Seomyeon pork grill in Busan: house cutlet sauce and pork rice, Don J

Don J A Seomyeon Station favorite for pork belly — a grill house that cooks the meat for you on an iron cauldron lid

What kind of grill house is Don J Busan Seomyeon?

Hello :) Today I'm introducing Don J Busan Seomyeon, a pork belly spot that's a real Seomyeon Station favorite! It's a grill house very close to Lotte Department Store, and what drew me in was that they grill the meat on an iron cauldron lid. The staff were genuinely kind too — they kept circling around each table checking whether we needed more side dishes, which I thought was a really thoughtful touch. And even though they grill the meat for you, it was surprisingly affordable.

• Address: 52 Gayadae-ro 784beon-gil, Busanjin-gu, Busan, 1st floor, South Korea
• Hours: Sun–Thu 17:00–01:00 / Fri–Sat 17:00–02:00
• Group bookings available, reservations possible (Naver)

Right outside the restaurant, there's a detailed sign showing exactly what side dishes and mains come out. And it really does come out just like that! haha

Inside Don J, where the fermented pastes are made in house

Don J, this Seomyeon favorite for pork belly, has a slightly unique interior — they told us they age and make their own traditional sauces in-house before serving them to guests. Most places use store-bought sauces to cook, so hearing that Don J makes everything themselves made the food feel more thoughtfully made, and healthier too!

When we visited there was no wait, but since it's such a popular grill house in Seomyeon, there may be a line at busier times. You can register with Catch Table for the wait.

The interior has a lovely old-school, retro feel.

It's been quite a while since I had meat grilled on an iron cauldron lid!

Don J's menu and what we ordered

The menu board at Don J, this Seomyeon Station favorite for pork belly

• Signature menu: Neck & belly pork 600g / Belly pork 600g / Neck pork 600g / Deodeok + minari set / Hoengseong deodeok salad / Cheongdo hanjae minari / Mom's-style fried rice / Perilla oil naengmyeon / Country doenjang stew / Pork rice
• Ordered: Neck & belly pork 600g / Highland kimchi stew / Pork rice / Bangatgan yeolmu naengmyeon / Cider

They're also running a review event, and the prizes looked amazing — worth taking part!

If you order the signature combo, they give you a bowl of rice for free — with mussel jjagbak-jang (thick seasoned sauce) and yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi). More tables than I expected were digging into it.

Side dishes and the house-made sauces at Don J

I loved how varied the side dishes and sauces were. Since they said all the sauces are made in-house, I tried every single one — and they were so good! A perfect match with the meat. The kimchi, bean sprouts, bracken fern, and potato that come alongside get grilled on the cauldron lid later. They tell you to just say the word if you need more of any side dish.

Our ordered meat came out first — 600g, and honestly the value for the price felt really good.

How does cauldron-lid grilling work at Don J?

First they oil the cauldron lid! Once the heat comes up enough, a staff member grills it for you.

The belly and neck pork cooking up beautifully. They told us the potato goes on near the very end, once the meat is almost fully cooked. They also grill saeujeot (salted shrimp) alongside — that turned out to be a real treat too.

Both cuts of meat were delicious, but personally, belly pork is my top pick!

My husband's pick was the egg sauce.

I dipped mine in the pork cutlet sauce and then in breadcrumbs, and it brought out a real, genuine pork cutlet flavor — so good! I don't know why lately I'm craving both grilled meat and pork cutlet at once... but at Don J you can enjoy both together, so satisfying! They said the pork cutlet sauce is handmade too, and it was genuinely smooth and mild, not overly sharp — I loved that.

We wrapped it up neatly in lettuce too.

The salad was so good I asked for more, and they gave me a really generous extra handful. Such thoughtful staff!

The fully cooked potato dipped straight into the pork cutlet sauce was honestly the best bite.

Finishing with kimchi stew, pork rice and yeolmu naengmyeon

The highland kimchi stew came in a small portion but was incredibly rich in flavor. There was a good amount of kimchi and meat in it, and the kimchi was fully fermented and delicious.

And the pork rice comes with seaweed, soy sauce, and stir-fried pork — my husband got hooked on it and polished off a whole bowl by himself!

We finished up with refreshing yeolmu naengmyeon.

Writing a review also enters you into a prize draw.

Just by adding the store's channel, you can get a free ice cream too.

Great value, and the service was so satisfying too — Don J, this Seomyeon Station favorite for pork belly. If you love pork belly grilled golden on a cauldron lid, head straight to Don J!