Bansong-dong, Dongtan Korean BBQ with a weekend-night pork belly

"Let's go eat kimchi jjim." So the three of us set off — me and my daughter. We headed toward a well-known Korean BBQ restaurant in Bansong-dong, Dongtan. That's how we ended up at Yangpuni Kimchi Jjigae & Samgyeopsal.

Inside Yangpuni, the Bansong-dong BBQ spot where the stew outsells the grill

Right on the door it says "Kimchi Jjigae Restaurant." Walking in, my first thought was "Wait, this is a BBQ place?" It's a clean, well-kept Korean BBQ restaurant. Each table has its own burner and a hood that sucks up the smoke.

Here's the funny thing though. One table was grilling meat right next to us, and there was zero grilled-meat smell in the air. Since your clothes don't end up smelling like smoke, it'd also work great for a work dinner near Gaenari Park in Dongtan. We went on a weekend evening, and almost everyone was eating kimchi jjim or kimchi jjigae. A BBQ restaurant where the stew is the bestseller. Haha.

They use domestic kimchi and domestic raw pork, which gave me confidence in this Korean restaurant near Central Park in Dongtan. The space is spacious and varied — this Korean BBQ restaurant in Bansong-dong, Dongtan was perfect for the three of us to sit cozily. Plenty of tables and even group seating, so it'd be great for a work dinner near Gaenari Park in Dongtan too.

Yangpuni hours, parking and break time in Dongtan

• Name: Yangpuni Kimchi Jjigae & Samgyeopsal
• Address: 36-13 Dongtanbansong 3-gil, Dongtan-gu, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: Daily 11:00–24:00
• Break time: 15:00–16:00
• Last order: 23:00
• Regular closed days: None
• Parking: 4 spots in front of the restaurant
• Reservation/takeout/group: Takeout available, group seating available (3–4 person sets orderable)

Yangpuni menu and prices in Bansong-dong, Dongtan

The menu is mostly kimchi jjigae and samgyeopsal (pork belly).

• Kimchi jjigae ₩10,000
• Samgyeop kimchi jjim ₩11,000
• Duruchigi ₩11,000
• Samgyeopsal 200g ₩15,000
• Kimchi jjigae set ₩26,000
• Samgyeop kimchi jjim set ₩28,000
• Duruchigi set ₩28,000
• Water naengmyeon + bulgogi set ₩11,000
• Bibim naengmyeon + bulgogi set ₩11,000
• Kimchi-mari noodles + bulgogi set ₩11,000
• Egg roll ₩7,000
• Stir-fried pork ₩8,000
• Soy bulgogi ₩8,000
• ※ Set sides come with egg roll by default

For +₩1,000 you can swap the side for bulgogi or stir-fried pork. What really surprised me here was the soju — ₩1,900. That's basically convenience-store price, right? Haha. Open late with drink prices like this, it'd be hard to beat for a work dinner near Gaenari Park in Dongtan.

What we ordered: samgyeop kimchi jjim set and 4 bowls of rice, 30,000 won for three

What we ordered: Samgyeop kimchi jjim set ₩28,000 4 bowls of rice Egg roll All together it came to ₩30,000. Honestly, for the three of us, I double-checked the math because it seemed too cheap. Ordering the set is cheaper than ordering everything separately.

An egg roll big enough to eat solo, plus rice included right there — you can't help but call it a great deal. Came here for a work dinner near Gaenari Park in Dongtan, your wallet won't take a hit either.

The food: a no-water rolled omelette and kimchi jjim over half a block of tofu

The egg roll came out first, and its color was a beautiful, rich yellow. Picking it up, you could feel the hand-made touch. Thick and substantial. Turns out it's a 100% egg roll with zero water added.

With an egg roll this good, if you come to Yangpuni Kimchi Jjigae Dongtan, you have to order this. Steam rising off it, soft, with a hit of sesame oil aroma. The seasoning wasn't too strong, so I dipped half in ketchup and ate it that way.

The basic side dishes are simple: seasoned black beans, dried radish strips, seaweed flakes. The dried radish comes with salted squid too. It's quietly addictive with rice. Haha. If you run out, there's a self-serve bar where you can grab more.

And then the star of the show, the samgyeop kimchi jjim, arrives. Looked like about half a block of tofu in there, with meat piled high on top. The broth was on the drier side, so it only needed a quick simmer. My husband took one bite and admitted it — this is exactly why Yangpuni Kimchi Jjigae Dongtan is the real deal.

No matter how much you eat, the pork pile doesn't seem to shrink. The fat-to-lean ratio was good and the seasoning had soaked all the way through. Being Korean domestic pork, there was zero off smell. Pile seaweed flakes on rice, top with kimchi and meat, mix it all together and take a bite — it's a real treat. With the fun of grilling samgyeopsal on the side too, this Korean BBQ restaurant in Bansong-dong, Dongtan makes me want to go after the pork belly next time.

What the room and the table look like at Yangpuni

It has that honest, neighborhood-restaurant feel. But the food itself photographs really well. Just set down the steaming kimchi jjim next to the golden egg roll and that's your photo spot. Haha. Nothing over-decorated here, but the food is genuinely pretty on its own.

Timing tip: avoid the 15:00–16:00 break at Yangpuni

The interior is spacious and cool, which makes it especially good in summer. After sweating outside, digging into a hot spoonful of kimchi jjim really is the whole "fight heat with heat" idea in action. Break time runs from 15:00 to 16:00, so avoid that awkward window.

Kimchi jjim isn't a seasonal dish, really. Good when it's cold because it's hot, good when it's hot because it makes you sweat it out. A Korean restaurant near Central Park in Dongtan you can visit in any season.

After dinner: walking to Dongtan Central Park

Central Park is within walking distance, so it's perfect for a meal followed by a stroll. Eat until you're full, then walk a loop around the park to help digestion. Since it's on the Bansong-dong side, there are plenty of cafés nearby too, so a meal followed by coffee flows really well route-wise. Cafés are everywhere these days, but a Korean restaurant near Central Park in Dongtan that does the basics this properly isn't so common.

Final verdict: Yangpuni's pork belly by the plate can sell out

Let me flag one honest drawback. The standalone samgyeopsal sometimes sells out completely. When we visited, they told us the pork belly was already gone. Since we'd come for kimchi jjim it didn't matter, but if you went specifically to grill samgyeopsal, you'd probably feel a bit let down. If you're going, I'd recommend arriving a little early.

But set that one drawback aside, and everything else was great. A mountain of meat, a thick egg roll, and a proper kimchi jjim broth — keep this place in mind whenever you're craving Korean food. Open late, it's also a place you can keep going back to for a work dinner near Gaenari Park in Dongtan.

To sum up, Yangpuni Kimchi Jjigae Dongtan is an easy Korean BBQ restaurant in Bansong-dong, Dongtan to bring kids to, a proper Korean restaurant near Central Park in Dongtan, and good value on top of it all — that's Yangpuni Kimchi Jjigae Dongtan for you. Sitting across from each other with the kimchi jjim bubbling away, a thought crossed my mind out of nowhere. When I came back after being given six months to live, an ordinary dinner like this was exactly what I'd missed the most.

Hey, Grim Reaper — my daughter still hasn't grilled the samgyeopsal here, and there's still the naengmyeon and bulgogi set left to try. There's a pile of things left to eat, so stay away for a while. We're still busy. Haha.