Buldang-dong group dinner in Cheonan: 7-cut pork platter, 36,000 won

This time I'm introducing "Euljiro Yeontan Gui" in Buldang-dong, Cheonan.

Where is Euljiro Yeontan Gui Cheonan Buldang Branch, and is there parking?

Hours - 17:00–02:00 (weekends start at 16:00, no days off)

Location: 1st floor of the Starbucks building across from Cheonan City Hall

You can park free for 2 hours in the underground lot.

When I went on a weekday evening there were already a ton of people there, and I immediately knew it was a good spot. When lots of office workers, especially older guys, show up on a weekday = 100% a good restaurant.

Ordering pork by the 100g and what's on the self-serve bar

They sell meat by the 100g here, which makes it so easy to order a bit of everything!! You can even get seafood as a side 😋

True to its name, a charcoal brazier greeted us. Besides the basic side dishes, you can help yourself to vegetables and other banchan (side dishes) from the self-serve bar.

Pineapple, onion, perilla leaf & lettuce, chives, bean sprouts, kimchi, garlic, chili peppers, all of it!! And if you're having pork skin, make sure to grab the soybean powder : )

What comes on the 36,000-won seven-cut pork platter?

What we ordered was the pork platter (36,000 won). This platter comes with pork belly, pork neck, jowl meat, nuchal muscle, back meat, skirt meat and pork skin — if you're stuck on what to order, I highly recommend this one. Especially for two people like us, ordering a bunch of individual cuts can feel like too much, so it was great being able to try a variety of cuts in one platter.

And using the hot weather as an excuse, a bottle of Terra 🍻🍺

But hearing what the owner said, it sounds like when it's cold I'll need to come back with that excuse too 😋 Buying booze instead of clothes~ the meat is just a supporting player.

The drinks and beverage menu is this varied. If I'd driven I would've had Terra Zero!! But today, proudly!! Terra!!

First on the grill: pork belly and neck with four dipping sauces

First up were pork belly and pork neck. The sauces on hand were seasoned salt, wasabi, ssamjang and myeoljeot.

I just kept waiting for it to finish cooking — the meat sizzling under that red charcoal glow looked so gorgeous.

I debated which sauce to dip the first piece of belly in

but in the end I went classic. The juices just burst out.

Next I tried it with seasoned salt topped with wasabi, and yeah, salt really is the answer if you want to taste the meat as it is.

I put a piece of meat on top of bean sprouts that had been sizzling away, and wow, I devoured it! But here, meat alone just tastes better, so I mostly ate meat by itself.

Nuchal meat, skirt meat and jowl: how the cuts taste different

Wow... next up was the nuchal muscle, and it's a whole different flavor. After the pork neck and belly, the nuchal muscle was even better!! Chewy texture with firm, savory fat that clings to your tongue more than the belly did.

Next up was the skirt meat, which had a clean, chewy texture that sort of reset the palate after the savoriness of the nuchal muscle.

Jowl meat is delicious no matter what!!! It's my favorite cut — fatty and tender, so good.

Cold buckwheat noodles, pork skin and makchang to finish

Once the pork skin is grilled to a nice golden brown, the pork course is basically done, but ending there felt like a waste,

so we got cold noodles ready to go. Now that the cold noodles were prepped, it felt like we could start all over again.

The last item of the pork course, the pork skin, was delicious too. I'd only ever had the thin kind of skin before, so this plump, chewy skin was genuinely amazing! And at only 5,000 won for two pieces, such a reasonable price!

The cold noodles were so refreshing and tangy, exactly what you need when your mouth is starting to feel greasy.

So for the next and final round we ordered makchang, and that wrapped up today's pork course!

Along the way, the owner's handwritten notes and friendly comments were fun to spot here and there!

Is Euljiro Yeontan Gui worth it for a group dinner in Cheonan?

• Selling meat by the 100g lets you try a variety of cuts, and it also works great as a second-round spot
• Because it's charcoal-fired, the heat is gentle and steady, so even a beginner can grill without burning anything
• The cozy, warm atmosphere makes it a perfect spot for friends, couples or coworkers
• Getting 2 hours of free parking in a parking-scarce area like Buldang-dong feels like a real perk