Medium-rare Korean BBQ at sunset in Hongdae: Gogikkun Gimchunbae

Today I'm reviewing a Hongdae favorite, Gogikkun Gimchunbae Hongdae Supgil Branch.

Where is Gogikkun Gimchunbae? Right beside Gyeongui Line Forest Park

Gogikkun Gimchunbae Hongdae Supgil Branch sits right up against the Gyeongui Line Forest Park walking trail. It's a chain with branches all over, but we visited the Hongdae Supgil location. Since it's right on the forest trail, we ate a hearty meal and then went for a walk! It's so close to the trail — the location is really great.

This shot was taken from the Gyeongui Line Forest Park! It's almost right up against the trail. You can also eat outdoors at the terrace seating, so the vibe was amazing.

The restaurant is a standalone building with a hanok (traditional Korean house) feel.

Inside Gogikkun Gimchunbae: an old-school Seoul grill house feel

This is what the inside of Gogikkun Gimchunbae Hongdae Supgil Branch looks like! Totally has that old-school, well-worn restaurant charm, haha.

The menu: Korean beef and Korean pork as the mains

Here's the menu. This place's mains are Korean beef and Korean pork.

What comes with the 600g beef-and-pork set for two

We started off with the beef/pork set. It's 600g total, made up of pork neck, galbi (short rib), and the beef of the day. Look how fresh the meat is! So thick and lovely, I could cry.

And get this — the staff grilled everything for us!! They grilled the tasty vegetables alongside too.

Korean beef first, grilled medium-rare by the staff

They grilled the beef first. The marbling was... honestly an unbelievable sight.

Once it's grilled up nicely and set aside for us, all we had to do was sit back and eat! The doneness was seriously spot on too. Instead of grilling it all the way crispy, they went for a slight medium-rare feel, so the texture was tender and the juices really came through.

There were plenty of dipping sauces too. For beef, salt really is the way to go! It had a nicely chewy texture that melted softly in your mouth. Genuinely speechless... the juiciness was on point too, and the clean flavor was out of this world.

Tomahawk-style galbi and thick-cut pork neck

Next up were the pork neck and galbi. The galbi looked like an actual tomahawk. It was funny how it came out huge like an axe.

Full outdoor-terrace vibes, eating meat while watching the sun set over the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, haha.

Next was the pork neck, and the portion was genuinely generous. This was grilled to perfection too, haha!

Whoa, look at that cross-section! Isn't that light pink cut so appetizing?! You can just tell from looking at it that it's going to taste amazing.

Kimchi, minari, mushrooms and potato filling the grill

And of course, the kimchi we'd have missed if it weren't there, haha. If you're Korean, there's no way you can dislike this combo.

They also grilled minari alongside, so the whole grill ended up incredibly full. And this is even after we'd finished all the beef, wow.

With the set, they also grill mushrooms, potatoes, and wild garlic leaves, so you really get to enjoy all sorts of combinations.

Half-and-half naengmyeon to finish the meat

For dessert we ordered the half-and-half naengmyeon (cold noodles) — like tangjjamyeon, half is water naengmyeon and half is spicy naengmyeon. It's great not having to decide, and being able to enjoy both at once was seriously the best, lol.

The water naengmyeon had refreshingly icy, tangy broth that felt like it washed all the grease from the meat right down, haha. The spicy naengmyeon was a little hot and sweet, with a tingling, punchy flavor that was really addictive.

Ending with kkakdugi (diced radish kimchi) fried rice

It'd be such a shame not to have fried rice to finish, right? Here it's not gimchi (seaweed-and-rice) fried rice but diced radish kimchi (kkakdugi) fried rice, haha. And there's even small chopped bits of meat mixed into the fried rice! An endless feast of meat...

Savory fried rice soaked in all that meat fat... you don't even need me to say it, right? We were so full but it was so good that we finished every last bite.

Final thoughts on a sunset BBQ at Gogikkun Gimchunbae

That's my review of Gogikkun Gimchunbae Hongdae Supgil Branch. On a nice fall day like this, it seemed like such a great spot for a beef-and-pork date at the outdoor terrace, haha. So if you're looking for a Korean BBQ spot in Hongdae, I'd highly recommend this place — that's it for today's review :)