Bucheon Korean BBQ restaurant, after-work pork belly: Cham Dwaejitgan

A spontaneous after-work pork-belly meetup in Sinjung-dong

While I was working, I suddenly wanted meat SO badly! I’d brought eggs and paprika because I was originally going to stick to my diet, but meat is protein, so I count it as dieting^^ hahaha. So I threw together a last-minute meetup with the lab crew from work, and thankfully everyone was up for it! After work, we headed to Cham Dwaejitgan Bucheon Sinjung-dong Branch~!

Cham Dwaejitgan Bucheon Sinjung-dong Branch is about a 3-minute walk from Exit 3 of Line 7’s Sinjung-dong Station, toward Lotte Department Store :)

Just head into the alley between KFC and McDonald’s and you’ll find it easily, haha.

Hours and parking

I really loved that it operates around the clock! It’s the kind of place you can drop by without worry when a late-night meat craving hits!? On Mondays, though, it’s open 13:00–01:00 for cleaning and store maintenance, with last orders at 23:30 and the dining room closing at 00:00. Tuesday through Sunday, it’s open 11:30–09:30 the following day, last orders are at 09:00, and break time is 09:30–11:30.

It’s in the Sinjung-dong outdoor dining street area, so the building doesn’t have its own parking. If you’re driving, I recommend using a nearby public parking lot :)

A spacious, clean dining room and self-service bar

Even from outside, I could tell this was a seriously huge Korean BBQ restaurant~! Everything looked clean, and I spotted a Catchtable waiting-list device too. I thought there was only one door, but it looked like the other side opened too~!

Once inside, there was a clearly spacious, comfortable dining area. It was dinner time, and it felt like so many people had come for meat—but I went on a Monday!? Isn’t that still a lot of people!? Since the restaurant is so large, I thought it would be good for a Sinjung-dong group company dinner or gathering too. The meat was kept in a dedicated aging refrigerator, haha.

They had phone charging, hair ties, disposable aprons, plastic bags for storing coats, children’s tableware, Wi-Fi, floss and toothpicks, gargle, mini Chupa Chups, and even Febreze! I could really feel how much thought they put into their guests, haha. The restrooms are inside and separated by gender, and they were so clean and smelled nice! You all know how hard it is to find a clean restroom in Sinjung-dong...ㅠㅠ hahaha.

On one side was a small but well-stocked self-service bar~ haha. I especially loved that the shiitake mushroom wasabi was there—it was seriously delicious! Everything was neatly organized too.

Ordering three portions of Cham Samgyeopsal

You order through the tablet at each table. Along with the meat, there were side dishes such as stew and fried rice. I debated between five-layer pork belly and pork belly, then ordered three portions of their signature Cham Samgyeopsal (Boseong Nokdon pork belly) :)

The tablet also has info on classic pork-belly combinations and the review event, so take a look :)

Cham Samgyeopsal grilled by the staff

The utensils were neatly set beside the table in sanitary utensil sleeves, with wet wipes too. The basic side dishes were cabbage salad, seasoned scallions, ssam vegetables (wrap greens), pickled garlic scapes, shiitake mushroom wasabi, wasabi, spicy sauce, salt, garlic, and ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste). They put minari (water dropwort), seasoned bean sprouts, and napa cabbage kimchi on the grill. The shape of the grill was a little different from other Korean BBQ places, which was interesting!

You can’t have pork belly without soju, right? Hahaha. When you order soju, they give you milk thistle with the first bottle too! We took our milk thistle and immediately clinked soju glasses, haha.

Our three portions of Cham Samgyeopsal arrived—look at that color!!! Totally the look of an amazing restaurant, right!?

They also prepare sliced potato, shishito peppers, and mushrooms!

One great thing is that they grill the meat for you! When you’re drinking, grilling meat is sneakily difficult, hahaha. And it’s hard to grill it deliciously too, haha.

The lab girls moved the exhaust hood so I could take photos 🧡 The staff set everything on nicely and came by regularly to check the meat! Watching them cut it, I could see how thick it was, and the meat looked so good~!

When you grill pork belly, oil usually splatters everywhere, right!? But this is apparently a handmade grill, and the oil really didn’t splatter!? I loved that so, so much ㅠㅠㅠ

Maybe because they use real charcoal, the heat was great, and the staff grilled the meat to exactly the delicious point! Truly meat-grilling masters, haha. They moved the finished meat to the side with kimchi, bean sprouts, and minari, so it was easy to eat. The meat didn’t burn, and it stayed warm—just perfect!

To finish, they put the sliced potatoes on the grill; you just flip and cook these yourself, haha. Before making wraps at any Korean BBQ restaurant, I always try the meat plain first. It had the distinctive aroma of rice-husk smoking, and the pork belly juices were incredible ㅠㅠ The staff had grilled it really well too 👍 I made wraps with the side dishes as well, and yes, pork belly wrapped in greens is just so delicious ㅠㅠ

They told us to wrap the cooked potato slices around the meat, so once they were nicely cooked, I did exactly that, haha. What an amazing potato wrap ㅠ I’m going to eat it this way at home from now on too, hahaha. I had it with minari as well, and they said they use only Korean-grown minari! All vegetables can be refilled without limit except the minari, so keep that in mind!!

Finishing with ₩3,000 fried rice

And finally, the fried rice you just can’t skip! We ordered only one portion, and it was ₩3,000~

The fried rice isn’t self-service either—the staff come over and fry it up deliciously for you, haha.

At first it looked as though it might be a little mild!? But one bite in, it was the perfect finish, haha. And we grabbed candies by the entrance on our way out too, haha. The pork belly tasted great and the restaurant was clean, so it was such a satisfying meal haha!