Frozen pork belly BBQ with baby chairs in Changwon: Smile Hoegwan

My husband and I actually prefer pork belly (samgyeopsal) over beef! We go to samgyeopsal places all the time, but we'd never actually been to a naengsam (frozen pork belly) spot. Honestly, I think this was the first time in my life I went out specifically to eat naengsam.

I stumbled across a naengsam mukbang on YouTube and suddenly had to have it, so I looked up a good naengsam place in Changwon! It even had a baby chair, which made it super convenient to go with our kid. Here's my review of Smile Hoegwan, a naengsam spot with lots of branches around Changwon.

Basic info for Smile Hoegwan Daebang, a naengsam spot in Changwon

• Location: 14 Gayang-ro 136beon-gil, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, Unit 101
• Hours: Daily 3:30 PM–11:50 PM
• Seating: 6 tables
• Extras: Baby chairs and baby dishware available

The outside atmosphere

We parked on the street in Daebang-dong and arrived at Smile Hoegwan Daebang. It was our first time at a naengsam place, and the vibe felt like an old-school diner from way back.

Interior, seating, and baby chairs

The interior was smaller than I expected, but the tables were nicely arranged in a long row! Still, there were six 4-person tables, so I saw groups gathering there too. We sat near the entrance >.< They even had a baby chair, which you wouldn't expect at a naengsam place, so we could eat comfortably with our kid.

Menu

This is the menu at Smile Hoegwan Daebang, a naengsam spot in Changwon. It also shows how to double-enjoy Smile Hoegwan. They don't grill it 100% for you, but they helped out a lot. And grilling naengsam wasn't as tricky as I thought compared to regular samgyeopsal! We ordered the mixed naengsam set and fried rice.

What does the mixed naengsam set look like?

The basic spread at this Daebang-dong meat restaurant looked so appetizing. Green onion kimchi, kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake), the kimchi we'd later grill! Since we came with our kid, they even gave us separate gim-garu (seaweed flakes) and rolled egg, which touched me so much.

Since it was our first naengsam, I was really curious how it would all come together. ><

The staff grilled it deliciously, laid out in a neat row.

Ordering the mixed set was great because we got to try a variety of cuts.

And naengsam cooks so fast! Less waiting time means more happiness. Kimchi grilled alongside the meat is a must. Some BBQ places these days won't let you grill kimchi with the meat, which is a bummer, so it was great that naengsam let us do it without a fuss.

Cooked naengsam eaten with green onion kimchi and kimchi jeon. Even on its own it was delicious.

Since the pork belly cooked so fast, we ate it with grilled kimchi, in lettuce wraps, and with Smile Hoegwan's specially made sauce. Naengsam has a different charm from the thick, slow-cooked kind of samgyeopsal.

On top of that, unlike cheaper naengsam places that sell meat distributed already frozen, Smile Hoegwan's pork belly is apparently premium fresh meat that they flash-freeze and process themselves in-house.

Trying the hangjeongsal too

Next up, trying the hangjeongsal (pork neck)!

We tried the hangjeongsal with the various side dishes too. Even the fat on the meat was so tasty that day. I looked up the restaurant on Naver and it said Smile Hoegwan finishes with fried rice, so we ordered fried rice to finish the meal too.

Finishing with fried rice

We ordered the fried rice while leaving a bit of meat on the grill, so eating the meat mixed into the fried rice was delicious too. Fried rice pairs so well as the finish to a pork belly meal, so if you visit Smile Hoegwan, make sure to order fried rice after the meat!

We'd eaten so much kimchi that I wondered if it'd taste too strong, so I ended up eating the fried rice with a lettuce wrap too, and the flavors balanced really well >.< This was our first visit to Smile Hoegwan, a naengsam spot in Changwon, and also our first naengsam meal ever — and it was so delicious. If you're searching for a good naengsam spot in Changwon, I recommend checking out Smile Hoegwan, a meat restaurant in Daebang-dong, Changwon.