Korean BBQ in Cheongju: pork neck with shiitake wasabi at Anmin

I was craving meat for the first time in a while, so I headed to Anmin, a well-known spot in Bongmyeong-dong, Cheongju! If you're looking for great Cheongju samgyeopsal (pork belly BBQ), this is a Bongmyeong-dong grill house I'd love to introduce to you 𓂃𓈒𓏸

Anmin Cheongju location, parking and waiting area

Anmin is a BBQ restaurant in Bongmyeong-dong at 40 Deogam-ro 12beon-gil, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, on the first floor, open daily 16:30 - 23:00. You can park in the lot in front of the restaurant.

Anmin has its own private parking lot out front, so it's easy to visit by car :)

As you'd expect from a Bongmyeong-dong restaurant named a Blue Ribbon pick in 2025, there's a Tabling machine (a digital queue kiosk) at the entrance.

The waiting area is spacious and pleasant, so waiting here shouldn't be much of a hassle ◡̈

Anmin interior and table setup

The interior is modern and clean, and the tables are spaced really far apart, so you never feel squeezed next to the next table. I loved that!

Even though we came early in the evening, almost every table filled up while we ate,, it's clearly a Bongmyeong-dong favorite already haha

Cups, wet wipes and napkins were neatly tucked inside the table, and you know how grease always splatters onto your phone when you eat BBQ? They even had disinfectant wipes ready. Such a thoughtful touch 👍🏻

Anmin Cheongju menu and prices

The menu has a good range, from sets to single items!

• Anmin whole-pig half set (450g) ₩41,000 (pork belly + pork neck + herbal pork skin)
• Anmin whole-pig full set (700g) ₩64,000 (pork belly + pork neck + special cuts + herbal pork skin)
• Fresh thick pork belly (160g) ₩15,000
• Fresh thick pork neck (160g) ₩15,000
• Fresh special cuts assortment (150g) ₩15,000
• Fresh skin-on pork jowl (180g) ₩20,000
• Vegetable platter ₩3,000

The drinks list is huge too! I've never seen a Bongmyeong-dong BBQ place with so many highballs and cocktails haha. There are also non-alcoholic options for anyone who doesn't drink :)

If you write a Naver receipt review and use the save feature, you get a free herbal pork skin, so keep that in mind when you visit!

Side dishes and sauces

Anmin's basic side dishes were all good too. Washed kimchi, yuja (citron) pickled radish wraps, seasonal pickles, green onion kimchi, cheese fondue sauce, salted hairtail guts, fish soy sauce, shiitake wasabi, curry soybean powder, pine pollen salt and cumin (zira) seasoning! So many things to eat with the meat that I couldn't decide which combo to try haha

Instead of the usual spring onion salad, they served a seasoned cabbage salad, crunchy and well flavored! The lettuce wraps, chili peppers and garlic were fresh too ◡̈

What we ordered: thick pork neck, thick pork belly and skin-on pork jowl

• Fresh thick pork neck, 1 serving
• Fresh thick pork belly, 1 serving
• Fresh skin-on pork jowl, 1 serving

The brazier was set up and the meat arrived! We ordered one serving each of pork neck, pork belly and skin-on pork jowl, and the meat looked gorgeous from the start 🥹

Do the staff grill the meat for you?

Yes! At Anmin, the staff grill everything for you from start to finish, which was so convenient. They cook it just right, so all you have to do is eat! If you're looking for a Cheongju BBQ place where they grill for you, I'd recommend Anmin ◡̈

They grill the pork neck to medium-well, which is when it tastes best, and told us to just say so if we wanted it cooked more. I liked that they cared about how we like it done!

Pork neck flavor and the shiitake wasabi combo

For the first bite I just dipped it lightly in salt, and it was so tender,, moist and soft inside, with a nutty flavor that builds as you chew, so even plain salt was amazing 🥹 Out of everything we ate that day, the pork neck was my favorite!

Dipped in the cheese fondue sauce, it gets even richer and goes down smoothly, and with shiitake wasabi on top, the faint shiitake aroma went so well with the pork neck. The shiitake wasabi combo was my favorite ෆ

I made lettuce wraps, ate it with shishito peppers haha, and with so many side dishes it was easy to mix and match to taste!

Skin-on pork jowl texture and teriyaki sauce

Last up was the skin-on pork jowl! The golden-brown look made my mouth water just looking at it,,

Because the skin is attached, it's chewier and bouncier than regular pork jowl, and it gets nuttier the more you chew. I think it would go great with drinks too ◡̈

The jowl comes with a separate spicy teriyaki sauce, sweet with a little heat, and it pairs really well with the meat haha

Cooked meat gets placed on a mini brazier next to you, so it stays warm to the very end 👍🏻

Spicy whelk cold noodles (golbaengi bibimmyeon) as a meal

For a meal we also ordered golbaengi bibimmyeon (spicy mixed cold noodles with sea whelk) 𖦹 The sweet and tangy sauce cut through the richness whenever I ate a bite in between, just perfect!

The noodles were bouncy and chewy, like jjolmyeon (chewy wheat noodles), and tasted even better with the fatty meat haha A Bongmyeong-dong BBQ place where they grill for you, so you can just relax! The pork neck was my favorite that day, so I'll definitely order it again next time 🥹 If you're looking for Cheongju samgyeopsal or a good Bongmyeong-dong restaurant, I recommend Anmin ◡̈ ❤︎