Jongno 3-ga street BBQ with a 3-hour Friday wait: Meongseokjip

Hi everyone! I finally made it back to Jongno in Seoul — Jongno is basically the holy land of street BBQ, haha. Had to get one more round in before it gets too cold, so my friend and I headed straight there after work.

We'd already planned to eat at Meongseokjip before we even left, but somehow that plan crashed and burned — we ended up waiting three hours to eat. I'll write up the waiting situation too, so check that out.

Meongseokjip's outdoor tables and the indoor seats with an opening roof

At the entrance to Meongseokjip there are about 6 fully outdoor patio tables, and once you go inside there's a space with the ceiling open, sort of a half-outdoor feel. Everyone was waiting forever to get one of those outdoor seats, but honestly, once I actually got there, I found the indoor space more charming and prettier, so we sat inside! With the open roof and the lovely lighting, I loved the indoor seats too, haha.

How to reach Meongseokjip from Jongno 3-ga Station, plus hours and parking

The location is pretty close to the main street by Jongno 3-ga Station! You pass the strip lined with street-BBQ spots, duck into a small alley, and you're there — easy to find. It'd been a while since I'd been to Jongno, but I found it without any trouble.

📍 Hours: 12:00 – 23:55. This place opens from the daytime, so it seems like a great spot for day drinking if you come earlier, haha. And since they're open until midnight, there's plenty of time to eat at a leisurely pace.

📍 Parking: Not available, unfortunately. But parking is basically impossible everywhere in Jongno anyway, so it wasn't a big deal, haha. I'd recommend using a nearby public parking lot.

What the Meongseok Set includes for two people

Meongseok Set Kimchi fried rice Brisket doenjang stew Steamed egg Soju

It was just my friend and me, but we'd waited so long and were so hungry that we couldn't help ourselves and ordered all of this. I figured BBQ for three, a stew, steamed egg, and fried rice to finish was still reasonable for two people, haha.

A 3-hour Friday wait at Meongseokjip, and how to avoid it

Pork belly and pork neck grilled under lighting like this is just unbeatable. This is exactly what I went to Jongno for, so a 3-hour wait was something I could tolerate.

Here's my waiting tip: as soon as you get to Jongno, go straight to Meongseokjip. There'll be a wait no matter when you go. We casually went to a café around 4pm thinking it'd be too early to put our name down, so we waited and went at 5:30 — and didn't eat until 8:30. If you want to avoid that disaster, go early.

Put your name on the list before you go to a café, chat and kill time there, and just head over when the alert goes off! If you're visiting on a Friday or Saturday especially, I'd strongly recommend going to Meongseokjip first, no question.

Two slabs of pork belly and one of pork neck on the grill

The meat was so good, worth every minute of the wait!! It comes out as two portions of pork belly and one of pork neck, which was just the right amount for two women to eat. The cuts were nice and thick to keep the texture, and they carefully grilled garlic alongside it too.

How clean is the self-serve bar, and how good is the green onion kimchi?

This place has a self-serve bar, and since the food goes out fast, it gets restocked fast too — everything was kept pretty clean. This is exactly why it's worth going to popular restaurants with high turnover: the ingredients stay fresh and taste better, haha.

This green onion kimchi wasn't part of the basic table setting — I grabbed it from the self-serve bar — and it was so good! Wrapped up with the meat, it was seriously delicious. The seasoning was rich, and once the pork belly starts feeling a bit greasy, this pairs perfectly with it, haha.

There wasn't any perilla leaf, so we wrapped the meat in lettuce with bean sprouts instead, haha. I kind of wish I'd grilled the bean sprouts a little too. I think wrapping the meat with bean sprouts or kimchi is the tastiest way to eat it, haha. Garlic is a must too!

Steamed egg, brisket doenjang stew and rice stirred into the stew

The steamed egg totally passed the visual test too! Fluffy and hot, it was delicious. It wasn't salty, just light and clean, so it was perfect to eat alongside the meat, haha. It rose up pretty high, so the portion was surprisingly generous too.

We ordered the doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) with rice on the side and mixed it into doenjang rice. It was packed with brisket and cheongyang chili, which paired perfectly with the meat — definitely try this. Maybe because it's brisket doenjang stew, mixing the rice in made it taste really savory and good.

Finishing with kimchi fried rice at Meongseokjip

The finishing touch — kimchi fried rice, haha. At a BBQ restaurant, fried rice after the meat is basically required — the K-dessert, if you will. They sprinkled on plenty of seaweed flakes and topped it with a cute fried egg — this thing is absolutely a magic trick. I felt like I was about to burst, but I just kept eating it. You have to try the kimchi fried rice too!! Good enough to make you forget the 3-hour wait, haha.

Rich and delicious. Egg, kimchi, seaweed flakes, and rice — how could that combination not be good, haha. We grilled a bit of napa cabbage kimchi on the side and ate it together — as always, more kimchi is always better.

This is the kind of vibe the outdoor patio has~? The lighting is perfect for getting a great shot too, so if you're on the fence about Meongseokjip in Jongno, definitely go. Next time I'm in Jongno, I'm not even going to look for anywhere else — I'll just go straight back to Meongseokjip, haha. And seriously, put your name on the waitlist ahead of time!!