Namyangju Korean BBQ outdoor set meal: Chodaebak Naengsam

Now that the weather has cooled down, grilling meat at an outdoor-stall-style spot has been so delicious. This time, while looking for a good restaurant and barbecue place in Pyeongnae-Hopyeong, I visited a place where the frozen pork belly looked especially good.

SET 1 with frozen pork belly and flower-cut pork neck

This is a spot that frozen pork belly fans will be happy to find! We ordered SET 1 (for 2–3 people), 510 g, which came with two servings of frozen pork belly plus one serving of flower-cut pork neck, so it was a generous meal. The price was just ₩37,000! These days, ₩37,000 for this amount and combination at a barbecue restaurant feels like a pretty good deal. On top of that, steamed egg, minari, and king oyster mushrooms were served complimentary, so the table was full from the start.

Service when visiting with a baby

This was personally the most memorable part of our visit. We went with our baby, and a staff member brought over a baby chair herself and even gave us baby sausages and seaweed for the baby to eat. Those little thoughtful touches felt so warm, seriously ㅠㅠ

When you eat out with a baby, there is so much to think about, like whether there is a chair and whether there is something the child can eat. I was grateful that they prepared the baby chair right away and even looked after food for our child. Thanks to that, we could eat comfortably too. If you are planning a meal out with a baby, these things matter quite a bit, and since this Pyeongnae-Hopyeong barbecue restaurant has baby chairs, I thought it would be a nice choice for a family meal as well.

Side dishes that went well with the meat

At a barbecue restaurant, the side dishes are quietly almost as important as the meat, right? Here, there was a wide variety of banchan (Korean side dishes), one by one, so it was fun to pick at this and that while waiting for the meat. In the middle was a generous serving of spicy-tangy seasoned vegetables, with chili peppers, garlic, ssamjang, pickles, kimchi, and seasoned vegetable sides arranged alongside.

There were especially side dishes that cut through the richness of the meat, so they went well with the frozen pork belly. Frozen pork belly tends to be rich, so the more varied the accompaniments, the more I kept reaching for it. The steamed egg was complimentary too, and it was nice and soft to eat between bites of meat.

A thin, savory frozen pork belly and pork neck pairing

Finally, we put the frozen pork belly on the grill, and even the sizzling sound was so good. Its signature savory aroma rose up, and eating it in the outdoor-stall-like space really set the mood. Frozen pork belly has a charm that is different from thick samgyeopsal (pork belly). Since it is thin, it cooks quickly, so you can eat right away when you are hungry; it is delicious grilled crisp with side dishes or garlic, and it also pairs beautifully with fragrant minari. My favorite combination was putting minari right on top of the meat and eating them together.

And ordering the flower-cut pork neck too was such a great move! Rather than eating only frozen pork belly the whole time, grilling the pork neck alongside it made it even tastier because the texture was different. After thin, savory frozen pork belly, a piece of pork neck felt fresh and new, so I thought one set would work nicely for two or three people.

Outdoor-stall atmosphere and parking

Most of all, what I loved that day was eating in the outdoor-stall-style space! Meat really does taste best outside, haha. Sitting in the cool weather and grilling sizzling meat definitely felt different from eating at home. It was a nice atmosphere for visiting with friends and chatting casually, and it also worked well for a family meal.

Parking was available right in front, so it was convenient even when visiting by car. Going out for barbecue and then circling around because of parking is quietly stressful, so it was great to be able to park right out front. The restroom was also inside the restaurant, which made it convenient to use during the meal.

Finishing with mul bibim-naengmyeon

After meat, you simply cannot skip naengmyeon, haha. We added mul bibim-naengmyeon (cold noodles in a lightly brothy spicy sauce) at the end, and it was really delicious too. After the meat, a bite of tangy, chilled noodles refreshed the palate and made me keep eating. After filling up on frozen pork belly and flower-cut pork neck, then having naengmyeon as well, it felt like a proper complete meal! If meat alone feels a little incomplete, definitely order naengmyeon with it.

How satisfying the ₩37,000 set was

To sum it up, the SET 1 (for 2–3 people), 510 g, that we ordered that day included two servings of frozen pork belly, one serving of flower-cut pork neck, complimentary steamed egg, complimentary minari, and complimentary king oyster mushrooms, all for ₩37,000. We added mul bibim-naengmyeon too for a hearty finish! The amount of meat was not lacking, and the basic side dishes were varied, so it was an overall satisfying meal.

Especially if you are looking for a good Pyeongnae-Hopyeong restaurant or a good frozen pork belly spot in Namyangju, and want a good-value barbecue restaurant, I think this is worth a visit. More than anything, I remember the atmosphere of eating outdoors and the warm service that looked after our baby too. On a day with nice weather, I recommend the course of grilling frozen pork belly outdoors and finishing with naengmyeon, haha.

The finishing fried rice was per-fect 😍🙏