Hongdae Station Korean BBQ with outdoor grill seats: Chopilsal
Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch is a Korean BBQ restaurant near Hongdae Station in Mapo, Seoul, specializing in ogyeopsal (thick pork belly) and pork skin, and it started out in Haeundae, Busan. After a musical, the writer dropped in on a whim, joined the Catch Table waitlist, and took a first-floor outdoor seat for 2 servings of salted ogyeopsal, 1 serving of dwitgogi (off-cut pork), and the signature honeycomb pork skin with minari (water dropwort) and salted shrimp sauce. The open-air flames flared up in the wind, but the pork skin made it obvious why it is the house specialty.