Korean BBQ at Guui Station for two: ₩49,000 pork belly meal, Ssamchae

Do they grill the meat for you at Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal near Guui Station?

Yes. At Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal (쌈채솥뚜껑삼겹살) near Guui Station, a staff member grills the pork belly on the iron lid (sotttukkeong) from start to finish. I wanted pork belly, so two of us went, and it was so much better than I expected that we left completely full.

When I eat samgyeopsal (pork belly), constantly flipping and grilling the meat myself is secretly a bit of a hassle. Here the staff do all the grilling, so I could eat in comfort.

When you're chatting over BBQ, sometimes you suddenly find the meat burnt or cooked on only one side. Since they grill it for you, there's none of that worry, which I loved. And because it's pork belly grilled on an iron lid, it felt different from eating on a regular grill.

What did two people order, and how much was it?

This day we ordered 2 servings of iron-lid pork belly (200g each), and the pork belly came to ₩34,000 for the two servings. We also ordered 2 bowls of rice, meat-packed kimchi stew (gogi deumppeok kimchi jjigae) and jjapagetti (instant black bean noodles).

Rather than just pork belly for two, we wanted rice and stew too, so we added a bit of everything. The total was ₩49,000. The pork belly is placed on the iron lid to cook, and the smell while it was cooking was already amazing.

And since the staff grill the meat, we just sat back and waited, which was nice. They flipped it at the right moments and cooked it to a perfect point, so we could pick it up and eat right away.

How does the iron-lid pork belly taste?

The iron-lid pork belly barely burns, and it comes out golden on the outside and juicy inside. What I liked most was exactly that: maybe because of the iron lid, the meat doesn't burn easily.

When you eat pork belly, meat sometimes sticks to the grill, or burns while you're busy with another dish. Here, partly because the staff grill it and partly because of the iron lid, I worried much less about burning anything. It was golden outside and moist inside, and delicious.

The pork belly itself is rich and nutty, so it was good on its own and good in a wrap. Meat really does taste best with wrap greens, doesn't it?

Are the wrap greens unlimited?

Yes, the wrap greens are unlimited, and I liked that too. You can take lettuce and other greens as much as you want, so it was one bite of meat, a big wrap full of greens, then more meat and another wrap, and I just kept eating. I eat a lot of wraps with BBQ, so this was a real plus for me.

Eating only meat can feel a little greasy, but with the greens it was much fresher. Piling plenty of greens on the pork belly and wrapping it with garlic and other side dishes was seriously good.

How are the meat-packed kimchi stew and jjapagetti as sides?

The meat-packed kimchi stew really does have meat in it, as the name promises, and it was nice to spoon up the broth while eating pork belly. I ordered it because of that name, and it was tasty. With BBQ, a kimchi stew is great with rice and great for sipping between bites.

So we ordered rice to go with the stew. We also got jjapagetti. Having jjapagetti at a pork belly place made our table a lot more varied.

Pork belly, then kimchi stew with rice, then jjapagetti too... the two of us just kept eating, haha. Ordering sides like these made the meal much more filling than just meat. Kimchi stew especially feels like a must when you eat pork belly.

One bite of meat, one spoonful of kimchi stew broth, and you can keep going. With 2 servings of pork belly plus rice, stew and jjapagetti for two, we were quite full by the end. At first I wondered if we'd ordered too much, but once we started eating, we finished it all.

Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal overall review

At Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal near Guui Station, the most convenient part was having the meat grilled for you, and I also liked that the iron lid keeps it from burning. The pork belly was golden and delicious, and with unlimited wrap greens we could eat our fill alongside the meat.

People who eat lots of wraps with BBQ, like me, will probably love it. And since staff grill the meat, you can eat without keeping an eye on the grill the whole time. Two of us ordered 2 servings of pork belly, rice, meat-packed kimchi stew and jjapagetti, and it came to ₩49,000 in total.

Adding sides made it far more filling than pork belly alone. Above all, burnt meat is the biggest waste when you eat BBQ, and here the staff grill it and the iron lid helps, so I was happy to eat without that worry. If you love pork belly, try it with a big pile of wrap greens. Next time, I'd order pork belly with kimchi stew again.