Hapjeong BBQ restaurant, 2-person set of 20-day aged pork: Gim

I had plans to meet a friend in Seoul today, so I headed to Hapjeong. She said she wanted meat, so I looked up well-reviewed BBQ spots and came across Gim Sukseong (김숙성), which has this lovely old-school (노포) vibe. I made a reservation. Here's my very satisfying visit!

Where is Gim Sukseong Hapjeong Branch, and what are the hours?

📌 Location — 1-minute walk from Hapjeong Station, no parking on site, use nearby public parking lots

📌 Hours — Daily 11:30 to 1:00 the next day

Gim Sukseong Hapjeong Branch: the storefront, the outdoor seating and what to order

Gim Sukseong was just a short walk from Hapjeong Station. The sign, which looked like it was made with blue tape, already had that old-school charm going hahaha.

I visited on a Thursday at 7pm. Maybe because the weather was soooo nice, the place was already packed inside! The old-school outdoor tent seating with the lighting was perfect too.

Here's the Gim Sukseong menu. The review event is super generous too.... they give you cheese buldak.... While I was staring at the menu trying to decide, a staff member recommended something. Apparently two-person groups usually go for the Gim Sukseong Special 2, so we ordered that.

This is Gim Sukseong's dry-aging room. Gim Sukseong is a premium aged-meat BBQ restaurant that only uses top-grade domestic Korean pork, they say. (Spoiler: when I actually ate it, it was genuinely delicious.) They age it for 4 days dry-aging plus 16 days wet-aging — a total of over 20 days of cross-aging — before selling it. Whoa.

What comes with the Gim Sukseong Special 2, and how does the pork taste?

Here are the basic side dishes! Domestic aged kimchi and minari come standard 🌝 I got there before my friend and sat down, but felt awkward just sitting there, so I ordered first. Then came the devastating news that my friend would be late ㄷㄷㄷ The place was packed and I felt self-conscious, so I asked them to grill for just me. But the staff member told me not to worry and just relax while I waited 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲 I was so touched. (I ended up waiting a full 30 minutes ㅠㅠ thank you for waiting with me)

They even brought out spicy marinated crab as a basic side dish, amazing......! Among the sauce bowls, there was a brownish one near the grill — tasted like wasabi, and it was genuinely delicious haha. A real hidden gem. The kimchi was great too, so there was a lot of fun in mixing and matching everything.

The meat portion was really generous. Plenty for one guy and one girl to eat until full. There's minari hiding in the back of the plate too haha 🫶

At Gim Sukseong Hapjeong, all the meat is grilled by the staff for you. I just had to eat it at the perfect moment, which was so easy and nice 🌝

The Gim Sukseong Special 2 is a set menu with pork neck, pork belly, and gabrisal. Pork belly is my all-time favorite... so needless to say, it was chewy-tender, savory, and bursting with juices — exactly my type. The gabrisal and pork neck also had perfect texture with that savory base flavor, so I was extremely satisfied. The banchan was generous too, so eating them together cut down on any greasiness or meat fatigue ❤️

Who is Gim Sukseong Hapjeong Branch best for?

Gim Sukseong is an aged-meat BBQ restaurant near Hapjeong Station with real old-school charm. I'd recommend it to these kinds of people!

• Office workers looking for a spot for company dinners and gatherings
• College students who care about reasonable prices and atmosphere
• Anyone looking for a BBQ place with both good value and good quality
• Anyone who cares about friendly staff

Paid with my own money, and I'd definitely go back 🫶