Jara Island camping pork tomahawk: Ari Chuksan butcher shop, Gapyeong

When you book a weekend camping trip with your kid to Jara Island in Gapyeong, meat is a must-buy item! I went to Ari Chuksan, a butcher shop in Gapyeong, to pick up the star of any Gapyeong pension trip — meat. After visiting, I found the owner endlessly kind and the meat quality excellent for the price, so this is a Cheongpyeong spot I'd happily recommend and revisit!

Ari Chuksan 📍 620-1 Cheongpyeong-ri, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do / ⏰ Mon–Sun 09:00–20:50 / 🅿️ No parking

Where is Ari Chuksan, and where do you park?

Ari Chuksan is a butcher shop in Cheongpyeong, Gapyeong, located right next to the Hanaro Mart Cheongpyeong branch. There's no parking on site, but personally I'd recommend parking at the Daiso Cheongpyeong branch, a 5-minute walk away, and walking over. Parking at the Hanaro Mart next door is already tough, so if you have anything to buy at Daiso anyway, it's a win-win haha.

The star of any Gapyeong pension trip is meat! Ari Chuksan is a beloved regular spot for both families visiting Cheongpyeong for meat and local Cheongpyeong residents.

Inside the Ari Chuksan case: Korean pork by thickness to lamb chops

As soon as you walk in, the showcase right in front displays Korean pork and Korean beef. The Korean pork is packaged by thickness — nice and thick for charcoal grilling, thin for easy home cooking. Great attention to detail!

There's seasoned pork neck, pork back ribs, meat for boiled pork (suyuk), honeycomb pork belly, and various other cuts of high pork, and the pork mahawk caught my eye, so I picked one up.

Korean beef is displayed right next to the pork.

Korean beef liver and tripe are sold cheaply too, and button mushrooms are also inexpensive, so it's easy to grab a pack without much thought.

Next to the vegetable fridge is imported beef.

Ribeye is packaged steak-sized and on sale at a great price, and gabrisal (short rib meat) is sold both trimmed and untrimmed!

True to its reputation as a Cheongpyeong meat spot, they even sell lamb ribs! I paused for a moment haha. Since I'll be coming to Jara Island camping in Gapyeong often, I've marked lamb ribs for next time. I've already saved Ari Chuksan to my map.

Naver reservation perks and why the vegetables beat Hanaro Mart on price

Visit Ari Chuksan after booking through Naver Reservations and you get free lettuce, green onion shreds, and salt & sauce! From peeled garlic to peppers and mushrooms, vegetables that pair well with meat are packaged in cheap, ready-to-eat portions, so there was no need to buy them at Hanaro Mart. I actually checked the Hanaro Mart right next door, and aside from drinks or alcohol, buying vegetables at Ari Chuksan felt like much better value.

At Ari Chuksan, orders over ₩70,000 get free shipping, plus generous extra salt or sauce with delivery orders, and Chuseok holiday gift sets are on sale now! There are various sets — Korean beef, Korean pork, LA galbi, or combined Korean beef+pork+galbi sets — great as gifts for family or friends.

What we bought at Ari Chuksan and what it cost

• Korean beef salchisal (sirloin flap) 100g
• Pork mahawk 340g
• Lettuce 1 bag ₩1,000
• Green onion shreds ₩500 (sauce included)

I was originally going to get pork belly, but the moment I saw grade-9 Korean beef, I thought — let's at least try it! I grabbed a pack, and while I was about to choose pork belly, I picked pork mahawk instead, which is even tastier than tomahawk!! Lettuce prices have been brutal lately, but here a bag portioned for one meal was just ₩1,000! Much cheaper than the Hanaro Mart right next door, so I'd recommend buying it in advance at Ari Chuksan.

Buy a bag of green onion shreds for ₩500 and the sauce comes with it — you don't need to buy green onion sauce separately, and it's all solved for ₩500, pure magic haha. And the kind owner's service kept coming! He gave me a bag of enoki mushrooms too, so we got to enjoy grilled mushrooms alongside the meat. With this kind of thoughtfulness and service from the owner, no wonder locals keep coming back to this Cheongpyeong favorite.

Korean beef chuck flap grilled over charcoal on Jara Island

This is the meat you can't skip on a Gapyeong camping trip!! Korean beef charcoal barbecue~

True to grade-9 Korean beef, the color was gorgeous and the marbling was gleaming.

The owner's recommendations are always right! He recommended the salchisal, so I picked up a pack to try, and it turned out to be more than expected — I'd recommend packing it up from a Gapyeong butcher shop and grilling it over charcoal rather than eating it at a restaurant.

Ari Chuksan events by day of the week

Ari Chuksan, a Cheongpyeong favorite near the Gapyeong pensions, runs weekday events. Tuesday — pig-butchering day, free pork skin and offal / Thursday — beef-butchering day, yukhoe and sashimi for sale with free liver and tripe / Friday and Saturday — weekend sale, with pork belly or neck at even cheaper prices.

We grilled up the free enoki mushrooms too~

Korean beef is just always delicious~

I meant to eat it a bit rare, but it ended up well-done from grilling — still, beef is beef, delicious! Juices bursting out! Such a tender salchisal!

Wrapped in lettuce with grilled green onion shreds, mushrooms, and onion shreds on top — absolute honey taste,

and it's great with just plain white rice too~

My little rascal, who's been eating well with vegetables these days. So cute haha.

The 340g pork tomahawk: the cut the kid loved most

After treating the mouth to grade-9 Korean beef, we finished up with Korean pork mahawk! Since it's domestic Korean pork, you can eat it worry-free.

When you peel back the plastic wrap on the pork mahawk, there's a vacuum-sealed pack underneath too — no worries about meat juice leaking out!

It already comes seasoned, so it's really convenient! You'll get to experience tender pork with no off-smell 👍

Just from the bone structure, my son was already amazed — a look that rivals tomahawk, and while it was grilling he kept asking, 'Mom, when's it going to be done?'

Nice and thick, and it truly tastes its best grilled over charcoal! And it's cheap too, so if you're doing a Gapyeong pension trip, the must-have meat is definitely from Cheongpyeong favorite Ari Chuksan.

All the fat rendered right out — no bad taste at all! With that thickness, grilling it over charcoal really brings out the flavor.

Wow — my son said, 'It's pork, why is it so tender?!' Must have been well-aged! It was hard to believe pork could be this tender with zero chewiness.

The Korean beef was delicious, but my son was totally hooked on the pork mahawk — giving a heartfelt thumbs-up with every bite, and finishing by picking the bone completely clean!

Is Ari Chuksan worth a stop before Gapyeong camping?

• If packing meat is a must for your Gapyeong pension trip, Ari Chuksan is a Cheongpyeong favorite selling quality meat at great value.
• Heading to camping and need to buy meat? Head to Ari Chuksan, the Gapyeong butcher shop.