Korean BBQ near Children's Grand Park with cold noodles: Ssamchae

Why we chose a Guui Station BBQ restaurant after Children's Grand Park

Today I'm sharing a Guui Station restaurant we stopped at after taking the kids to Children's Grand Park. I went with a close friend and our kids that day. The weather was cool, perfect for walking, and after wandering the park for a while everyone was starving. We were looking for somewhere the kids could eat well and the adults could get a solid meal too, and that's when we found Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal (쌈채솥뚜껑삼겹살), a Korean BBQ restaurant near Guui Station!!

What I loved most was the unlimited fresh wrap greens and variety of side dishes. Since you can eat pork belly together with all those vegetables, it seemed like a solid pick for visiting with kids, so we decided on this place.

Where Ssamchae is and where to park: 5 minutes from Guui Station

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal is located in Jayang-dong, not far from Guui Station.

The address is 55 Jayang-ro, 102-dong 103-ho, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

We drove and used a nearby public parking lot. It was a weekend afternoon, and by the time we finished eating, parking enforcement in the area seemed to be pretty thorough. Rather than risk parking on the street thinking it'd only be a minute, it seems safer to walk a little further and use the public lot instead.

Walking in, the first thing that caught my eye was the huge iron lid sitting on every table. Grilling meat on the iron lid, then cooking kimchi, bean sprouts, and bracken in the rendered fat — that's exactly the style of Korean BBQ I love, so I was excited even before the meat arrived.

What we ordered: the ₩57,000 iron-lid half-set plus pork belly and pork neck

We ordered the iron-lid half-set: a ₩57,000 set made up of one serving each of pork belly, pork neck, pork jowl, and pork skin. To eat more generously, we added an extra serving of pork belly (₩17,000) and an extra serving of pork neck (₩17,000).

Side dishes: unlimited kkodeulppaegi, myeong-i namul and mustard leaf kimchi

Before the meat came out, I checked out the basic side dishes, and I really loved the lineup — kkodeuribbagi (bitter wild greens pickle), myeong-i namul (pickled mountain garlic leaves), and mustard leaf kimchi. It wasn't just the usual side dishes you see at any BBQ spot; there was a nice variety of pickles and kimchi that paired well with the meat.

These side dishes were also unlimited refill from the self-serve zone, so we could eat as much as we wanted. I especially loved the bitter, salty flavor of kkodeuribbagi paired with the meat, and wrapping meat in myeong-i namul cut through the richness while waking up the palate.

The self-serve greens bar, plus sweet pumpkin, eggplant and mushrooms to grill

The biggest strength of this place is definitely the wrap greens self-serve zone. Lettuce and perilla leaves, of course, plus various fresh vegetables you could take as much as you wanted. Everything looked fresh and none of it was wilted, which made it even better.

Beyond the wrap greens, there was also sweet pumpkin, eggplant, and mushrooms ready to be grilled. When visiting with kids you sometimes end up just eating meat the whole time, but being able to pile on all kinds of vegetables and eat a hearty meal felt really nice.

When the pork belly and pork neck hit the big iron lid, there was a sizzle and a savory smell spread through the air.

Beside the meat, they piled on plenty of kimchi, bean sprouts, and bracken, and also grilled the sweet pumpkin, eggplant, and mushrooms we'd brought from the self-serve zone. The vegetables and side dishes, browned in pork fat, made a fantastic combination with the pork belly.

Everything tasted much richer than if it had just been plain-grilled, soaked in the fat rendering off the meat. Especially piling well-cooked kimchi, bean sprouts, and bracken on top of the pork belly gave that real sense of properly eating iron-lid samgyeopsal.

How the cuts tasted: pork belly, pork neck, pork jowl and pork skin

The meat looked fresh just to look at, and eating it, the portions were quite generous and the flavor was excellent too.

The pork belly had a good balance of lean meat and fat, savory and juicy. The pork neck was thick but not dry — tender enough that even the kids ate it well.

The pork jowl had that distinctive chewy, springy texture done just right. In particular, the pork neck, pork jowl, and pork skin were the pieces the kids really enjoyed eating.

Since the set lets you try several cuts at once, there was fun in the kids picking out the pieces they liked best.

We grilled the pork skin browned at the end — it had a chewy texture and savory flavor, perfect as a little treat.

Loading fresh wrap greens with browned pork belly, kimchi, bracken, and garlic and taking one big bite — all the fatigue from walking so long just melted away.

At first I thought the half-set would be enough, but the kids ate better than expected and the adults were hungry too, so we ordered extra pork belly and pork neck. It wasn't so much that the portion was lacking — it was more that the meat was so good we wanted to eat a bit more of it.

Mixing up the pairings a little — myeong-i namul with pork jowl, kkodeuribbagi with pork neck — kept things from getting repetitive all the way through.

With free access to all the vegetables and side dishes, this seems like a Guui Station BBQ spot that anyone who loves ssam wraps would enjoy.

Doenjang jjigae and cold mul naengmyeon to finish

Sometimes at a BBQ place the meat is great but the stew or noodles are just average, right? But here, the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth) were better than expected.

The doenjang jjigae was great to spoon up alongside the meat, with a warm, savory broth that paired well with the pork.

The mul naengmyeon was a nice, refreshing way to finish off after eating a good amount of meat. Piling well-grilled meat right on top of the cold noodles like this—

an endless eating cycle!!

The ice-cold draft beer that came in a big glass also went really well with the iron-lid samgyeopsal. After walking around with the kids all day and being that hungry, one sip of cold draft beer felt like a life saver.. just look at those bubbles fizzing.. (I had to drive, so eyes only for me)

After spending time with the kids at Children's Grand Park, we went looking for somewhere to have a hearty dinner and ended up at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal. It was great being able to try several cuts of meat at once, plus all the fresh wrap greens and side dishes like kkodeuribbagi, myeong-i namul, and mustard leaf kimchi we could pile on freely.

Hours, address and parking at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal

• Address: 55 Jayang-ro, 102-dong 103-ho, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea (about 5 min walk from Guui Station)
• Hours: Daily 12:00–24:00
• Last order: 23:00
• Parking: Limited dedicated parking — a nearby public lot is recommended

Verdict: a Jayang-dong BBQ restaurant that works with kids

After spending time with the kids, we went looking for somewhere to have a hearty dinner and ended up at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal. It was great being able to try several cuts of meat at once, plus all the fresh wrap greens and side dishes like kkodeuribbagi, myeong-i namul, and mustard leaf kimchi we could pile on freely.

Grilling sweet pumpkin, eggplant, and mushrooms together on the iron lid made the meal so much more substantial. Most of all, the kids happily ate the pork neck, pork jowl, and pork skin, which made me feel like we'd chosen well for a family dinner spot.

The portions were generous, the meat was excellent, and even the doenjang jjigae and mul naengmyeon were good — a place I'd recommend to anyone near Guui Station or Jayang-dong looking for a BBQ restaurant to visit with kids.