Goyang Korean BBQ for bibim naengmyeon and Jeju pork: Dokbul Janggun

Back for Jeju pork specialty cuts near Baekseok Station

It’s finally properly cool and crisp, which means semi-outdoor dining season is here, everyone~ I went to Dokbul Janggun Ilsan Baekseok Branch in search of a great Ilsan semi-outdoor spot. This is the place I found and paid for myself last time, and then came back to again. They specialize in top-grade Jeju kkodeulsal, and their kkodeulsal, ppollhangjeong, and nakyeopsal are seriously trustworthy,, quick review, go-

The exterior and semi-outdoor seating

Dokbul Janggun Ilsan Baekseok Branch is a four-minute walk from Exit 6 of Baekseok Station. I really fell for this place. Before I even get into the proper introduction, I genuinely recommend it as a Baekseok Station restaurant, a Baekseok Station meat spot, and beyond that, one of Ilsan’s great places to eat.

Even the Jinro toad lying out front made my heart skip a beat.. It puts just the tiniest bit of pressure on you to order Jinro.. (Stop making excuses.)

Inside, there’s this dining area plus the semi-outdoor seating. It isn’t completely outdoors, but it’s cozy and semi-open, which I actually liked even more,, You can still enjoy that outdoor-dining mood when it rains, and turn on the air conditioning when it’s hot, and so on.

I came before too, but this area marked “100-hour Golden Aging” is such a symbolic little space that you can sense just how serious Dokbul Janggun Ilsan Baekseok Branch is about its meat. It would be a shame not to photograph it this time too, so click. They use Grade 1 Jeju pork.. haha!

They also have food for takeout and delivery, so I was like, seriously,, these days there’s nowhere that doesn’t deliver, click..

They also run a Naver receipt-review promotion. Usually you get one can of soda, but they give you honeycomb pork skin for free.. If you’re not seized by extreme laziness, it’s worth writing one! (The extreme-laziness person is me.)

You can order through the table kiosk!

The Jeju platter I ordered and the banchan

Please refer to the menu. One standout is the huge selection of sets, individual meat orders, kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), pork skin, yukhoe (seasoned raw beef), and highballs! Wine corkage is ₩10,000 per bottle!

• Dokbul 72-Hour Aged Jeju Platter (600 g), ₩56,000: 200 g each of kkodeulsal, ppollhangjeong, and nakyeopsal
• Mul bibim naengmyeon, ₩7,000 × 2
• Cheese steamed egg, probably ₩5,000

I can’t not introduce the banchan because they have their own special-special charm.. There’s roasted glasswort salt, house-made water kimchi, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew, complimentary), shredded scallion salad, salted hairtail fish sauce, pickled chili strips, ssam vegetables, garlic, ssamjang, wasabi, and aged kimchi!

The house-made water kimchi is truly tangy! Then there’s the heat of Cheongyang chili! When you have some in between bites of meat, you know? It’s magic enough to make you start the meat all over again..☆ It carries all that pork fat right down into your stomach. (The owner’s big plan to make us eat more meat: total success.)

I have to give top marks to these three: roasted glasswort salt, pickled chili strips, and salted hairtail fish sauce. Assuming you’re already at a genuinely great meat restaurant, as someone who loves a place that serves salt, I found the roasted glasswort salt delicious even on its own with the meat. The pickled chilies and hairtail fish sauce were not rice thieves, but meat thieves.. The hairtail fish sauce also had ground sesame and Cheongyang chili in it, making it even better mixed together. They pair so~~~~~~~ well with the meat, so even people who aren’t great with funky flavors, please try them just once..

The shredded scallion salad was seasoned very lightly too, and I love this kind of scallion salad. Its fresh aroma and gentle seasoning don’t overwhelm the meat’s natural flavor; they only add freshness, so I kept reaching for it haha.

Isn’t the grill unusual too? It seemed like this grill doesn’t burn, which was so fascinating.

Grilling kkodeulsal, ppollhangjeong, and nakyeopsal together

The Dokbul 72-Hour Aged Jeju Platter lets you enjoy three different specialty cuts at a discounted price: 200 g each of 72-hour-aged kkodeulsal, ppollhangjeong, and nakyeopsal.

From the top, that’s nakyeopsal, ppollhangjeong, and kkodeulsal. Even the deep bright-red color characteristic of specialty cuts is different from the samgyeopsal (pork belly) we commonly eat. While waiting for the meat to cook, I’m going to conquer the other dishes first,,

The complimentary cheonggukjang arrives as a standard service, and one spoonful immediately makes you think of bibimbap (mixed rice). It’s so savory and deep,, Last time I came, the cheonggukjang wasn’t complimentary. Dokbul Janggun keeps improving every day!

Cheese steamed egg, probably ₩5,000. Please order Dokbul Janggun’s steamed egg.. Please.. I’ve eaten countless steamed eggs and emptied plenty of ttukbaegi (earthenware bowls), but not many places do soft, fluffy steamed egg this well. The slice of cheddar on top is so good too—I genuinely wanted to ask for the secret recipe..

The meat is cooking. I am so hungry..

They told me that the same owner also runs Vaidram, a place to go for a second round after meat, and huh, it’s somewhere I’d saved because I wanted to visit so badly..? It’s a hidden-gem wine bar in Ilsan. I can’t believe it’s run by the owner of Dokbul Janggun Ilsan Baekseok Branch.. Oh my goodness.

And then, finally, the meat was cooked. They told us to grill the nakyeopsal, ppollhangjeong, and kkodeulsal at the same time, so we did. Kkodeulsal and ppollhangjeong—what more is there to say.. They’re rare cuts that make up just 10% of pork, with more meaty aroma and juices than pork belly or pork neck, plus that springy, chewy texture.. I love how even the fatty portions of these pork specialty cuts are crisp, chewy, and bouncy.

Nakyeopsal seems to be named for its leaf shape. It had the least fat of the three, yet it was clean-tasting and chewy—almost like eating a leaner cut of beef.. It’s a cut you don’t often see, so I enjoyed it so much.

I also had it with salted hairtail fish sauce, garlic, and scallion salad.

The aged kimchi here is crazy too. I don’t know if they add seasoning the way store-bought stir-fried kimchi does, but the kimchi’s savory depth was so delicious..

Needless to say, the pickled chili strips and salted hairtail fish sauce never got tiring no matter how much I ate them. They were the banchan that kept making me wonder whether I should order another serving of meat.. Keep the meat coming, keep going,,

One bowl of mul bibim naengmyeon per person

Mul bibim naengmyeon, ₩7,000 × 2. Unusually, this is the only naengmyeon (cold noodle) option here. They said to ask if we needed vinegar mustard. But it was so delicious just as it was,, At other places, it tastes too bland for me without vinegar mustard, but Dokbul Janggun’s was already bursting with savory flavor, so I didn’t need it at all (for my taste). They also gave us lots of pickled radish, and the pork + pickled radish + mul bibim naengmyeon combination is truly impossible to give up..

The mul bibim naengmyeon was so good that we each had our own bowl. (No secret that we did one bowl each on my last visit too..) It’s a self-grill system, but because the grill doesn’t burn, you can cook easily!

If you’re looking for exceptional pork, I recommend Dokbul Janggun Ilsan Baekseok Branch, a top-grade Jeju kkodeulsal specialist where you can enjoy rare cuts making up 10% of pork at a reasonable price. To anyone thinking, “I don’t know about pork specialty cuts; I’ll just stick to my everyday sizzling pork belly,” I really want to give you one bite.. If you try them at a restaurant that does pork specialty cuts well, they’re far more delicious than pork belly. I guarantee it.

Somehow this turned into a wildly excited review, but would I return? Drumroll—10000%! End of review 20000!