Friday-night pork belly near Sinjung-dong Station: Cham Dwaejitgan

Looking for a good pork belly place near Sinjung-dong Station for a meat night out with my meat-loving partner Ttaeng-i, I ended up at Cham Dwaejitgan's Sinjung-dong branch. The meat was great and the staff grilling service made for an easy, satisfying meal 🥰

🐷 Cham Dwaejitgan Bucheon Sinjung-dong Branch / 68 Jungdong-ro 262beon-gil, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor / Open 24 hours daily (no closed days)

Friday evening at Cham Dwaejitgan: every table full on arrival

I figured a Friday evening would be busy, but arriving to a completely full house still surprised me... 😮 The place isn't small either, and I spotted quite a few groups there for company dinners or gatherings.

What rice-husk smoked black pork and the side spread include

At this pork belly spot near Sinjung-dong Station, the good-quality Jirisan black pork and Boseong green pork are smoked over rice husks, and the savory juiciness with that faint smoky aroma made a real difference 😚 There were lots of ways to combine the meat with sauces, minari (water dropwort), scallion salad, mushroom wasabi, and lettuce wraps, which was great. For the record, they use only domestic minari.

Staff grilling, the no-splatter grill plate and steamed egg

Whenever Ttaeng-i and I go to a BBQ place together, he ends up so busy grilling that he barely gets to eat, which always bothers me — but at this pork belly place near Sinjung-dong Station, the staff grilled the meat for us, so we could just relax and eat 👍 The grill plate had an unusual shape too — apparently it's a handmade grill designed to reduce oil splatter 🔥

While the meat cooked, out came the steamed egg! Fluffy, soft texture, and the seasoning wasn't too salty — just right. Steamed egg at a BBQ place is always good, isn't it?

Two servings of black pork belly plus one pork neck

🙌 Ttaeng-i and I ordered two servings of black pork belly and one serving of black pork neck. Thanks to the rice-husk smoking plus charcoal aroma, the meat at this Sinjung-dong Station restaurant smelled different from regular pork belly from the moment it hit the grill. Just the smell alone was enough to make me hungry! 🥹

Best combos: salt, mushroom wasabi, minari and sliced potato

Personally I think the meat tastes best with a light dip in salt or a bit of wasabi. If you get tired of that, I'd also recommend pairing with minari‼️ The sliced potato served alongside the meat was an unexpected combo too — grilled well on the plate and wrapped with the meat, it had a different appeal from wrapping in lettuce or perilla leaves, and I kept reaching for more 👏👏

Finishing with margarine soy sauce egg rice

After polishing off three servings of meat in no time, I debated between fried rice and margarine soy sauce egg rice for the finish, and went with the egg rice. You need some carbs to feel like you've really eaten, right? Even though I was already full, the salty, savory buttery aroma was so addictive I inhaled it in a daze.

What two diners miss out on, and who to bring to Cham Dwaejitgan

Great meat quality and satisfying side dishes make this a solid pork belly spot near Sinjung-dong Station. I wanted to try the other menu items too, but going as just two of us made that a bit of a shame 🥲 If you go as a bigger group, you could try a variety of dishes. And since you don't have to grill the meat yourself, it's an easy place to chat and eat comfortably. I'd recommend it for a date, a family meal, or a company dinner 👍❣️