Cheonan BBQ kkotmoksal and kimchi stew for two: Cham Dwaejitgan

My husband and son went off on a trip together, and suddenly I was a free woman for the day with nothing planned. Normally I'd be figuring out where to take my kid and what to feed him, but this time I decided to spend the day entirely on myself.

As it happened, I'd hurt my knee and ankle working out and they were still throbbing. At times like this I figure I should eat well and take care of my body, so I decided to load up on protein. And when you say protein, you think meat, right? Haha.

I looked around from restaurants near Wangsaeu-nara in Dujeong-dong to samgyeopsal (pork belly) spots in Cheonan, and settled on a place where a friend and I could eat well and talk comfortably that evening. Let me tell you about this rare night out as a free woman!

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

• Address: 10 Wondujeong 5-gil, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, Unit 101
• Hours: 4:00 PM – 4:00 AM the next day
• Parking: available in front of the restaurant (please call ahead to confirm availability)
• Reservations, Wi-Fi, group-friendly, high chair, pets not allowed, corkage allowed

What does the restaurant look like from outside?

Cham Dwaejitgan in Dujeong-dong was easy to spot even from a distance, with a black sign accented by eye-catching red and yellow. The clean yet bold exterior caught my eye as I passed by. If you're looking for a good restaurant near Wangsaeu-nara in Dujeong-dong, this one's worth keeping in mind.

What is on the menu at Cham Dwaejitgan?

At Cham Dwaejitgan Cheonan Dujeong Branch, we ordered the Boseong green pork flower neck cut, kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), margarine soy sauce egg rice, and Jirisan kudzu cold noodles. Ordering everything from meat to rice dishes meant we ended up with a table full of food. Since it was a rare evening out with a friend, we decided to enjoy good meat and fill up properly too.

How were the kkotmoksal and kimchi jjigae?

They grilled kimchi, bean sprouts, minari (water dropwort), potato, and shishito peppers alongside the meat.

There were so many ingredients good for eating alongside the meat that it looked plentiful just to look at.

The vegetables, grilled to a nice golden brown, cut through the richness of the meat when eaten together, and it was exactly my style. The minari in particular paired so well with the meat that I never got tired of it, no matter how much I ate.

Margarine soy sauce egg rice

The margarine soy sauce egg rice combined the savory scent of margarine with salty soy sauce and egg, for a flavor that felt familiar yet kept me reaching for more. It was great to pair with warm rice after eating meat, and being savory and mild, it'd also be a good order if you're visiting with kids. It seemed like a combination that would taste good even with a piece of meat on top.

Jirisan kudzu cold noodles

One of the things you eat with meat is naengmyeon (cold noodles), and at this place it was the Jirisan kudzu cold noodles.

The chewy texture of the kudzu noodles and the icy broth danced in my mouth. I thought the weather had cooled down a lot, but it was still hot enough to leave me really thirsty, and after this dish I let out an involuntary 'ahh!' of relief.

Mixing up the grilled side combinations

We tried wrapping potato, meat, bean sprouts, and minari together all at once. This time we also tried minari with kimchi, and separately kimchi with bean sprouts.

With so many grilled ingredients on the table, the flavor and texture changed a little depending on which combination you went with, and mixing and matching them was genuinely fun. Meat really does taste better with a variety of sides.

Is Cham Dwaejitgan good for two friends?

Being a free woman for a rare evening, I got to eat great meat with a friend and chat at leisure — a genuinely enjoyable dinner. Having the staff grill the meat for us made it easy to just sit back and eat, and getting to enjoy so many sides like kimchi, bean sprouts, and minari made it even more satisfying.

After filling up on the margarine soy sauce egg rice and kudzu cold noodles too, I felt like I'd properly stocked up on protein, haha. If you're looking for a good samgyeopsal spot near Wangsaeu-nara in Dujeong-dong, Cham Dwaejitgan is worth keeping in mind for its variety of sides and hearty meal options. From dinners with friends to family outings, it's a good spot to visit whenever you're craving good meat.