Goyang pork barbecue restaurant for chewy kkodeulsal: Neopttakjip

I was in Goyang for an appointment and stopped by Neopttakjip (넙딱집) Samsong Branch near Samsong Station for dinner. I heard it was a place where you can try a range of special pork cuts?! I usually only eat pork neck and pork belly, so I was really excited to try the unusual cuts haha.

• A restaurant specializing in domestic pork
• A great spot for special pork cuts
• A generously composed mixed grill
• Neopttakjip’s own special meat accompaniments
• Self-service bar available
• Suitable for group visits

It is open daily from 12:00 to 23:00, with last orders at 22:00. There is building parking, but it is designated parking and there seemed to be very few spaces, so I recommend a nearby public lot or public transportation. It is only one minute from Samsong Station Exit 3...!!

One minute from Samsong Station, with a retro exterior

The first thing that caught my eye as soon as I arrived at Neopttakjip Samsong Branch was the sign. It has a retro feel, but the colors are so vivid that it really stands out even from far away!!

The exterior wall also had information about the meat Neopttakjip uses. They say they use excellent pork raised in the clean Jirisan area!

Because of the terrain, Neopttakjip Samsong Branch is set up almost like a semi-basement, so you walk down inside to enter.

Maybe because it was Friday evening, it was absolutely packed!! We could not get in right away and waited briefly. Still, there are quite a lot of seats inside, so we got in sooner than expected. Ah... there really were so many customers.

It must be a popular place, because there were lots of celebrity signatures on the walls. It somehow made me even more excited, haha.

A self-service bar and private-room seating

On one side of the restaurant, there was a self-service bar where you could freely help yourself to the basic side dishes.

There was even a separate room for lighting the charcoal. It made the whole operation feel pretty professional, haha. There are separate private rooms too, which looked great for visiting with a larger group. So it seems like a good option for a Samsong company dinner, a family meal, or another group gathering. There was also country-of-origin information posted on one wall, if that is something you want to check.

Mixed grill with a grilled-vegetable set

Looking over the menu, they had familiar cuts like pork belly and pork neck, plus special cuts such as hayansal, kkodeulsal, and galmaegisal. Since I always order the same things at barbecue restaurants, these special cuts felt really unfamiliar to me!! We ordered the mixed grill (600 g) with the grilled-vegetable set, plus beef brisket kkakdugi fried rice! I loved that it let us sample a good range of cuts.

Even the basic sides were different ♥

As soon as we ordered, the basic side dishes arrived quickly. They were a little different from the usual spread you see at other barbecue places?! There were pickled scallions and peppers, seasoned garlic scapes, sesame oil, perilla seed powder, salt, aged kimchi, and more. The sesame oil, perilla powder, and salt were part of Neopttakjip’s recommended way to eat the meat deliciously, and I will tell you more about that in a moment!

Here comes the mixed grill!

Finally, the mixed grill arrived ♥ It included four cuts: pork neck, pork belly, kkodeulsal, and hayansal. It also came with garaetteok (cylindrical rice cakes) and sausage on the side!

The grilled-vegetable set included king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, sweet potato, and onion. Being able to grill vegetables alongside the meat made the whole table feel quite generous.

The recommended grilling order

At first, a staff member briefly explained each cut and set up the grill for us. Since every cut except the pork neck is fairly fatty, they recommended starting with the pork neck!

While waiting for the meat to cook, we grilled the sausage and garaetteok first, and they were such a treat too, haha. So delicious.

The meat was cut nice and thick, so it looked appetizing even as it cooked. It just looked so substantial... haha.

The sesame oil, perilla powder, and salt combination

Neopttakjip’s way to enjoy the meat! I dipped it in sesame oil, perilla seed powder, then salt, in that order. Wow, I had never seen this combination before, but it was so good!! The aroma of the perilla powder felt like the key. Just changing the seasoning made it feel different from pork I usually eat. But above all, the meat itself was delicious, haha. Even the pork neck was not dry—it was tender and bursting with juices!! We finished the pork neck in no time, haha.

Pork belly is pork belly, after all

Pork belly is such a delicious cut that it is right however you eat it.... Beyond the sesame oil, perilla powder, and salt combination, there were so many accompaniments—pickled scallions and peppers, seasoned garlic scapes, and more—so we enjoyed it so much. I thought it was definitely a place worth recommending to anyone looking for great pork belly in Samsong.

Our group’s top pick: kkodeulsal and hayansal

Now it was time for the special cuts I had been looking forward to. We grilled the kkodeulsal first! Kkodeulsal is apparently a special cut from around the neck, and it looks a little unusual from the start. True to its name, it is said to have a pleasantly chewy texture when you eat it.

Wow, this was really delicious!! The meat tasted great on its own, but the unique texture made it so fun to eat. Kkodeulsal was our group’s number-one pick that day...

Putting kkodeulsal with the seasoned scallion-and-pepper mix and wrapping it in lettuce made it so delicious, haha. That day, I truly discovered the appeal of special cuts...

Last was hayansal. This was a cut I had truly never seen before; apparently it comes from around the head! Like kkodeulsal, hayansal has a slightly chewy texture, though less so. It was fascinating because I had never tried it before, and it tasted good too, so I was very satisfied. I think this was the first time I really realized just how many different special cuts of pork there are, hahaha.

There were so many cuts and accompaniments that we could enjoy so many delicious combinations. Even though it was fatty food, there was no time to get tired of it!!

Please get the beef brisket kkakdugi fried rice!!

And here is the side dish, beef brisket kkakdugi fried rice. Please, please get thisㅠㅠ It is so delicious!!!!!

The kkakdugi fried rice was delicious on its own, but adding beef brisket made it feel like it went up a whole level, haha. The crisp, crunchy kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) was especially wonderful. I also loved the moderately spicy flavor, and there was more beef brisket than expected, so I was very satisfied, haha.

Above all, it was ₩7,000 for two servings, which I thought was a good price. Fried rice to finish after meat is basically the rule, right? Haha. Since Neopttakjip’s kkakdugi fried rice includes beef brisket too, I want to recommend it even more.

I was really satisfied that Neopttakjip Samsong Branch let me try special cuts I would not normally have eaten. The meat was delicious on its own, delicious wrapped in ssam (leaf wraps), and delicious with Neopttakjip’s many combinations! The harder-to-find cuts like kkodeulsal and hayansal, followed by the beef brisket kkakdugi fried rice, made for a perfect finish. If you are looking for somewhere to eat meat in Samsong, I recommend Neopttakjip Samsong Branch for its wide variety of pork cuts.