Korean BBQ near Sangil-dong Station: aged pork belly at Geumdon Hwaro

Every time I pass through Sangil-dong there's a BBQ restaurant with a line out the door — Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch. I only went during its early days, then stopped because of the waiting pressure. Wanting to revisit after a long time, I went an hour before dinner, and as expected got the same friendly, perfect grilling service and perfect meat flavor. Here's my satisfied review.

A first look at the food at Geumdon Hwaro

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch: hours and parking

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch is open Mon–Fri 16:00–23:00 (last order 21:30) and Sat–Sun 15:30–23:00. The address is 399 Godeok-ro, Megasquare-dong 1F, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, a 2-minute walk from Exit 4 of Sangil-dong Station on Line 5.

• Hours: Mon–Fri 16:00–23:00 (last order 21:30) / Sat, Sun 15:30–23:00
• Parking: Godeok Central Prugio commercial parking, B2 — lines 3–5 of Building 102 are closest to the restaurant
• Address: 399 Godeok-ro, Megasquare-dong 1F, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Transit: 2-minute walk from Exit 4, Sangil-dong Station, Line 5

Inside Geumdon Hwaro: clean, comfortable dining room

Walking into Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch, the clean interior catches your eye first. There are plenty of tables, and the restaurant is quite a bit bigger than it looks from outside. Since this is a place with a constant line whenever I pass by, even coming an hour before dinnertime I still saw diners having an early meal.

What we ordered: aged pork belly, pork jowl and soju

• Aged pork belly (2 servings)
• Pork jowl (1 serving)
• Saero soju
• Steamed rice

The banchan (side dish) spread at Geumdon Hwaro

Once you sit down at Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch, onion sauce, garlic sauce, wild garlic leaf, wasabi, and various other sauces to go with the meat are laid out.

The fresh, spicy geotjeori (fresh kimchi) and the rice-thief-worthy green onion kimchi and refreshing mustard leaf pickle were every single one delicious.

The savory, puffed-up steamed egg served in a stone bowl was a treat for the eyes as much as the taste buds.

Aged pork belly and pork jowl, grilled for you by the staff

At Geumdon Hwaro, a staff member grills the meat to perfection from start to finish, so you can eat without worrying about the cooking at all. Watching the pork jowl and pork belly glisten and cook, full of juices, felt like watching a work of art. They even grilled the fernbrake and mushrooms — a completely flawless grilling service to the very end.

How to eat it: Geumdon Hwaro's sauce combination chart

Combo 1, the pure flavor — Himalayan pink salt

I dipped a piece into the healthy Himalayan pink salt. The savoriness of the juicy pork jowl met the salty tang of the pink salt, and it was genuinely delicious. There's a reason people say good meat tastes great with just salt.

Combo 2, the classic — wild garlic leaf, pickled onion and garlic sauce

The combination of wild garlic leaf and pickled onion was also excellent. The savoriness of the meat paired perfectly with the fragrant wild garlic leaf and the tangy pickled onion.

Combo 3, tangy and sharp — mustard leaf pickle, wasabi and garlic sauce

The cool, tangy mustard leaf pickle combined with the sharpness of wasabi gave a whole new flavor — almost like eating a wasabi-pickled mustard leaf. It cut through the richness of the meat and cleansed the palate.

Combo 4, light and clean — grilled baek-kimchi, pickled onion and garlic sauce

The subtle sweetness of grilled baek-kimchi (white kimchi) blended well with the spicy pickled onion. Eaten with the meat, it was clean yet savory — a combination I kept reaching for.

Going further: myeoljeot (salted anchovy sauce) and grilled fernbrake

I tried grilled baek-kimchi and pickled onion together with fermented anchovy sauce and grilled fernbrake too. The addictive flavor of the anchovy sauce layered onto the baek-kimchi and pickled onion, and with the grilled fernbrake joining in, it was truly delicious — a combo that kept crossing my mind the more I ate it.

Final verdict on Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch was a Sangil-dong Station BBQ spot where I got to enjoy aged pork belly and pork jowl properly. The meat itself was good, but what really satisfied me was the perfect grilling service, with staff cooking from start to finish. On top of that, the variety of sauces and side dishes made it fun to enjoy the meat in many different combinations. It's a place with heavy waiting pressure, but I'm sure I'll be craving Geumdon Hwaro's meat again soon, and I'll likely come back for an early dinner.