Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ: ticket No. 127, 2h45m wait at Tapgol Gongwon

If you don't go to an outdoor tent restaurant right now, an ice age is coming 🥶🥶🥶 so here's a quick Jongno 3-ga spot

What kind of place is Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch?

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch (탑골공원 종로3가점) is an outdoor tent BBQ place right across from Tapgol Park, a short walk from Jongno 3-ga Station. I went to eat meat at the tent ~~!!!! 🎆🍗🍖🥓 The wait was over two hours but haha, honestly that's kind of a plus (?) — grilling meat late at night in front of Tapgol Park. Such a good memory ❤️

Location 📍 Right by Jongno 3-ga Station..! Directly across from Tapgol Park ~

If you head a bit further east from the Jongno 3-ga outdoor tent street, you'll find Tapgol Park — the restaurant sits right across from the park! Slightly puzzled that there was a goshiwon (study room housing) right next door though

Ticket No. 127 at 5:30pm Saturday: what time did we get a table?

I arrived at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch at 5:30pm on Saturday and got ticket No. 127; we weren't seated until 8:15pm. That's a 2 hour 45 minute wait 😱😱😱 So many people, haha ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. I wondered if the line would even clear today… but it did, haha

How to kill two hours while waiting in Jongno 3-ga

The outdoor tent vibe forgives everything, honestly. Since a wait is basically guaranteed at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch, if you line up around 5–5:30pm, you'll usually get seated between 7:30 and 8:30pm. So what do you do for those two hours?!

• Go to a café in Ikseon-dong, Seosullo-gil, or Insa-dong
• Hit a coin karaoke place a bit south in Jongno 3-ga
• Take photos at a Photoism booth

There's more to do than you'd think..! Though wherever you go, it's crowded, haha

This is the waiting status I caught on my way out at 9:25pm 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

Each table has a little basket with essentials! There were wet wipes in there, which was really handy

Let's start setting up.

Cheers 🖤

Tapgol Gongwon menu, prices and the self-serve banchan bar

Here's the menu! Pork belly ₩18,000 <- this is the frozen kind! Pork neck ₩19,000, duck roast ₩18,000, steamed egg ₩5,000, and kimchi fried rice ₩6,000…! You have to order it ❤️

The view of Tapgol Park's stone wall (?) has some romance to it ~

Loved that the banchan (side dishes) were so varied! And there's a self-serve bar near the register where you can grab unlimited refills — I really went back for more many times…!

🤤👏💛

Two servings of pork belly and one pork neck: how was it?

At Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch we skipped the set and ordered à la carte: 2 servings of pork belly, 1 of pork neck!!!!! Duck roast… eliminated over trust issues~

Pork belly calls for chamisul (soju)

They grill the pork belly for you. Kimchi, bean sprouts, bracken fern, mushrooms — grill it all up! 🍄🟫💓

Grilling away diligently

We have a steamed-egg lover in our group so we ordered that too

Wrapping meat and bean sprouts into a lettuce wrap!!!! So-so delicious 😊

This is the pork neck! I was surprised it was sliced this thin for pork neck (?), but it was definitely less greasy than the pork belly

Felt like being back in the Joseon dynasty … (?)

After finishing everything, we grilled up the kimchi, bean sprouts and bracken fern like crazy

And cleared the kimchi fried rice too!!! 🍖✌🏻 Kimchi fried rice topped with egg? Not ordering it is your loss

Is the wait at Tapgol Gongwon worth it?

I was just so, so happy …. ❤️❤️❤️ I want to be the president of the outdoor-tent-lovers club. Two of us ate 2 servings of pork belly and 1 of pork neck at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch, and it felt like a pretty generous portion. With the unlimited banchan too — bean sprouts, bracken fern, lettuce wraps — you fill up fast!!! The wait is really, really brutal, but this is a Korean BBQ place I highly recommend 💓👏