul without going too far.

And the reason we came here haha: the stream!!! It did not feel like we had come to play in the water during peak summer; with the weather now cooler, it was just right to have a relaxed meal while listening to the stream. I actually thought this might be even better than midsummer.

Outdoor tables run right along the stream, and because the weather was so nice, everyone was sitting outside. We took a streamside seat without hesitation! With the sound of water flowing beside us and a breeze through the trees, I really felt we had made the right seating choice that day.

It is not all streamside seating, either: further inside, there is quite a spacious indoor area. On the other side there were outdoor tables with a bit of a forest-view...? feel, too. If you are bringing your parents, or if it is very hot or cold, an indoor table would be perfectly fine!

Ordering cheese tomato-sauce pork belly and potato pancake

The menu is much simpler than I expected. There is their signature tomato-sauce pork belly, a version with cheese, potato pancake, and fried rice, more or less! We ordered two servings of Witch's Jar cheese tomato-sauce pork belly and one Witch's crispy-outside-chewy-inside potato pancake.

The cheese tomato-sauce pork belly was ₩25,000 per serving, and the potato pancake was ₩25,000. At first I was honestly thinking, tomato + gochujang (Korean red chili paste) + pork belly...? What would that taste like? haha. I had never tried tomato gochujang before, so I was even more curious.

Inside, there are rows of jars like this, plus piles and piles of actual tomatoes. They say they use jarred tomato sauce aged for 48 hours, and seeing tomatoes everywhere made me think, ah, tomatoes really are the main event here haha. At first I thought it was just a concept, but once I started eating, I understood why they emphasize tomatoes so much.

And finally, the tomato-sauce pork belly arrived! Visually, it was a little different from the gochujang pork belly we normally see. The middle was piled high with bean sprouts and shredded scallions, with rice cakes and mushrooms too. The meat was arranged around the edge, so it looked quite generous when it first came out.

The side dishes come on one tray like this. First, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), which I love ^^. There is also roasted seaweed, wrap vegetables, pickled radish, and sauces, but the most unusual thing was that red tomato kimchi. It really is tomato, but somehow tastes like kimchi haha.

At first bite, I was like, huh? It is tomato, so why does it taste like kimchi...? haha. But with the meat, it is seriously the key. Tomato's distinctive tang means that one bite after cheese and pork belly completely refreshes your mouth.

And then there was my partner's favorite: the perilla-leaf oil sauce. My partner tried it and said they wished every restaurant served this haha. It went with the meat, was great spooned over the potato pancake, and honestly tasted good on anything.

Tomato-sauce pork belly grilled by the staff

One thing I liked here was that the staff kept coming over to grill the meat! Marinated meat burns quickly if you do it wrong, so it is secretly something you have to keep an eye on. But they flipped it, cut it, and watched the doneness for us, so we could just sit there and eat. So easy haha.

When the meat was nearly done, they cut it all into bite-size pieces and placed a piece of meat on each of our small plates before adding the cheese. It felt like they wanted us to taste the tomato-sauce pork belly on its own first! Trying it then, I could really catch tomato's fresh aroma behind the gochujang flavor.

Then came the cheese. They spread a seriously generous layer all the way around haha. There was so much that you could barely see the pork belly, and as a cheese lover, I was already happy at this point.

And then, a quick blast with the torch 🔥. This process is fun to watch, too. The cheese melts immediately and mixes with the tomato sauce, and suddenly it looks a little like pizza, a little like dakgalbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) haha. Anyway, a picture that would be hard to make taste bad was complete.

Done! The tomato sauce is quite rich, but the cheese makes it much smoother and nuttier. Pork belly plus cheese could easily become a little heavy. But because tomato keeps coming through, the balance somehow works.

Can you see this haha? The cheese stretchesssss. When you pick up a piece of meat, the cheese comes up with it. The slight tang of the tomato sauce plus the savory cheese made it clearly feel different from regular gochujang pork belly.

And since I am a wrap person after all, I started diligently making ssam (lettuce wraps) haha. It was tasty with just pork, bean sprouts, and cheese; tasty with a sheet of roasted seaweed too; I kept making wraps with whatever I felt like adding that day (?).

My favorite combination was, of course, eating it with tomato kimchi. Pork belly and cheese together can become a little heavy toward the end, but adding one piece of tomato kimchi makes it tangy and refreshing. Once I knew that, I kept piling on tomato haha.

We added my partner's favorite perilla-leaf oil sauce too! It is spicy and fragrant, so it has a completely different feel from tomato kimchi. The basic sides here do not feel like mere extras; it was fun combining them with the meat in different ways.

The potato pancake that got chewier as it cooled

And the potato pancake exceeded expectations. When it first came out, I went, huh...? This is a potato pancake? haha. It looked so crispy on the outside that it was almost closer to fried food than the potato pancakes I knew.

It is also quite thick. I tend to strongly believe pancakes should be thin and crisp, so at first I just thought, it is thick and crispy? Interesting. But this potato pancake really came into its own after it cooled a little haha.

The outside stays crisp, while the inside becomes increasingly chewy. So it truly lives up to the menu name: crisp outside, chewy inside. With that crunchy exterior and sticky potato texture within, it was the side dish I remembered most from that day.

The sauce served with it was unusual too. It was a tangy, mayonnaise-based sauce that seemed mixed with tomato, and potato pancake is oily food after all. But tomato appears here again and cuts through that richness perfectly.

It was good with perilla-leaf oil sauce on top, and good dunked deeply in the sauce too haha. As I ate, I kept thinking this place really knows how to use tomatoes. It is not just that they add tomatoes; they tuck freshness between foods that could otherwise feel oily or heavy!

Another thing that made me realize this must be a longtime favorite was that even though we came at the incredibly awkward weekday hour of 2–3 p.m., customers kept coming in the entire time we were eating. I even only posted a photo to my Instagram Story, and immediately got several messages saying, “Arpeggio?” haha. Maybe I was the only one who did not know this place...?

We were already so full that, sadly, we could not make it to the fried rice. But the next table ordered it, and it came in something like a tiny cauldron? Seeing that made me curious all over againㅠㅠ Next time, I will come with more people and properly try both the potato pancake and the fried rice!

Final thoughts

• A Namyangju driving stop where you can eat right beside the stream
• Tomato-sauce pork belly with tomato's fresh tang intact
• Staff grill the meat themselves, making for an easy meal
• Great side-dish combinations, including tomato kimchi and perilla-leaf oil sauce
• Definitely order the crisp-outside, chewy-inside potato pancake too