No-wait 5pm dinner at a Wolgye-dong jokbal restaurant: Kkankkanhan

Daily 16:00–23:30

Parking lot next to the restaurant

Reservations available, group-friendly, takeout, delivery, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms

Hi, this is Smiley Flower. My family loves jokbal (grilled pork trotters), and there's one jokbal place we love above all others. It's Kkankkanhan Jokbal — did you know this chain actually started in Gwangju?? I wanted to try the main branch at least once, so we headed to this Wolgye-dong favorite as a family...

Is there a wait at Kkankkanhan Jokbal at 5pm?

As a well-loved Wolgye-dong jokbal spot, this place gets absolutely packed in the evenings, so we went at 5pm. Even then there were already some customers there.

Why we always order the charcoal-grilled jokbal

One of the biggest reasons I love this place: they only sell what's made that day, and they boil the jokbal fresh every morning! And out of everything, we always order the charcoal-grilled jokbal. It's grilled once more over Jirisan charcoal, giving it a subtle smoky aroma — it's unbelievably good.

This time too, we decided on the medium charcoal-grilled jokbal! And on top of that, the flying fish roe rice ball...

And here's the thing — if you leave a review, you get a delicious flying fish roe rice ball or a mini spicy bossam (boiled pork wrap) for free!

Free radish refills, steamed egg and the other side dishes

Another reason I love Kkankkanhan Jokbal: the dried radish side dish is delicious. So our family refills it over and over. The steamed egg is great too — we finished it off completely before the jokbal even arrived! It's soft and fluffy, exactly my style.

Was it soybean paste stew? I'm honestly not sure what it was even as I ate it, but it was spicy and tasty. It's the kind of soup that calls for soju, but I don't drink, and my husband had to drive, so he couldn't either. Sorry, honey... ㅠㅠㅠ

Then the salad came out, and my son said it was so good he ate the whole thing before the jokbal even arrived. Hey... leave some for mom and dad... you can't eat it all yourself, haha.

And if you're eating spicy bossam or other spicy dishes, definitely pair it with the bean sprout soup — it feels like it washes all the spiciness away.

Family dinner with the baseball game on screen

Another thing I loved about this Wolgye-dong favorite, right after the jokbal itself, is that you can watch baseball while you eat. My son wouldn't budge from his seat, glued to the game while eating jokbal. Our team NC won that day, which made us all happy — since we've lost to NC so much this year, a win feels precious!

Flying fish roe rice ball

The flying fish roe rice ball came out first. My son loves it just as much as the jokbal, so we always order it. It's seasoned really well, making it perfect to eat alongside the jokbal.

Medium charcoal-grilled jokbal

Then the charcoal-grilled jokbal arrived... It's delicious no matter how many times I eat it! Soft and tender — we devoured it in no time.

Ice cream and games outside after the meal

After finishing the jokbal, there's a space right outside where you can get coffee or ice cream.

There's ice cream, coffee, and even games to play... which turned out to be all fun for my son and husband. My son is old enough to play games with his dad now... he really has grown up. I lost count of how many rounds of Mario Kart they played. Thanks to the boys gaming, I got to sit and watch a good chunk of the baseball score while eating my ice cream. Hehe~ He really didn't want to leave the house, so I lured him out by promising we could watch baseball together — barely managed to drag him along.

And just when the games were finally over and we were about to head home, he says he needs ice cream now too. Fine... go ahead...

Is Kkankkanhan Jokbal worth a 5pm visit?

Luckily we came at 5pm and walked right in with no wait — but I think if we'd come even a little later, we would've had to wait. While eating, I kept hearing the Baedal Minjok delivery notification sound going off constantly, and now I understand why. To be fair, I eat this place more often by takeout or delivery than at the actual table myself...

If you're looking for a jokbal restaurant in Gwangju, or a local favorite in Wolgye-dong, I recommend trying jokbal while watching baseball at Kkankkanhan Jokbal Main Branch at least once.