Korean BBQ near Taehwagang River in Ulsan: chadolbagi at Daewol

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Nam-gu, Ulsan favorite — a great first meal to kick off an Ulsan grill-restaurant tour

While traveling around Ulsan, I ate a lot of good food and visited plenty of pretty spots. The first grill restaurant I visited on this trip was Daewol Charcoal Barbecue. There's something about a first meal being delicious that puts the whole trip in a good mood, right? The meat was great here, but the staff were also so kind that the meal got things off to a happy start.

This is a place where you can enjoy Jirye black pork, and the highlight is wrapping the meat in banga leaves. It's located in Dal-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, so if you're planning to explore Dal-dong or the area around Taehwagang River during your Ulsan trip, it's worth stopping by.

Where is Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, and where do you park?

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue is a charcoal-grill specialty restaurant located on Samsan-ro 122beon-gil in Nam-gu, Ulsan. It's about a 1-minute walk from the front entrance of Good Morning Hospital, so it wasn't hard to find. If you're coming from the Dal-dong food alley, just follow the main road toward Good Morning Hospital. If you're driving, you can use the TruParking Ulsan Dal-dong lot — up to 2 cars per table get 3 hours of parking support, so keep that in mind.

Daewol's menu board and what we ordered

We ordered Jirye black pork raw galmaegisal (skirt steak), chadolbagi (beef brisket), steamed egg, and doenjang jjigae. Daewol Charcoal Barbecue uses black pork brought up from Jirye in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang, trimmed fresh daily and grilled over real charcoal.

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Nam-gu, Ulsan favorite — honestly, this is the kind of flavor you crave every three days, haha.

Inside Daewol: 42 pyeong for family dinners and work gatherings

The restaurant is about 139 m² (42 pyeong), so it looked like a good fit for family meals, friend gatherings, or work dinners alike.

There's a long room in the back, so we grabbed a seat there for a cozy feel. Above all, the owners greeted us so kindly when I visited that it made a really good first impression.

What side dishes come with the meal?

I hate soulless side dishes lol, but here they had real soul. Even the scallion salad alone was full of flavor!

Along with a cool bean sprout soup, there were various sauces that went well with the meat too.

Threw back a beer the moment we arrived because I was so thirsty — ah, the Ulsan trip has officially begun!!!

They also gave us some cold boiled pork to try, and ah, this place knows what it's doing, haha.

Doenjang jjigae and Daewol's lunch menu

We also ordered doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew). A meal only feels complete if you have hot doenjang jjigae.

Eating the savory doenjang jjigae with rice was hearty, and it was a satisfying first meal for the trip. Daewol Charcoal Barbecue isn't just for evening charcoal grilling — during the day they also serve lunch dishes like galbitang, mountain-high bulgogi, doenjang jjigae, and sundubu jjigae. So it's not just a dinner destination for meat; it could work well when you're looking for a lunch spot during your Ulsan trip too.

Jirye black pork raw galmaegisal with banga leaf wraps and meljeot

Nice touch — they even bring out vegetable skewers along with the meat!

At first I was debating which cut to order, but landed on the Jirye black pork raw galmaegisal. Once the meat hit the charcoal, that delicious grilled-meat smell wafted up, and it really felt like being on a trip.

Meat grilled over charcoal really does have a different flavor from cooking at home. With the raw galmaegisal, cooking it just right instead of overdoing it kept the juices in, and it was delicious.

You could pair the pork with sesame oil salt or melljeot (fermented anchovy sauce). Personally, I liked dipping it plain in salt too, and it also went really well with the melljeot. It was a combination that let you really taste the meat itself. Wrapping it in a banga leaf especially made the fragrant aroma amazing. This combo — only possible here!!!

Chadolbagi and steamed egg at Daewol Charcoal Barbecue

We also ordered chadolbagi (beef brisket). Just pork felt like it wasn't quite enough, so we added chadolbagi too. The thinly sliced chadolbagi cooked quickly the moment it hit the charcoal, so we didn't have to wait long, which was nice.

When eating meat, it's always a treat to switch between different cuts along the way. Having the black pork galmaegisal first and then grilling the chadolbagi made for a nice change in flavor. The beef came with roasted salt and wasabi soy sauce, and the chadolbagi with wasabi soy sauce was a clean, refreshing combo. On a trip, there's so much you want to eat that splitting between several dishes instead of sticking to just one felt like the right call.

Steamed egg is a must when eating meat. And it's honestly one of my favorite things to order at a grill restaurant. The warm, bubbling steamed egg paired with the meat was soft and mild, and it worked really well together.

A spoonful of steamed egg in between bites of meat kind of resets your palate, so I basically always order it if a grill restaurant has it. Daewol Charcoal Barbecue notes that the steamed egg can take a bit of time to prepare, so it's better to order it in advance. We did the same and enjoyed it alongside the meat.

Wrapped things up with a cool plum tea. So happy!

Was Daewol a good first meal of an Ulsan trip?

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Nam-gu, Ulsan favorite, was the first grill restaurant we visited on this Ulsan trip. Honestly, the first meal of a trip matters more than you'd think. If the food or service falls flat, it can dampen the mood right from the start — but at Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, the meat was delicious and the staff were kind, so the meal got off to a great start.

If you're looking for a great charcoal-grill spot in Dal-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, or a place to eat before or after sightseeing at Taehwagang River, this one's worth considering. For us, it was both a delicious meat meal and a happy start to our Ulsan trip. If you want to combine good food with sightseeing in Ulsan, planning a route of Daewol Charcoal Barbecue followed by the area around Taehwagang River could work well.

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue: address, hours and parking

• Address: 6 Samsan-ro 122beon-gil, 1st floor, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea
• Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–22:00 / last order 21:30
• Closed: Every Sunday
• Parking: TruParking Ulsan Dal-dong lot, 2 cars per table, 3 hours supported
• Signature menu: Jirye black pork platter, black pork samgyeopsal, mokssal, galmaegisal, yangnyeom galbi, Korean beef galbisal, chadolbagi, galbitang, etc.
• What we ate: Jirye black pork raw galmaegisal, chadolbagi, steamed egg, doenjang jjigae
• Notes: A charcoal-grill specialty restaurant serving Jirye black pork from Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang, over real charcoal / group gatherings possible / corkage ₩10,000 per bottle

※ We recommend double-checking business hours and parking support with the restaurant before you visit.