Hapjeong Korean BBQ for five, 3-4 person set plus pork jowl: Ijjok

My friends and I decided to meet up after a while and were trying to figure out what to eat for dinner in Hapjeong, so I searched for a good Korean BBQ restaurant near Hapjeong Station and found Ijjok Kimchi Samgyeopsal (이쪽 김치삼겹살) 🥩🔥🔥 The name itself is all about kimchi and pork belly, so as a meat lover, I couldn't NOT go, haha. It's not far from Hapjeong Station, so it was easy to visit for dinner, and this day we ate everything from pork to fried rice properly 😋 (just thinking about it again is making me drool...)

Where is Ijjok Kimchi Samgyeopsal? Walking there from Hapjeong Station

Ijjok Kimchi Samgyeopsal is on the basement floor at 20 Dokmak-ro 3-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, tucked into an alley not far from Hapjeong Station. It's in a good spot for people getting around on foot too! Since it's not far from Hapjeong Station, you can visit without any burden, haha. Follow the alley in and you'll see the Ijjok Kimchi Samgyeopsal sign. I visited in the evening and the sign was lit up, so it wasn't hard to find :)

📍 Address: 20 Dokmak-ro 3-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, basement 1st floor ⏰ Hours: Last order 22:00 ※ Check Naver for closed days.

The place you see in the left photo is the 1st floor, and we were guided down the stairs!

What five people get in the 3-4 person set, plus the side dishes

We visited as five people this day, so we ordered the 3-4 person set! We also ordered Jinro soju and zero-sugar cola, haha. You can't have meat without a drink 🍻

Once we ordered, they set up the basic banchan (side dishes) first! Lettuce, green onion shreds, garlic, chili, and ssamjang (dipping sauce) came out, along with bean sprouts that go well with the meat. The banchan spread was pretty generous, haha.

There was wasabi and salt too, so we portioned it out onto our small plates to taste — ready to eat!!

And the set came with jjigae (stew) and steamed egg too! The table was already packed before the meat even arrived, haha. With hot jjigae and fluffy steamed egg, it was perfect to eat alongside the meat in between bites 🤤

Staff grill the kimchi and pork belly, even for seats far from the grill

Ijjok Kimchi Samgyeopsal is a place where staff grill the meat for you directly. Finally, the meat we ordered arrived 🥩 Since it was for five people, it came out as a full grill, haha. Let's get grilling!! 🔥🔥🔥

Having staff grill the meat made it so easy to just eat, haha. The kimchi gets grilled together with the pork fat too, and honestly... this combo can't NOT be delicious 🤤 Watching it turn golden brown while waiting patiently ♡

The table was long, so for seats far from the grill, they served the grilled meat and kimchi separately! They plated it nicely near the grill too, and even looked after people sitting far away — that kind of thoughtfulness is honestly kind of touching, haha. There's seating for several people together, so I thought this could work as a group dinner spot near Hapjeong Station! These days a lot of places are tricky to book for large groups, but here you can seat 5 to 8 people together, so it'd be great for friend gatherings too, haha.

How does the pork, bean sprout and kimchi wrap taste?

Before we knew it, the table was completely full lol. With pork, kimchi, steamed egg, and jjigae all there, it really felt like we came here to eat meat properly 🤤 Wrapping pork + bean sprouts + kimchi together was the icing on the cake!!! I usually don't expect much from samgyeopsal (pork belly), but here my friends kept saying it was so good with every bite, lol. The meat was thick and the kimchi was grilled whole, and eating them together was genuinely so good, T_T This place is impossible not to revisit... I already want to go eat again

(psst... we already made plans for two weeks from now, haha)

Adding pork jowl when a late friend arrived

Actually, up until this point, one friend still hadn't arrived, haha. Once the late friend joined, we added pork jowl and more pork belly!! Personally, I don't usually eat pork jowl much. The pork jowl I'd had before was thin and never really felt particularly delicious. But the pork jowl here was genuinely delicious... it made me feel once again that this place is serious about meat!! Even though I was already pretty full, it kept going in. If my stomach could've stretched just a little more, I think I really would've ordered more, T_T

Finishing the meal with fried rice

If you've eaten meat, you can't resist fried rice!!! After saying we were full, we still properly ordered fried rice, lol. This is a fried rice photo I hurriedly took while eating without thinking, ha... I only remembered I needed to take a picture too late 🤣

We were clearly full, but apparently there was a separate compartment for fried rice, ha...

🥩 If even the pork jowl I don't usually eat much was delicious, that says it all 🤤 Return visit confirmed!