Sejong jokbal restaurant mild enough for spice-shy eaters

Today I want to introduce my favorite jokbal (pig's trotter) spot in Sejong, one I eat at all the time!!!

I think I've been here more than 5 times now 🤭🤭 This time I'm sharing my takeout review! Hahaha, let's get into Sejong's must-visit <Cheongmigwan>❤️

Cheongmigwan Sejong Naseong Main Branch is open daily 16:00–23:00, with last order at 22:00!

Cheongmigwan Sejong Naseong Main Branch: the exterior and the wait

Here's what the outside of Cheongmigwan looks like! It's a jokbal restaurant but honestly doesn't look like one at all — the interior is so upscale..🫢

During evening peak hours there's basically always a wait — it's that popular — so out front there are chairs for waiting and signage about reservations and wait info hahaha :)

Cheongmigwan's menu: what comes with each set, and the sides

They have a menu board out front so you can decide while you wait! The sets come with a main dish + handmade fruit makguksu (buckwheat noodles, regular) + chamnamul-buchu jeon (pancake, choice of whelk or oyster, oyster +₩0.5).

Main dishes at Cheongmigwan

• Cheongmi Apjokbal: domestic front-leg trotter, boiled carefully in house-roasted Solomon's seal salt for a savory, tender warm jokbal
• Cheongmi Buchu-Bulljokbal: traditional jokbal stir-fried in spicy sauce then flame-grilled for smoky char, loaded with fragrant chives and garlic — Cheongmigwan's signature dish
• Cheongmi Dubu-Kimchi Bossam: special-cut pork slow-boiled at low temperature for juicy suyuk (boiled pork), served with crisp fresh domestic bossam kimchi and homestyle tofu — the pinnacle of Cheongmigwan's cooking
• Cheongmi Banban-jokbal: half apjokbal + half buchu-bulljokbal
• Cheongmi Jokbo: apjokbal + dubu-kimchi bossam
• Cheongmi Buljokbo: buchu-bulljokbal + dubu-kimchi bossam
• Cheongmi Special: Cheongmigwan's 3 signature dishes combined (apjokbal + buchu-bulljokbal + dubu-kimchi bossam)
• Half-portion add-on: apjokbal / buchu-bulljokbal / bossam
• Extra homestyle tofu / extra bossam kimchi

Side dishes and drinks

• Sides: chamnamul-buchu jeon (pancake) / flying fish roe rice balls / handmade fruit makguksu / (seasonal) Tongyeong raw oysters / fluffy steamed egg
• Drinks: soju / beer / cheongha / hwayo / gaoliang / makgeolli, and more

That's the lineup❤️

Inside Cheongmigwan: booth seats, 4- and 6-person tables, baby chairs

The interior of Cheongmigwan is really upscale too, with all kinds of seating options ☺️☺️ There are regular tables, but also these partitioned booth-style seats, which would be great for get-togethers~!~!

On the other side there were 4- and 6-person tables too hahaha

Even the chandeliers and wallpaper patterns are surprisingly luxurious for a jokbal restaurant ✨✨ Baby chairs are also available :)

Cheongmi Buljokbo set to go: 65,000 won minus the 2,000 won takeout discount

The Cheongmi Buljokbo is ₩65,000, but with the ₩2,000 takeout discount it came to ₩63,000~!

I called a day ahead to reserve the Cheongmi Buljokbo set and picked it up the same day — they packed it up so neatly 👍👍👍✨ There was so much food inside, it was seriously heavy hahaha

It was buchu-bulljokbal + dubu-kimchi bossam, along with pickled radish, lettuce wraps, kimchi, tofu, ssamjang, salted shrimp, garlic, chili peppers, chives, and more~!~~!

Such a solid spread😎😎🤙👍👍 Now let's actually dig in~!~!~!

How spicy is the buchu bul-jokbal? My spice-shy family's verdict

Buchu-bulljokbal is my absolute favorite dish at Cheongmigwan..❤️ I love spicy food so I'm already a fire jokbal fan, but Cheongmigwan's version is packed with smoky char, tossed generously with chives and sauce, and the meat is so tender and meaty🥹🥹

A collagen bomb~~~~>_< I wrapped it in lettuce and put on plastic gloves to properly pick the bones clean hahahahaha

My dad and husband, who can't handle spicy food, went straight for the dubu-kimchi bossam hahaha. The boiled pork slices are thick, boneless, tender and clean-tasting, so they wrapped it in lettuce with the delicious bossam kimchi on top and really cleaned their plates hahaha

+ But even though they can't do spicy food, once they tried the fire jokbal, by the end they kept saying it was so good and kept eating more 🤭🤭 It's not an overwhelming, aggressive spice — it's more of a smoky heat, so the sauce just keeps pulling you back in....👍👍👍

On an earlier visit: the half-and-half jokbal set plus extra tofu-kimchi bossam

These are photos from a previous visit to eat at the restaurant itself >_< I think we ordered the half-and-half jokbal set and added an extra dubu-kimchi bossam that time 🥰🥰

It's honestly a place I go to often, and my parents are regulars there too, just the two of them🫶🫶

I really recommend Cheongmigwan as a Sejong Naseong-dong must-visit~!~! Great whether you eat in or take out👍❤️

For parking, just use the building's underground parking lot~!~!~!