Bucheon pork belly restaurant, crispy potato finish: Cham Dwaejitgan

Cham Dwaejitgan Bucheon Sinjung-dong Branch

Back and back again, it was time for a pork belly refill. My favorite pork belly spot in the area, Cham Dwaejitgan. This is my honest review as an nth-time regular. You've got to come before dinner time here — the waiting line is no joke. There's a parking lot behind the restaurant, but the whole alley tends to be packed with parked cars, so I usually use the Lotte Department Store parking lot instead. There's also a public parking lot nearby, so parking isn't hard to find.

What is a 2pm visit to Cham Dwaejitgan in Sinjung-dong like?

I went at that awkward 2pm slot, neither lunch nor dinner, and there was no one there. Even better — I got to eat in peace. The place is huge too, so it's great for groups! And on top of that, the staff at Cham Dwaejitgan grill the meat for you, 100%. Also, I think the ventilation must be really good, because when I leave Cham Dwaejitgan, my clothes don't smell like smoke at all, haha.

Skipping the sides and ordering more pork belly instead

This place is also a side dish champion, everything's good. Their black pork five-layer belly is the best-seller, but honestly, pork belly is what I was craving that day. The bibim naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles) and kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew, so good) sides are the classic combo, but I'm on a diet these days so I try to hold back on sides as much as possible. Let's just eat the meat, and eat it well.

This is why I love Cham Dwaejitgan... a grill where you can grill kimchi too. Kimchi, bean sprouts, minari — I'll grill all of it. Kimchi sizzled crisp in the fat... honestly, kimchi alone could carry a whole meal, haha.

Three servings of pork belly, plus the potato worth ordering extra

Three servings of pork belly! Without sides, two servings just isn't enough for a big eater like me — two people really need three servings. Plus, mushrooms, potato, and shishito peppers come out with it. You can also order these as extras, and the potato is seriously, seriously, seriously delicious, so if you're going with a group, I really, really recommend adding extra potato.

Once it hits the right temperature, staff come by to check and put the meat on the grill! Since they grill everything for you, you just have to wait comfortably. For two people who can't grill meat to save their lives, a place where the staff grill for you is the absolute best... We waited, clutching our hungry stomachs...

The staff set the well-cooked meat down below the grill. That's when the feasting truly begins. Grilled crisp on the outside, juicy inside, expertly done. Satisfied, satisfied, so satisfied. Salt, ssamjang (dipping sauce), spicy sauce, shiitake wasabi, and wasabi all come out too! Pick whatever suits your taste, haha.

The meat is honestly... so good... The quality is great, but the grilling skill is no joke either. Grilled to a nice golden brown, it was incredibly delicious.

Around the time the meat's all cooked, they put the potato on. Potato needs to be grilled gently over low heat. By the time you finish the meat, it's cooked to perfection on its own. I'll go polish off the meat in the meantime.

Shiitake wasabi with garlic scapes — what can I say, insanely good. The sharp garlic scapes cut right through the pork belly's richness.

Self-serve side dishes and the crispy potato finish

I'm more of a perilla leaf person than a lettuce person. I grabbed a ton of lettuce and perilla leaves from the self-serve bar, haha. Wrapping it up with minari is delicious too, and with kimchi, bean sprouts, garlic scapes, scallion strips and more, there's such a variety of side dishes to pair with the meat — totally perfect. If you run low on any side dish, just grab more from the self-serve bar! You can usually tell how clean a restaurant is by its self-serve bar, and Cham Dwaejitgan is spotless.

After eating meat until I was full, I finished with the potato... I'm not exaggerating, it's better than french fries and better than potato chips. It's literally just potato grilled in pork fat — why is it this good? It's sliced super thin so it gets properly crispy... Next time I'm definitely ordering extra potato. And definitely pairing it with somaek (soju-beer cocktail) too. I was missing about 2% without alcohol, ugh. Even just the wraps, side dishes and meat alone left me completely full at Cham Dwaejitgan. Highly, highly recommended.