Late-night Korean BBQ in Godeok-dong, Seoul: Geumdon Hwaro's A Set

A place I always noticed passing by because it was always packed with people. I kept telling myself I had to try it sometime, and I finally made it there. Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch grills premium aged Korean pork over charcoal from start to finish, so you can just sit back and eat — a real find for Korean BBQ near Sangil-dong Station.

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch: hours, address and parking

• Hours: Mon–Fri 16:00–23:00 / Sat–Sun 15:30–23:00, last order 21:30
• Address: 399 Godeok-ro, 1st floor, Unit 132, Megasquare-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Parking: available at the Godeok Central Prugio commercial parking lot. Park on B2 and go up to 1F. Parking near Building 102, Lines 3–5 puts you closest to the restaurant

How long is the walk from Sangil-dong Station?

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch is on the 1st floor of Megasquare at Godeok Central Prugio. It's about a 5-minute walk from Exits 4 or 5 of Sangil-dong Station, so it's a decent spot to reach by public transit too.

It's right on the main road, so it was fairly easy to find even on a first visit.

What you get for waiting, by wait time

What impressed me most out front was the sign for waiting customers. It said if you wait 15–30 minutes you get a drink, 30 minutes to an hour gets you an alcoholic drink, and over an hour gets you a serving of pork belly or collar. And at the end it said if you wait 4 hours, they'll hand over the restaurant... hahahaha. I love that kind of humor haha. Since this place always had a crowd whenever I passed by, this kind of notice for waiting customers was pretty fun to see.

Inside Geumdon Hwaro, and visiting with kids

The interior was clean and tidy overall. Even though it's a BBQ place, the tables and dining room felt well managed, and I liked that little touches like hair ties and alcohol wipes were prepared too. It seemed like a good fit whether you're there for a family meal, a date, or a group gathering.

We came in almost right before closing, when most of the other customers had already left, but the staff were still kind and grilled our meat all the way through — I really appreciated that.

They also had baby chairs, kids' tableware, and seaweed for kids prepared. That's the kind of thing that quietly matters when you take kids to a BBQ place, and it seemed like a fine choice for a family meal out.

Geumdon Hwaro menu and what we ordered

We ordered the Geumdon A Set for 49,000 won (2 servings aged pork belly + 1 aged pork collar), pork-loaded kimchi jjigae for 7,000 won, and a bowl of rice for 1,000 won.

Besides aged pork belly and pork collar, they also have pork jowl, skirt steak-cut pork, and outer skirt pork on the menu, among other cuts. There are set menus where you can try several cuts together, so we went with the Geumdon A Set, which comes with both pork belly and pork collar.

Which side dishes come with the meal?

Even before the meat arrived, the table was already set with a fairly generous spread of banchan (side dishes). There was wild garlic leaf, white kimchi, kimchi, green onion kimchi, pickled onions, wasabi, Himalayan pink salt, fermented anchovy sauce, garlic sauce, and roasted bracken fern — a wide variety to pair with the meat. I tried each one, and they were all good across the board. It really felt like a place that put real thought into the side dishes before the meat even showed up.

The fresh kimchi salad that came as a default banchan was totally my style. It was crunchy and well-seasoned, so I kept reaching for more — honestly I wanted to take some home haha. The steamed egg also came as standard, and it was fluffy, soft, and moist. Starting off with good steamed egg and fresh kimchi salad before the meat even arrived put me in a great mood.

Geumdon A Set, 49,000 won: how the aged pork tastes

The Geumdon A Set comes with 2 servings of aged pork belly and 1 serving of aged pork collar, for 49,000 won.

As soon as the meat arrived, the thickness of the cuts and their glossy sheen caught my eye right away. Geumdon Hwaro grills premium aged Korean pork over charcoal. Best of all, the staff grill the meat themselves from start to finish. Going out for BBQ often means being busy grilling yourself, but here the staff grilled everything piece by piece, so all we had to do was eat comfortably.

First I tried the well-grilled meat with just a light dip in salt. The pork itself was good enough that it tasted great with nothing but salt, no other sauce needed. The pork belly was nicely fatty and savory, grilled thick with great texture when you bit into it. The pork collar was moist and tender too, with no dryness at all — really good. Grilled golden over charcoal, this was proper BBQ eating.

There were so many accompaniments that it was fun trying the meat a different way each time. Sometimes I wrapped it in wild garlic leaf, sometimes topped it with a bit of wasabi, and it went well with the pickled onions too. Dipping it in garlic sauce or fermented anchovy sauce gave a different flavor again, so switching between pork belly and pork collar never got old. Not having to grill it ourselves and being able to eat at a relaxed pace while chatting was great too. I finally understood why this place always had a crowd whenever I walked by — a real Korean BBQ find near Sangil-dong Station.

Pork-loaded kimchi jjigae, 7,000 won

You can't skip rice and jjigae (stew) when eating BBQ, so we also ordered the pork-loaded kimchi jjigae and a bowl of rice. True to its name, the kimchi jjigae was loaded with pork. Taking a spoonful of the hot kimchi jjigae in between bites of meat, along with the rice, was of course delicious — how could it not be. It paired well with both the pork belly and pork collar as a meal item.

Final verdict on Geumdon Hwaro

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch was somewhere I'd wanted to try for a while, since it always had a crowd whenever I passed by. Having visited in person, the aged pork was great, but what I liked was how much thought went into every single banchan too. The fresh kimchi salad and steamed egg in particular were exactly my taste.

Above all, having the staff grill the meat over charcoal from start to finish meant we could eat comfortably without the hassle of grilling ourselves. Even though we arrived almost right at closing time, they were kind and attentive all the way through, so I got to finish the meal in a good mood. It seems like a solid choice for a family meal with kids, a date, or a group gathering. Worth remembering if you're near Sangil-dong Station or Godeok-dong looking for a Korean BBQ restaurant that grills for you. Next time I'd like to visit a bit earlier and try some of the other cuts too.