Sunday-night Myeongdong jokbal with garlic on request: Miss Jokbal
In short
Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch is a jokbal (braised pork hock) restaurant on Myeongdong Street in Jung-gu, Seoul, a 2-minute walk from Exit 5 of Euljiro 1-ga Station. On a Sunday evening, two diners ordered the Emperor Jokbal for 58,000 won, which came on one large platter with side dishes including japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), gimbap (seaweed rice roll), tofu kimchi and angel-hair radish salad; garlic and cheongyang chili peppers are not served by default but arrive if you ask. The meal ended with the free kimchi kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) boiled at the table, working as both a drinking snack and a hangover cure.
Good to know
- Location
- 2-minute walk from Exit 5, Euljiro 1-ga Station, on Myeongdong Street
- Hours
- 11:00 – 03:00 the next day (last order 02:00)
- Signature dish
- Emperor Jokbal, 58,000 won
- Included free
- Kimchi kalguksu (a side dish you boil yourself), ssamjang, salted shrimp, mala sauce
- Served on request
- Garlic, cheongyang chili peppers
- Other menu items
- Kimchi pancake, cheese potato pancake, homemade fish cake stew / lunch: soft tofu stew, bibim makguksu, galbitang / soju, beer, makgeolli
- Price reference
- ₩58,000 ≈ $42 (2026-09-22)
as written by the visitor on Sep 23, 2026
Last Sunday evening, I wanted warm jokbal (braised pig's trotters) eaten right at the restaurant instead of the usual delivery at home, so I visited Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch.
Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch is a 2-minute walk from Exit 5 of Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station, right on Myeongdong Street.
- Hours: 11:00 – 3:00 (last order 2:00)
- Address: 199-45 Euljiro 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
What is Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch like inside?
True to its reputation as a jokbal restaurant near Myeongdong Station right in the middle of buzzing Myeongdong, the place was packed with customers, and more than 70% of them were foreign tourists. It's popular enough to have a wait sometimes — apparently they boil jokbal 3 to 5 times a day.
What's on the menu at Miss Jokbal in Myeongdong
Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch turned out to be a jokbal restaurant near Myeongdong Station selling main dishes like various jokbal and bossam (boiled pork wraps), sub dishes like kimchi pancake, cheese potato pancake, and homemade fish cake stew, and lunch dishes like soft tofu stew, bibim makguksu, and galbitang. They also had a wide selection of alcohol — soju, beer, makgeolli — making it a great spot for a drink after work. (The place is spacious enough for group gatherings or company dinners, too!)
The free kimchi kalguksu that comes with every order
At Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch, you get kimchi kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) as a complimentary side dish that you boil bubbling away at the table.
We ate quite a bit of the jokbal first and decided to have the kimchi kalguksu afterward as a broth to go with drinks.
Once the tangy-sweet, packed-with-kimchi broth started bubbling with that spicy-tart kick, they added in the kalguksu noodles to cook.
It looked exactly like something you'd order at a dedicated kalguksu shop! The chewy noodles and spicy-tart broth doubled as both a drinking snack and hangover cure, wrapping things up warm and hearty.
Emperor Jokbal at 58,000 won: enough for two
The Emperor Jokbal for ₩58,000 at Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch came out as a generous helping of jokbal along with an array of side dishes, all piled onto one huge platter. I was honestly surprised at how much it filled the whole table, haha.
It wasn't just the side dishes taking up the whole table — the jokbal portion itself was seriously generous, more than enough for two of us to eat comfortably.
Tangy-sweet, crunchy pickled garlic and gungchae (pickled aster stems), plus tofu kimchi served with stir-fried kimchi.
A vegetable salad topped with plump shrimp, and nutty japchae that gave off holiday-table vibes.
Gimbap filled with crisp vegetables and egg, and sesame-oil-tossed baegmuk-eunji (white pickled radish).
Springy angel hair radish salad, plus napa cabbage kimchi and bossam radish salad — jokbal wouldn't feel complete without them. So many different side dishes came out together, and mixing and matching them all made the meal really fun.
Garlic and cheongyang chili peppers come only if you ask
Garlic and cheongyang chili peppers aren't served by default, but they brought them out when we asked.
Tender, melt-in-the-mouth skin, and soft, juicy meat — the savory sweetness of the seasoning really came through, good enough to eat plain. (Though it's even better with the side dishes, of course!)
A wrap made with fresh lettuce, topped with meat and bossam radish salad! Making the wrap, I felt like something was missing and realized there was no garlic — that's when we asked for garlic and cheongyang chili peppers, haha.
Ssamjang, salted shrimp and mala sauce: does mala work with jokbal?
Ssamjang (seasoned dipping sauce), salted shrimp, mala sauce.
This was my first time pairing mala sauce with jokbal, so I hesitated at first. But after enjoying the jokbal for a while, I tried a piece dipped in it just for the experience, and — oh! The spicy mala flavor actually went pretty well with the sweet jokbal. (I finished off the whole serving of mala sauce that came with it!)
Tangy-sweet baegmuk-eunji on top of gimbap, with jokbal piled on and eaten all in one bite — it honestly felt like a jokbal omakase, haha.
They gave us tongs to easily hold and pick apart the jokbal bones. The chewy tendon parts stuck to the bone were especially delicious, deeply soaked in the sweet seasoning.
Enjoying the delicious jokbal, before we knew it, the soju bottle was empty, haha.
Pairing the jokbal with a wide variety of side dishes made for a much more varied, enjoyable meal — this was my review of Miss Jokbal Seoul Myeongdong Branch, a jokbal restaurant near Myeongdong Station.
Where it is
21 Myeongdong 3-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 중구 명동3길 21 미쓰족발 서울명동점
