Wangsimni Korean BBQ: 4 servings and free kimchi jjigae at Pujutgan

Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom, a Haengdang-dong favorite, is a BBQ restaurant where you can properly grill pork belly and even kimchi on a big cauldron-lid pan. After eating Haengdang-dong pork belly, the biggest perk is that kimchi jjigae, doenjang jjigae, naengmyeon, janchi-guksu and nurungji are all unlimited and free!

Where is Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom and what are its hours?

Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom

• 24 Haengdang-ro 17-gil, 1st floor, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Sat 14:00–24:00 / Sun 12:00–22:30
• Location: about a 5-minute walk from Exit 10 of Wangsimni Station

It's in the Haengdang-dong food alley, an easy walk from Wangsimni Station. The exterior doesn't feel like one of the newer BBQ places — it has that friendly vibe of a restaurant that's been running in the same spot for years.

The interior is fairly spacious, with a big cauldron-lid grill on every table. It's a good place for a family meal, and just as comfortable for a group having drinks with their meat. But honestly, what I was most curious about before even arriving was the dessert!

Which finishers are unlimited and free at Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom?

Order meat per person, and you get unlimited free Korean beef doenjang jjigae, pork kimchi jjigae, water naengmyeon, bibim naengmyeon, janchi-guksu, and homemade nurungji. The key point: you're not limited to just one — you can order several kinds.

Ordering 2 servings of raw pork belly and 2 of skirt meat

Raw pork belly, pork neck, pork jowl, gabrisal, and skirt meat are all ₩20,000 per serving. We ended up ordering 2 servings of raw pork belly and 2 of skirt meat.

While taking our order, the staff asked whether we wanted kimchi jjigae or doenjang jjigae first. We picked kimchi jjigae, and they kindly told us we could still get doenjang jjigae later too — since it's unlimited, choosing one isn't the end of it.

Kimchi, potato, mushroom and onion on the cauldron-lid grill

Lettuce, perilla leaves, chili, garlic and ssamjang (dipping sauce) come as basics, and it's not just meat on the cauldron-lid pan — kimchi, potato, king oyster mushroom, and onion all go on too, so the pan fills up fast. And kimchi grilled in pork belly fat? Can't resist that, haha.

The staff checked in on us regularly, grilling the meat and cutting it into bite-sized pieces for us.

The staff checked in on us regularly, grilling the meat and cutting it into bite-sized pieces for us.

Raw pork belly vs skirt meat: how do they taste?

The pork belly was thick, browned golden on the outside and moist inside. A fatty piece of pork belly paired with grilled kimchi was perfect, while the skirt meat had a different, chewier and leaner flavor — great for alternating between the two.

Kimchi grilled in pork belly fat — can't resist that, haha. As the meat cooks, the fat drips down and grills the kimchi golden brown, and it went perfectly with the pork belly.

How big is the free kimchi jjigae portion?

And the kimchi jjigae! I expected a small hot-pot bowl since it's a free dessert, but the portion was nothing like a dessert. Loaded with tofu and kimchi, plus a good amount of pork, it could easily be a full meal on its own with a bowl of rice.

We grilled a generous spread of pork belly, kimchi, potato, mushroom, and onion on the cauldron lid, and having the staff grill the meat for us made the meal easy. Without even asking, they brought us more mushrooms unprompted. This is the textbook example of a generous BBQ restaurant.

Adding water naengmyeon halfway through the meat

We also ordered water naengmyeon partway through the meal.

You can ask for it whenever you feel like it, so ordering mid-meal like we did is totally fine. Eating fatty pork belly, then a cool bite of naengmyeon, then going back to the meat refreshed the palate — a great combo. What I liked most about this place was that it's not just that dessert is free, but the variety and portion sizes are genuinely generous. The kimchi jjigae alone comes as a full bowl, and on top of that you can have doenjang jjigae, naengmyeon, janchi-guksu, and nurungji at no extra cost — it seems like it would be especially satisfying with big eaters. Honestly I wanted to try one more thing, but I was so full I only managed two desserts, haha.

Is Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom worth it? Final verdict

Among Wangsimni restaurants, if you're looking for a place where you can eat both meat and full meal dishes without worry, this is a solid choice. Especially when you want to enjoy Haengdang-dong pork belly alongside stews and naengmyeon, Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom's unlimited dessert service is definitely a memorable perk.