Gyodae Korean BBQ for four, pork belly grilled upright: Sodangkkae

The season is coming when my knees ache and I don't want to lift a finger. I wanted to open nothing but my beak at mealtime, so I went to Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip (소당깨오겹집), a Gyodae spot that could put up with even Nolbu-level behavior (the lazy, greedy brother in a Korean folktale). It's a Gyodae pork belly place where they grill for you, using one of the world's three great pork breeds. Here's the story of how I took down a whole pig.

Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip Gyodae Main Branch hours and parking

Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip Gyodae Main Branch is open 11:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and 12:00 to 23:00 on weekends and holidays, with last order at 22:00. Parking is first come, first served: 2 spots in front of the building and 3 behind, 5 in total. I hear it was also selected as a Seoul representative restaurant~

• Address: 84-3 Seocho-daero 50-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul (2nd floor)
• Weekdays 11:00 - 23:00 / weekends and holidays 12:00 - 23:00
• Last order 22:00
• Parking: 5 spots, first come first served (2 in front of the building, 3 behind)

How much should four people order at Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip?

The four of us ordered the mixed set plus 2 extra servings of pork belly, 2 bowls of rice, 2 cans of Coke Zero and 1 serving of fried rice. That much food and everybody walks out patting their bellies. I was about to collapse from hunger, so let me order first.

The mixed set (for 2 people) is made up of meat for grilling (pork belly, neck and jowl) and meat to eat raw (beef tartare, called yukhoe). You can also choose either doenjang stew or kimchi stew with it.

Will a cauldron-lid grill leave a smell on your clothes?

Above each cauldron lid there's a dedicated exhaust vent. Old tradition plus a new gadget, in a pork belly joint,, thanks to this we grilled meat like crazy and still didn't get the smell in our clothes or hair.

Side dishes were lettuce wraps, scallion salad and scallion kimchi. The scallion kimchi here is sooo good T.T The sauces are ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and salt!

What is the Duroc pork at Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip?

Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip uses a breed called Duroc, said to be one of the world's three great pork breeds along with Spain's Iberico and Hungary's Mangalica. And yet it's domestic! That's because the Duroc is brought into Korea, raised here, and processed here.

I can't hide my excitement@@ The ratio of meat to fat is art T_T My favorite was the pork jowl.

Honestly I don't get the complicated stuff, I just thought it looked way too delicious,, The side dishes were modest because the lineup of things to grill is so splendid! Two kinds of mushrooms, minari (water dropwort), seasoned bean sprouts, fernbrake, shishito-style peppers and kimchi all go on the cauldron lid together!!

I could only gasp. The grill is so big that cooking everything all at once suits my impatient nature perfectly, but the fat splatters a lot, so be careful!

Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip corkage rules for wine and spirits

Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip allows corkage depending on the type of drink. Wine is free, up to 1 bottle, if each person orders at least 1 serving of meat! Whiskey, sake and traditional liquor are ₩30,000 per bottle. Wine and pork belly seem like they'd go well together somehow. I can't believe I ate all this, so proud of myself.

Doenjang stew with ssam (lettuce wraps)

The doenjang stew in the set is a bubbling, roaring one. They say it tastes just like the stew at a BBQ restaurant~

I was too busy eating meat to even glance at it. I asked for an extra basket of lettuce wraps and didn't put my spoon down until I'd wrapped up every last bit.

Someone said they'd show off a killer combo and put one single strand of fernbrake on top, it's killing me.

How does the Korean beef tartare in the mixed set taste?

The yukhoe in the mixed set is made from domestic 1++ grade Korean beef (hanwoo). The texture was tender, nothing like frozen, and it had a slight sweetness, a really good tartare. And there was a fuss about photographing the egg yolk going on top too, total drama queen energy.

Why the second round of extra pork belly tasted even better

Round two with the extra pork belly, along with Coke Zero.

The more we ate, we didn't get sick of it; the second round actually tasted better. They say the owner, with 23 years of experience running the business, ages the meat at low temperature for 192 hours, and maybe that's why it really was delicious. Seriously;

The staff member's grilling skills are max level too. It's my first time at a place where they grill the meat standing upright.

Ahh it was so good!!!

How is the cauldron-lid fried rice made?

For the fried rice at Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip, they stir-fry kimchi, bean sprouts and scallion salad on the cauldron lid where the pork fat has gathered, then add rice and fry it some more. I had to carry this afterglow to the very end, so fried rice it is. You have to eat carbs for it to count as a meal.

Top it with seaweed flakes and a well-done fried egg, and the perfect meal is complete.

Is Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip a good group dinner spot near Gyodae Station?

Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip Gyodae Main Branch holds a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 74 people, so if you're looking for a place for a group dinner near Gyodae Station, I'd recommend it. I've had pork belly, neck and jowl countless times, but I really enjoyed it here.

Eating it once didn't calm me down, it woke me up, and now I want pork belly again. The taste is definitely guaranteed at Sodangkkae O-gyeopjip, the Gyodae Station place that grills your pork for you! Highly recommended.