Dujeong-dong Cheonan BBQ: three pork cuts compared at Cham Dwaejitgan

Hi, it's Sebbeu 😏 Wanting to eat proper meat in Cheonan, I headed to Cham Dwaejitgan Cheonan Dujeong Branch (참돼짓간 천안두정점), an easy spot to find in the Dujeong-dong dining alley.

I didn't plan on sticking to just one cut this time — I started with ogyeopsal, moved to neck meat, and by the end we'd added samgyeopsal too, basically a full pork mukbang haha. What I especially liked was that the staff grill the meat themselves, so I wasn't scrambling to flip anything and could just enjoy eating.

Where is Cham Dwaejitgan Cheonan Dujeong Branch, and what are its hours?

• Name: Cham Dwaejitgan Cheonan Dujeong Branch
• Location: 10 Wondujeong 5-gil, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 16:00 – 04:00
• Parking: Available in front of the restaurant (call ahead to confirm)
• Amenities: Reservations, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms, group seating available

Cham Dwaejitgan Cheonan Dujeong Branch sits right in the Dujeong-dong dining alley in Cheonan — a great location if you're looking for a BBQ spot or bar around Dujeong-dong.

Since it's open from 4pm until 4am the next day, it works for dinner as well as late-night drinks with meat. I think it'd suit anyone looking for a samgyeopsal bar in Dujeong-dong too.

Jirisan black pork ogyeopsal and mokssal, grilled at the table by staff

Cham Dwaejitgan offers a staff-grilling service, so I didn't have to worry about timing or flipping the meat and could just eat comfortably. First up were the Jirisan black pork ogyeopsal and neck meat (mokssal).

Ogyeopsal, with its mix of fat and lean meat, was rich and savory, while mokssal was relatively plain and let the flavor of the meat itself shine through.

Cham Dwaejitgan says it uses domestic rice husks and charcoal to add a smoky aroma to the meat, and I could really feel that subtle charcoal scent coming through as it grilled.

The dual grill: kimchi, bean sprouts and minari on the edges

The grill here was a bit unusual, actually.

The meat cooks in the center while the fat that drips to the edges is used to cook kimchi, bean sprouts, and minari (water dropwort) alongside it. Eating only meat can get a bit heavy, but grilling these sides together was a nice way to switch up the flavor every so often.

If we'd stopped at just the ogyeopsal that day it would've felt a bit incomplete, but trying the mokssal too let us feel the texture differences between cuts — a good variety.

Since Cham Dwaejitgan carries both Boseong green pork and Jirisan black pork, you can also choose hangjeongsal (pork jowl) and gabrisal (pork shoulder blade) besides samgyeopsal, mokssal, and ogyeopsal. (In the end we ended up adding samgyeopsal too 🤣)

What sides come with the pork at Cham Dwaejitgan?

Another thing I liked about Cham Dwaejitgan was the variety of sides to eat alongside the meat!

The sauces on offer are ssamjang, spicy sauce, salt, and wasabi, and you can also enjoy minari, sliced scallions, garlic scapes, bean sprouts, mushroom wasabi, garlic, and peppers.

For wraps, there's kimchi, lettuce, and perilla leaves, which made for much more variety than just eating the meat plain. Sometimes I'd dab a bit of wasabi on a piece of meat, other times I'd pile a wrap with different sides — the minari-with-meat combo in particular worked surprisingly well.

Switching up the combinations like this meant that even though we ate a good amount across ogyeopsal, mokssal, and samgyeopsal, we never got tired of it.

Amenities and dining as a group

The restaurant apparently keeps a range of amenities on hand for diners — phone chargers, hair ties, disposable aprons, plastic bags for storing clothes, kids' tableware, Wi-Fi, floss and toothpicks, mouthwash, after-meal candy, and Febreze.

At a BBQ place, smoke clinging to your clothes can be a concern, so having clothing bags and Febreze on hand was a thoughtful touch. Group seating is available too, making it a solid option for dinners with friends or work get-togethers.

Verdict: what worked and what didn't

• Can enjoy a range of cuts from Jirisan black pork ogyeopsal to mokssal
• Can also add Boseong green pork samgyeopsal
• Staff grill the meat for you, so eating is easy
• Good pairing of minari, bean sprouts, and kimchi with the meat
• Located in the Dujeong-dong dining alley
• Open until 4am, so late dinners and drinks work fine
• A good spot for friend gatherings, work dinners, and drinking sessions

The downside is parking — it's best to call the restaurant ahead of your visit to check availability.

A day that started with ogyeopsal, moved to mokssal, and ended with samgyeopsal added on top. Ordering several cuts to compare side by side was more fun than sticking to just one, and having the meat grilled for us made the whole meal easy. Given the late hours, this is worth keeping in mind if you're after a samgyeopsal spot in Cheonan, a BBQ restaurant in Dujeong-dong, or a samgyeopsal bar in Dujeong-dong for dinner.