Daebang-dong, Changwon late-night BBQ: pork jowl set, Smile Hoegwan

It's been a while since I've brought you a pork BBQ place! A frozen pork joint, no less! Today it's a Changwon favorite — Smile Hoegwan Daebang.

Where is Smile Hoegwan Daebang and what are its hours?

Smile Hoegwan Daebang is located at 14 Gayang-ro 136beon-gil, 1F 101-ho, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, Gyeongnam. That's Daebang-dong in Changwon.

Here's the exterior. Open every day.

• Hours: 15:30–23:30
• Last order: 23:00

If you've eaten around Daebang-dong a lot, you'll know there aren't many places open late here. So when Smile Hoegwan showed up staying open until 11:30pm, I was so happy! I saw the lights still on late and ran right over.

There's no dedicated parking, but you can park pretty much anywhere in the alley out front. No real trouble finding a spot.

Smile Hoegwan Daebang menu and prices

Here's the menu info. There are two set options, plus individual orders are possible too.

• Flash-frozen assorted set / texture set ₩48,000–95,000
• Pork belly (100g) ₩9,000
• Five-layer pork belly (100g) ₩10,000
• Pork jowl (100g) ₩12,000
• Kkodeulsal (100g) ₩9,000

There's also a wide variety of meal options, from ramyeon to fried rice. I really, really love pork jowl, so I ordered the flash-frozen texture set!

Here's the origin information. They use domestic Korean pork!

Does the owner grill the frozen pork for you?

At Smile Hoegwan Daebang, the owner grills most of the meat for you. When we went, about 4 tables were full, and the owner grilled for all 4 tables. I don't think many frozen pork BBQ places do this, and I was completely satisfied. Maybe because I wasn't expecting it, it felt even more relaxing and nice. After a few visits with someone grilling for you, you won't want to grill it yourself anymore, haha.

Smile Hoegwan is also running a review event, where you can choose bibim guksu (spicy mixed noodles), alcohol, or a drink. Bibim guksu really goes so well with frozen pork BBQ! Ugh, I held back since I'm dieting, but if you write a review and get bibim guksu, that sounds perfect.

What side dishes come with the meal?

When you order, the table is set up like this. Egg roll, kimchi jeon (kimchi pancake), garlic, garlic scapes, and some really tasty seasoned vegetables all come out. From the kimchi to the seasoned dishes, everything was so fresh and good. Clean and tidy too.

What comes in the flash-frozen texture set, and how much meat?

Can you see how big the portions are! It looked completely fresh, and the meat looked great while grilling too. Can you see the juices coming up! The color of the meat looks so, so good, right! This place is more than worthy of being called a top frozen pork BBQ spot in Changwon.

With frozen pork BBQ, you also need to grill the kimchi, right? The owner did this for us too. And from kkodeulsal to pork jowl to five-layer pork belly, the owner even showed us how to eat each one — that kind of attention to detail made it even better.

Egg yolk sauce and spring onion salad

Here you also get this egg yolk sauce, which is sweetish and really delicious. If you go, make sure to dip your meat in this sauce!

It also pairs perfectly with the fresh spring onion salad. The salad's bright red color really gets your appetite going. But unlike the look of it, it's not that spicy. Spring onion salad also tends to go limp and lose its flavor if it sits too long, but here it seemed freshly tossed each time — no such issue, super clean and tasty. Highly, highly recommend the spring onion salad.

How did the pork jowl taste?

This is the pork jowl I love so much haha. People who love pork jowl only eat pork jowl, you know~ The meat was crisp and crunchy and really delicious. Not just a great pork belly spot — this place holds its own as a pork jowl spot too.

Finishing with doenjang stew and a bowl of rice

Once you finish the meat, you've got to wash it down with doenjang stew (soybean paste stew), right??! The portion of doenjang stew was huge too... I don't think even 4 people could finish it all. We didn't drink that day, but after having a bowl of the stew, I really started considering it,, I had driven, so I barely held back on the alcohol. It might be nice to go for a light second round vibe — eat a bit of meat, then order the stew and have a drink.

Can you see how big the rice portion is too!! Eating one bowl alone made me so full — lately a lot of pork BBQ places skimp on the rice portion so I never get full, but this was the best.

Today I introduced you to a top spot in Daebang-dong, Changwon! A top pork belly spot in Changwon! A top frozen pork BBQ spot in Changwon! Smile Hoegwan — highly recommend it when you're eating meat in Daebang-dong.