Frozen samgyeopsal in shio-yaki sauce with lettuce refills, Woosam

A frozen samgyeopsal specialist inside Cheongju's Wonmaru Market

This time I went to a place famous for cold-frozen samgyeopsal (frozen pork belly) in Cheongju, tucked inside Wonmaru Market in Bunpyeong-dong. It was a genuinely satisfying meat restaurant — known for quick-frozen pork belly and a special shio-yaki soy sauce. If you've been looking for proper frozen samgyeopsal, let's see why everyone says it's good!

The thing that surprised me the moment I sat down was the generous basic table setting — hot fish cake, soft and savory steamed egg, and even fried shrimp came out, so I ended up saying, wow, a place that gives you this much! It was great having appetizers to eat before the meat even arrived.

Hours and parking

• Hours: Mon–Sat 16:00–24:00 / Last order 23:30
• Closed on Sundays
• Parking: street parking available nearby, reportedly

Woosam is in the food alley inside Wonmaru Market in Bunpyeong-dong, Cheongju, serving Hanwoo... well, Hanwoo-grade frozen pork belly — cold samgyeopsal, or naengsam — eaten shio-yaki style, rich with umami. I'd actually visited their Yulryang-dong location many times before.

The atmosphere, the private room, and the self-serve bar

I visited late on a weekday night, around 9pm, and as soon as I walked in, the wide tables were about half full. This photo was taken as we were leaving, and I saw the staff immediately clearing the table and wiping down the grill plate right after a customer left — it made me think, wow, they really keep this place clean. Hygiene matters a lot to me, so that stood out.

Woosam Bunpyeong Direct Branch, a frozen samgyeopsal specialist in Cheongju, has a private room in the back that seemed like a good spot for group gatherings or company dinners. There are 4 tables, so it's a decent setup for a group — I'd love to come back with people next time. Keep this in mind if you're planning a visit.

There's a self-serve bar with various side dishes and grilled items, so keep that in mind too.

There are also disposable aprons, a locker for valuables, and self-serve coffee.

Frozen pork belly, 3 servings, and how to grill it well

Since this is Woosam, a frozen samgyeopsal specialist, of course I ordered 3 servings of frozen pork belly and planned to have fried rice afterward. The trick to eating it well is to flip it often or shake it around like stir-frying — let me show you.

The 3 servings of frozen pork belly arrived, and I immediately dunked them into the special shio-yaki sauce and placed them on the grill over medium heat.

Never use the highest heat — medium heat only. Just press down gently on the thin-sliced pork with tongs and shake it while it cooks, flipping it once or twice along the way, and you'll get delicious frozen pork belly.

The basic table setting: fish cake, steamed egg, fried shrimp

Fried shrimp, steamed egg, and fish cake came out, and I was happy to have something to nibble on as a palate cleanser before the pork belly finished cooking.

Shake it like this, flip it once or twice, and it grills up delicious — give it a try!!

Lettuce and green onion shreds refilled, plus retro sides

The thin-sliced pork was... seriously so moist and juicy, totally my style, so I spread on some ssamjang (Korean dipping sauce) and ate it with the green onion shreds — delicious.

I was eating happily, and then wrapping it in lettuce made it even better?? So I refilled the lettuce, and refilled the green onion shreds too!! I kept eating and eating. I still had to eat fried rice, so it was a bit of a problem.

My mom used to make these often when I was little — grilling that nostalgic pink old-school sausage brought back memories, and eating fried shrimp during every holiday came flooding back too. Woosam had that whole retro feel to it.

I also had the fluffy, slightly savory steamed egg and some grilled little water dumplings — the snacking spread was really substantial.

Finishing with self-serve fried rice

I'd eaten so much lettuce that I was already full, so I only ordered one serving of self-serve fried rice, chopping up the leftover meat and grilled kimchi crunchily to get ready for stir-frying.

I stir-fried the rice right away, spread it out wide, and let the moisture cook off before eating it, blowing on it to cool it down — such a delicious, filling, satisfying meal. This was Woosam, a frozen samgyeopsal specialist and Cheongju favorite! From the basic table setting to the flavor of the frozen pork belly to the staff's friendliness, nothing was missing — if you want to enjoy proper Cheongju-style frozen samgyeopsal, Woosam Bunpyeong Direct Branch is a definite repeat-visit kind of place!!