Seomyeon pork belly restaurant with a 14-party wait: Dwaejinamu

📍 16 Jungang-daero756beon-gil, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea

Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone (돼지나무 사랑걸렸네), famous as a go-to spot in Seomyeon and Bujeon! It used to be a roadside storefront, but it got so popular it expanded and relocated. I'd wanted to go for ages, and right when I was craving gochujang samgyeopsal (gochujang-marinated pork belly)... I finally made it to this Seomyeon favorite, Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone.

Where Dwaejinamu is and where to park

This Seomyeon BBQ spot is right outside Exit 12 of Seomyeon Station, so accessibility is genuinely great! There's no dedicated parking support, but it's such good value for a Seomyeon BBQ place that it's still worth the trip even without parking help.

The sign and the look of Dwaejinamu

Inside the Seomyeon main branch

Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone... even the name of this Seomyeon BBQ place is unusual, right? The sign isn't your typical BBQ restaurant sign either, which gave it a fresh feel haha.

There are tons of celebrity autographs, and this might honestly be the most celebrity-visited BBQ spot among the famous ones in Seomyeon. Seo In-guk has apparently been here too... where are you now, Mr. Seo In-guk.

How long is the wait on a weekday evening?

Both the meat and the meal dishes at Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone are so good that I'd tell anyone looking for a Seomyeon BBQ recommendation to come here — but the essential tip is to register on the CatchTable waitlist before you go. I waited over an hour even though it was a weekday. I figured a weekday wait would clear quickly, but even on a weekday evening... 14 parties waiting...

Well, nothing to do but wait.

Anyway, Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone is a Seomyeon BBQ favorite I'd definitely revisit, and if I do go back, I'm registering on the CatchTable remote waitlist first without question!!!!!

Menu and ordering rules at Dwaejinamu

The menu at this Seomyeon BBQ spot is genuinely varied! There's a wide range of meat dishes, and the meal menu is diverse too, so it's nice being able to pick exactly what you're in the mood for. The place is also quite spacious, so if you can snag a table, it seems great for group gatherings where you order a bit of everything!

At Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone, your first order has to be at least 3 servings! They said you can't mix flavors, so I ordered 3 servings of spicy gochujang samgyeopsal. Each serving is 130g, so the portion is generous, and the price is just ₩9,900...

I'd heard the yubu-mari gimbap plus gochujang samgyeopsal combo is delicious and really wanted to try the yubu-mari gimbap, but it's sold in limited quantity, so I missed out T.T. I ordered one mini doenjang jjigae for ₩2,000 and polished off a bowl of rice each.

There's even a little tip card on the table for enjoying Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone at its best!

Side dishes, tofu pancake and pollack roe sauce

This Seomyeon favorite really delivers on the side dishes too. The pickled vegetables felt wholesome and tasty, so my chopsticks kept going back for more.

Before the meat, they bring out a tofu pancake pan-fried in perilla oil — grill it lightly on the tabletop grill and dip it in a bit of the signature pollack roe sauce for an even better bite!

How does the gochujang samgyeopsal taste?

The pork belly comes coated in gochujang marinade, and just the smell as it grills was enough to seriously kick my appetite into gear.

The savory flavor typical of samgyeopsal combined with the gochujang seasoning made it feel distinctly different from regular samgyeopsal. Since the meat is already seasoned, it's delicious plain, and it also pairs really well with rice.

The staff member's grilling skills were no joke — they grilled everything for us, so we could just relax and eat! Gochujang samgyeopsal has a tendency to burn easily because of the sauce, so grilling it without burning is key, and they handled it expertly without scorching a single piece!

It was grilled over charcoal, which already makes the gochujang samgyeopsal taste great, but then they finished it off with a torch near the end for extra smoky flavor — the smokiness plus the umami of the gochujang seasoning just exploded. I'd been wanting to eat gochujang samgyeopsal for so long that my expectations were high, and it fully delivered!

Even just plain white rice topped with a well-grilled piece of gochujang samgyeopsal is enough to make you happy...

There's a good variety of vegetables and side dishes to pair with it, but my personal favorite was wrapping the well-cooked gochujang samgyeopsal with pickled chili and perilla leaf into a wrap! Full of smoky flavor... and the meat is so tender and delicious.

A 2,000 won mini doenjang jjigae with crab in it

You can't skip the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) when eating BBQ... since I ordered the mini version, it was only ₩2,000, so it was an easy addition, and it paired really well with the gochujang samgyeopsal. Taking a spoonful of warm stew between bites of the seasoned meat made for a hearty, satisfying meal with rice!

And on top of that, the ₩2,000 doenjang jjigae was full of crab aroma... it actually had crab in it, so I really felt like this place nailed both price and taste — a true Seomyeon favorite!

That's my review of Dwaejinamu Sarang Geollyeone, the Seomyeon BBQ spot I ate so well at.