Seohae, Incheon Korean BBQ with aged pork belly: Gyeongseo Jeilgo

Juicy aged pork belly found in Cheongna

I was diligently looking for good restaurants near Incheon Airport and ended up at Gyeongseo Jeilgo, which had great Kakao Map ratings and lots of genuinely enthusiastic Naver reviews! To give you the conclusion first: the staff grill it for you, and when you bite in, the juices just pour out—it was seriously delicious!! There are also more than five dipping sauces, so I highly recommend it if you love having fun mixing and matching flavors 👍🏻

Parking and visit information

That bright blue sign you can spot from afar is Gyeongseo Jeilgo ⭐️ There are chairs outside for waiting, too. I visited at 6 p.m. on a Saturday and walked straight in without a wait, but while I was eating, the tables gradually filled up. There could be a wait at dinner, so I recommend booking ahead if possible!

If you are eating before heading to Incheon Airport or after finishing your airport plans, a restaurant with parking is definitely more convenient. There is room for about two to three cars right next to the restaurant! But if you park farther in, getting your car out can be a little awkward, so I recommend the public parking lot behind the restaurant. It was much roomier and easier to park there.

Like the exterior, the interior has warm wood tones. It was antique, neat, and pretty. Want a date over meat in Cheongna? Gyeongseo Jeilgo is just the place~!!

Aged Pork Belly Set for 2

We ordered the Aged Pork Belly Set for 2. Can you see the thickness and that bright red color? I just had a feeling it would be delicious before it even hit the grill,, 🤤

The secret behind that mouthwatering look is a full 216 hours of aging! They say the nine-day process makes the texture more tender and brings out the meat's natural savory flavor.

Please refer to the menu above for the other dishes! I saw in the reviews that the gochujang stew is also that good (whispering).

Join the Naver receipt-review event and you get steamed egg! Gogalbi takes 25 minutes and scorched-rice soup takes 20 minutes, so keep that in mind when ordering.

The fun of mixing sauces and side dishes

The basic side dishes arrive, and what I loved from the start was how many accompaniments there were! There were sauces I do not often see at other barbecue places, including hamcho salt, herring roe, and shiitake-barley ssamjang (dipping paste for wraps); they will even bring meljeot, a fermented anchovy sauce, if you ask (hot tip). There were three kinds of pickles, too, so it was fun trying combinations to find the very best one.

They say all the side dishes are made in-house, and they looked so fresh and green—I wanted to hurry up and take a huge bite with the meat,,

Thick pork belly grilled by the staff

And one more important point here!!! The staff grill the meat for you. Personally, I think thick aged meat can taste very different depending on who grills it and how?!? It would be so unfair to order great meat and then burn it myself...ㅠ

Here, the staff watch the meat carefully and cook even the sides thoroughly until the outside is nicely golden. They really grill it well.

They cut the thick pork belly into bite-size pieces, and it looked moist from the cross-section alone~~ It was so convenient: no grilling needed, just pick it up and eat it at its best moment 🤍

The pork belly was finally done!!!! Even though it was thick, it was not dry inside at all; the moisture stayed right there, so the juices burst out the second I chewed. I was honestly shocked haha. The lean meat and fat came together and the nutty flavor really came alive! I recommend eating the first piece plain, without dipping it in anything.

The owner's tips for eating it deliciously

But I am an ENFP who goes wild for variety, so I could not skip all those combinations. Luckily, the owner had some tips for enjoying Jeilgo at its best!

• Dip the first piece in hamcho salt
• Top it with herring roe for a salty kick
• Dip it in shiitake-barley ssamjang
• Wrap it in roasted gim (seaweed) and take a bite
• Add seaweed pickles here and there
• Finally, combine numbers 1–5 however you like ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My number-one combination was lettuce + barley ssamjang + shredded chili + pa-jeori (seasoned scallion salad) + a little wasabi = swoon. The pork juices meet the deep, savory flavor of the barley ssamjang, then the shredded chili and pa-jeori come in with that crisp bite, so every wrap feels absolutely packed with flavor…!

Now I get why the Kakao Map people were making such a fuss! So many people are crying ㅜㅠㅠㅠㅠ in the reviews, and you know that if “all-time best” is in the review, it is a flavor you can trust, right?!

My boyfriend seemed to love the spicy, popping herring roe and wanted more, so we added the Sea-Embracing Herring Roe Rice.

Pork skin to finish

Once you finish the pork belly, the staff grill pork skin for you, too. It comes with soybean powder! I do not usually eat pork skin, but this one was delicious,,?! One bite and it was chewy yet tender, and surprisingly less rich than pork skin usually is!!

My boyfriend said pork skin normally gets tiring after a while, but somehow he could eat this until the end haha (a real review). I think the tangy chojang sauce cut through the richness now and then, making it feel fresher!

Lastly, the restroom is through this door! I checked, and it was very clean, so I do not think you need to worry about the restroom at all. Burn your youth, not your meat!!!!! You can feel the owner's pride even at the checkout counter 👍🏻

Gyeongseo Jeilgo: final thoughts

Overall, Gyeongseo Jeilgo had high-quality meat, staff who grilled it carefully, and lots of fun sauces to enjoy alongside it. The juicy aged pork belly was especially memorable, and with parking, pet-friendly access, and high chairs, it also seemed like a good option for a date or a family meal! If you are looking for seriously good meat while traveling around Incheon Airport or Cheongna, I highly recommend Gyeongseo Jeilgo 👍🏻