Seoul Korean BBQ: hanwoo samhap and fried rice at Chowon Salt Grill

On a weekday evening a while back, my sister and I decided to grab a nice dinner and headed to Chowon Salt Grill, a hanwoo (Korean beef) restaurant well known in Jamsil and Bangi-dong.

I'd always wanted to check this place out whenever I passed by Bangi-dong's restaurant row, so I was really excited to finally get the chance to visit!

A wait even on a Monday? Book Chowon Salt Grill ahead

Even though we'd booked ahead, Chowon Salt Grill still had a wait on a weekday Monday — that's how popular this Bangi-dong restaurant row spot is. There was clearly a reason it's such a well-known place for beef around here.

Inside Chowon Salt Grill: outdoor tables open all evening

The moment we walked in, the whole place had such a lively energy. Maybe because the weather's been nice, but the outdoor yajang tables were wide open and guests were enjoying their meals in the cool breeze. It's rare to find a place with this kind of atmosphere among Jamsil-area beef restaurants.

Side dishes: scallion salad, salt, sesame oil and soy sauce dips

Once we sat down, they set out scallion salad, salt, and sesame oil sauce as the basic sides — every single one paired perfectly with the beef.

The soy sauce dip in particular was a real highlight. Tangy-sweet, with cheongyang chili cutting through the richness. If you care about the sides being as good as the meat itself when hunting for beef in this area, this place delivers. The basic sides never got in the way of the meat's flavor — if anything, they brought out each dish's character even more. Really satisfying.

The 2-person samhap: hanwoo brisket, scallop and Haenam aged kimchi

We ordered the 2-person samhap set, which really let us taste what makes their hanwoo-only special cuts stand out. It came with their signature scallop and Haenam aged kimchi, so we could wrap all three together in one bite.

The hanwoo brisket looked incredibly fresh, with a color that stood out right away. You could tell every ingredient was carefully chosen, true to a well-known beef spot in this area.

How to grill it: brisket first, then scallop and aged kimchi on top

The staff recommended grilling the brisket first. So we followed their advice and put the brisket on the grill first. As it cooked, the savory aroma alone was enough to get our appetites going.

Once the brisket was nicely grilled, we topped it with scallop and aged kimchi and ate it all in one bite — the combination worked better than I expected.

Brisket is a fairly fatty cut on its own, so the aged kimchi cut through the richness cleanly. The scallop was light with a distinct texture, adding a whole different kind of fun alongside the brisket.

Tasting this combination for myself, I understood a little better why this dish is their signature. The savoriness of the hanwoo, the lightness of the scallop, and the tangy, refreshing kick of the aged kimchi all hit at once, coming together better than I'd expected. Honestly, this was the dish that stuck with me most from that day.

Brisket doenjang jjigae, the stew to order alongside

When you're eating beef, a soup dish always comes to mind at some point, so we also ordered the brisket doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew). Honestly, I'd always thought of doenjang jjigae at a beef restaurant as more of a light, dessert-like afterthought, but

this one turned out to be surprisingly generous in both portion and ingredients.

There was plenty of brisket and mushroom packed into the earthenware pot, so it wasn't just sipping broth — there was real fun in fishing out the chunky ingredients. Honestly, this doenjang jjigae alone with some rice could've been a full meal.

We also finished off every bit of the extra beef we ordered in no time. Being hanwoo, it just melted in our mouths.🤗

Finishing with fried rice on the grill

We'd eaten our fill of meat, but no meal here is complete without fried rice. So we ordered it as our final dish and finished things off properly. Beef, the samhap combo, brisket doenjang jjigae, and fried rice — after all that, I really felt like we'd eaten well ✌

Is Chowon Salt Grill worth it? Final thoughts

Chowon Salt Grill had it all — fresh hanwoo, a variety of special cuts, and side dishes and stew that clearly had some real care put into them. It's a beef restaurant in Bangi-dong that gets a wait even on weekdays. This is a restaurant-row spot in Bangi-dong where grabbing a table without a reservation is tough, so I really do want to stress: book ahead before you go.

The staff were also super friendly, and the restroom being inside the restaurant made things really convenient — overall a satisfying meal. If you're looking for a great beef restaurant around Jamsil, I'd recommend Chowon Salt Grill ✌