Bangi Station Korean BBQ sauce pairings on Hangul Day: Dangsan Odol

On an early evening on Hangul Day (the Korean alphabet holiday), I went out near Bangi Station for some meat with my group.

When you search for a good BBQ place around Bangi Station, Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch (당산오돌 방이점) keeps showing up for its kkodeulsal. You can have kkodeulsal, a special pork cut, and lamb ribs together, and there's perilla oil makguksu (buckwheat noodles) for the meal part, so it looked like a good way to get both the meat and the meal done in one go. Today I'll go through 2 portions of kkodeulsal, 1 portion of lamb ribs and the makguksu, plus the best sauce and side combos!

What people often wonder before visiting Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch

How close is it to Bangi Station?

Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch is about 195 m from Exit 4 of Bangi Station on Line 5, so it's roughly a 3-minute walk.

Is there parking?

There's a private parking lot right in front of the restaurant. Parking is a flat ₩2,000, and valet is also ₩2,000.

Can it handle group gatherings?

There's a group room that fits up to 36 people. For group bookings, call the restaurant.

Is there a first-order rule?

Your first order needs to be at least 2 portions of one menu item. After that, you can order 1 portion per item.

Is it open on public holidays?

It's open on Sundays and public holidays too. We went on Hangul Day, after all.

Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch basic info

• Address: 2-7 Yangjae-daero 71-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul
• Location: about 195 m from Exit 4 of Bangi Station (Line 5)
• Hours: 11:30–22:00 (break 16:00–17:00), last order 21:00
• Parking: private lot (flat ₩2,000 / valet ₩2,000)
• Groups: group room for up to 36 people
• Amenities: reservations, takeout, high chairs, wheelchair accessible
• Coupon: free highball coupon when booking via Naver

What are the exterior and parking lot like?

Come out of Exit 4 of Bangi Station and walk straight, and you'll spot Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch pretty quickly. The Odol sign is on the ground floor of the building, and menu names like kkodeulsal, lamb ribs and odolgalbi are written in big letters above the entrance.

The parking lot is right in front, so even if you bring a car you don't have to hunt around. At a flat ₩2,000 the fee is no big burden, and valet costs the same.

What are the interior and seating like?

Inside, the dining hall stretches out long. Wooden tables are set with generous spacing, in seating for 4 up to 6, and I saw plenty of families too.

A ventilation duct runs along the ceiling and each table has its own exhaust, so even though it's a charcoal BBQ place, the smoke didn't build up much. The lantern lighting along the walls made it cozy too.

What are the menu and prices at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch?

The main menu here centers on special pork cuts.

Kkodeulsal, odolgalbi, silk mango fresh pork neck and seasoned pork neck are ₩19,000 for 180 g of domestic pork. Lamb ribs (Australian shoulder rack, 200 g) and snowflake galbi are ₩25,000, and scored pork skin is ₩15,000. For meals, perilla oil makguksu, bibim makguksu (spicy mixed noodles) and cold soba are ₩10,000 each, and the menu says they're made with 100% buckwheat noodles. At lunch there are also mulberry-leaf teolle sujebi (hand-pulled dough soup) and spicy stir-fried webfoot octopus.

The walls inside also have detailed descriptions of the menu, which I liked!

To meet the first-order rule, we ordered 2 portions of kkodeulsal and 1 portion of lamb ribs, and finished with perilla oil makguksu. (Kkodeulsal ₩38,000 + lamb ribs ₩25,000 + makguksu ₩10,000)

The top of the menu says grilling and extra side dishes are self-service, so keep that in mind!

What comes with the basic table setting?

When you sit down at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch, the side dishes are laid out in a ring around the charcoal spot in the middle. Here they are one by one!

• Lettuce: comes in a generous basket.
• Ssammu (pickled radish wraps): pink and sweet-sour.
• Radish salad (musaengchae): shredded radish lightly seasoned with chili flakes.
• Pickled onion: thinly sliced, so it cuts the grease of the meat.
• Perilla leaves: a bit salty, great for wrapping meat.
• Garlic and ssamjang (dipping paste): raw garlic and ssamjang each come in their own little section.

If you run short on side dishes, you can refill at the self-service bar. Onion, perilla leaves, ssammu, radish salad, garlic and ssamjang were all stocked just like the ones on the table.

How many sauces are there?

There were more sauces at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch than I expected.

• Salt: coarse salt served separately for each person. The menu says they use Andes salt.
• Seasoning powder: an orange powder that's slightly spicy with a savory depth.
• Wasabi: nice to put on the meat in small dabs.
• Soy chili sauce: soy sauce with cheongyang and red chili peppers, salty with a spicy kick at the end.
• Meljeot (salted anchovy sauce): put it on the edge of the charcoal and it warms up. Dipping kkodeulsal in it brought out a savory depth.

How to grill kkodeulsal and lamb ribs better

Every table has a grilling guide posted.

• Flip kkodeulsal and scored pork skin once every 15 seconds
• Flip the thick silk mango pork neck once every 20 seconds
• When the flames flare up, pull the meat off briefly and put it back

Since you grill it yourself, first-timers will find it easier to follow this order. If you put the meljeot pot on the edge of the charcoal from the start, it's nicely warm by the time the meat is cooked.

How do the lamb ribs at Dangsan Odol come out?

The lamb ribs at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch are Australian shoulder rack, served as two big pieces with long bones attached.

A stalk of green onion comes on top, so you can grill it together. Now let's grill the lamb ribs properly! They're thick, so I'm cooking the outside first.

The outside was charred over the charcoal with a subtle smoky flavor, and the inside stayed moist with a bit of pink left. Next I cut them into bite-size pieces and grilled them once more.

They chew softly along the grain, and the lamb flavor is only faint, so even people who don't eat lamb often should be fine. The meat around the bone was the chewiest and most savory,

and the part with fat was chewy but melted in my mouth. The green onion grilled alongside got slightly charred outside and sweet inside, and it went really well with a bite of lamb rib.

What cut is kkodeulsal?

Kkodeulsal is said to be a back-neck cut that yields only about 400 g per pig. The 2 portions of kkodeulsal at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch came thickly sliced on a round plate, with white fat running through the lean meat along the grain.

Now I'm putting the thick kkodeulsal on. I flipped it every 15 seconds as instructed, and the outside cooked up golden brown,

while the fat turned translucent and glossy as it cooked.

Take a bite and the outside is slightly crisp, with a springy, kkodok-kkodok chew the more you chew. It's not hard like odolppyeo (pork cartilage); it's closer to chewy, with a pleasant bounce against your teeth. Juices seep out as you chew, and the fat is savory without lingering as greasy.

It's firmer than pork neck (moksal) and less fatty than hangjeongsal (pork jowl), a happy medium, so I didn't get tired of it even after many pieces. There's hardly any gamey smell either, so I recommend starting with just a light dip in salt.

Lamb ribs vs. kkodeulsal

Kkodeulsal leans chewy and clean-tasting while the lamb ribs lean tender and rich, so alternating between them kept the flavors from overlapping.

Kkodeulsal and lamb rib sauce and side combos, all in one place

After trying many combos at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch, the best match was a little different for each meat. I recommend eating the first bite with nothing on it. Kkodeulsal has a chewy texture and isn't very fatty, so it's on the clean side and good for tasting the meat itself first.

1. Kkodeulsal + salt

A light dip in the coarse salt brings out the meat's savory flavor. The grains are coarse, so it can get salty if you dip too much; go bit by bit.

2. Lamb ribs + spicy seasoning powder

Roll the lamb ribs in the spicy seasoning powder and

the lamb smell fades and the spiciness comes in, so it also works as a snack with drinks.

3. Fatty parts + wasabi

For the fattier parts, put a little wasabi on top and it tingles up your nose and cleanly cuts the greasiness.

4. Wasabi + soy chili sauce

Keep the wasabi on the meat and dip it lightly into the soy chili sauce, and you get salty, spicy and pungent all at once. It pairs well with the lamb ribs too.

5. Kkodeulsal + meljeot

This is the signature combo the restaurant recommends too. The warmed meljeot has cheongyang peppers and garlic in it, so it's salty with a spicy finish.

It went best with the clean-tasting kkodeulsal.

6. Lettuce + ssammu + radish salad + meat

Lay pink ssammu on lettuce, add radish salad and meat, and wrap it up: sweet-sour and crunchy, so it's less greasy. Adding garlic or a perilla leaf works well too.

Wrapping it in onion, chili peppers or perilla leaves is tasty too.

The finishing kick: perilla oil makguksu

After finishing the meat, I ordered the perilla oil makguksu (₩10,000) at Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch to wrap things up. It comes with seaweed flakes and sesame seeds heaped on top of 100% buckwheat noodles.

Toss it around well with your chopsticks and the sauce at the bottom coats the noodles evenly while the perilla oil aroma rises up, rich and nutty. The buckwheat noodles break off with a snap and taste earthy the more you chew, and the soy-based sauce is salty with a slight sweetness, seasoned just right without being heavy. The seaweed flakes add salty savoriness and the sesame seeds add a popping nuttiness.

It comes out cold, so it cleaned up my mouth after the meat. Wrapping a leftover piece of kkodeulsal in the noodles brought the richness back once more, and I enjoyed it down to the last bite.

Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch as a group gathering spot?

Dangsan Odol Bangi Branch has a spacious hall plus a group room that fits up to 36 people. The parking lot is right in front too, so for company dinners or family gatherings arriving in several cars, it's worth considering as a BBQ place near Olympic Park.

Receipt review highball perk

You get a free highball for a receipt photo review, so be sure to take part!

Visit wrap-up

Kkodeulsal has a chewy texture and a clean taste, so it's good even on its own, but personally I liked it best with salt, wasabi and meljeot. For the lamb ribs, the seasoning powder (the kind you have with lamb skewers) and the soy chili sauce worked well. With so many sauces, there's fun in switching things up even within a single grill.

One catch: you grill the meat yourself, so if it's your first time, I recommend following the table guide to get the flipping timing right. I hope this helps anyone looking for a BBQ place near Bangi Station, or one near Olympic Park with easy parking!