Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ with a fortress wall view: 21st in line, Tapgol

Not long ago I went to Jongno with my boyfriend for a fitting of our custom-made suits. The weather was so nice that we wondered what to do in Jongno, and since outdoor pork belly spots are trending there right now, I searched for a good one. "Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch" (탑골공원 종로3가점) kept popping up, so we went.

The autumn mood here is no joke. If you want to really feel autumn romance, this is the Korean BBQ place in Jongno 3-ga: Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch.

• Address: 111 Supyo-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Mon–Sun 17:00–01:00
• Parking: no free parking
• Tip: 15 extra seats are added after 18:00

Where is Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch?

It's across from the east gate of Tapgol Park, facing the park's fortress wall. The alley just before it is mostly pojangmacha (street-tent style) drinking spots, serving snacks for roughly ₩20,000 to just over ₩30,000. At the end of that alley, the restaurant sits right across from the Tapgol Park wall.

How long is the weekend evening wait at Tapgol Gongwon?

When I joined the waitlist around 5:45pm on a weekend, I was 21st, but I only actually waited 15 minutes. From 17:00 to 18:00 they run just 15 seats, then open 15 more after 18:00, for 30 in total, to speed up turnover.

This place is hot right now, it was a weekend, and the weather was great, so I worried the wait would be awful. Reading reviews, I saw some people waited a long time. My spot in line looked hopeless and I considered going elsewhere, but it turns out seats increase at 6pm, so you're guaranteed to eat after just a 15-minute wait. So I just waited the 15 minutes.

Are the outdoor seats by the fortress wall comfortable?

The outdoor seating has pretty string lights, and baskets hold wet wipes, tissues and cutlery, so it was tidy and convenient for an outdoor spot. With outdoor seating, the point is really to put up with some discomfort for the romance of eating outside, but the mood was nice and it was easy to use.

As soon as it hit 18:00, staff set up the tables in a flash, and the 23rd team in line just barely got seated too. Since they take 15 teams at once, I worried the side dishes or food would come late, but the food came out so fast you'd never guess they'd seated 15 teams at once.

Eek, isn't it great to eat pork belly with a view of the fortress wall? Haha (though looking now, our table number is 32? Does that mean there are 35 tables..??)

The restrooms are separate for men and women, and they were clean! The women's restroom is toward the back, and the men's is a bit more toward the outside.

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch menu and prices

Here's the menu. For flash-frozen pork, the price is a bit high. Side dishes are self-serve~ This is what we ordered that day.

• Flash-frozen pork belly for 2: ₩18,000 × 2
• Brisket doenjang stew (soybean paste stew): ₩7,000
• Rice: ₩1,000

Side dishes and the self-serve bar at Tapgol Gongwon

Staff bring the basic side dishes but leave out the lettuce wraps, so you grab those yourself! I eat wasabi instead of ssamjang (wrap sauce), so I loved that wasabi comes out by default~ haha. I also liked that the kimchi was proper whole-cabbage kimchi.

At outdoor places it's often really hard to communicate with the staff, so having a self-serve bar made refilling side dishes so easy :) I especially liked the variety even though it's an outdoor spot, with scallion kimchi, bracken and bean sprouts.

You can just grab water yourself too~

How does the stone-plate flash-frozen pork belly taste?

You grill kimchi and bean sprouts together on the hot stone plate and eat the kimchi cooked in the pork fat alongside the meat, which was totally my taste. I really love pork belly with kimchi grilled on a hot stone plate. On the sizzling plate I put frozen pork belly, bean sprouts, kimchi and more, and grilled it all diligently.

Pepper came out with the side dishes too, so I sprinkled it on with a shake shake shake lol. Honestly I like fresh pork belly far more than frozen, but maybe thanks to the romance of eating outdoors, I enjoyed it a lot.

Is the ₩7,000 brisket doenjang stew worth ordering?

Judged only by the ₩7,000 price, the brisket doenjang stew isn't good value. At other BBQ places the doenjang stew is free, comes with a rice order, or if you pay for it the quality is good, but here at ₩7,000 my reaction was, "This is it?" Then again I thought, ah, they have to make money on the sides, fair enough, yeah yeah.

Is Tapgol Gongwon worth it for outdoor Korean BBQ in Jongno?

So that was my trip to the Jongno 3-ga outdoor pork belly spot, Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch. Not eating outdoors in weather like this is honestly a crime T_T Unlike other popular outdoor places, this one has pretty lighting and is convenient from the restrooms to the seats, so it was easy to enjoy an outdoor meal. I recommend it to anyone looking for outdoor pork belly in Jongno.