Samgyeopsal with DIY gochujang sauce in Bangi-dong: Hongkyojip Jamsil

Looking for somewhere to spend a Friday night in Bangi-dong, I found "Hongkyojip." When people search for pork belly restaurants in Bangi-dong they usually just check the meat menu, but this place had one unusual item that made me curious.

Where Hongkyojip Jamsil is, and why indoors beats the terrace

Hongkyojip sits inside the Bangi food alley, so it's also a good spot to head to if you're looking for a meal near Jamsil.

There's an outdoor terrace that's perfect for this kind of weather, and I actually booked a terrace seat — but I was told grilling service would be difficult out there, so I moved indoors. Turned out to be a great choice once I ate. They really grill the meat so well, ugh.

The inside is super clean! There's also a semi-open room in the back that looks great for a small gathering.

The reservation list sitting at the entrance. It was seriously packed. There was even a waitlist later on. I even saw foreign tourists who didn't speak Korean lining up, wow.

What to order at Hongkyojip Jamsil: myeongpum ogyeopsal and tongdaepa galmaegisal

That day we ordered:

• Myeongpum ogyeopsal (premium five-layer pork belly)
• Tongdaepa galmaegisal (skirt steak with whole scallion)
• Chadol doenjang sulbap (thin-sliced beef in soybean paste rice)
• Gyeranjjim (steamed egg)

We ordered two meat dishes plus a rice dish and a side so we could try a bit of everything. See the photos above for the full menu.

You could tell right away that good charcoal had arrived,

and the side dishes looked delicious too. Oh yes, fernbrake~ so what comes next? Meat. Bring it on~

Right on time, the tongdaepa galmaegisal I'd been so curious about showed up. It's real galmaegisal (skirt steak) with actual whole scallion stuffed inside, no joke.

Tableside grilling, and crispy skin on the ogyeopsal

Now the grilling service begins~ It was worth giving up the terrace seat for this. Since it's five-layer belly and not regular three-layer, the key is getting the skin crispy, and that galmaegisal with the whole scallion definitely cooks up way tastier when a pro who knows what they're doing grills it, versus someone doing it for the first time.

Wow, you can just tell the meat is perfectly cooked. Alongside the belly and galmaegisal, they also grilled eggplant and whole king oyster mushroom for us.

The service at Hongkyojip was flawless in every way. While I was leaning the tablet up to watch baseball, they brought over a tablet holder and told me to watch comfortably. That kind of thoughtful service isn't easy to pull off... I was impressed.

DIY gochujang samgyeopsal with the yukjang sauce

Among the basic table banchan, Hongkyojip's special yukjang sauce especially caught my eye. Apparently it's not made with salted shrimp or other jeotgal, but flavored with gochujang and fruit. Dipping the meat lightly in it was nice enough, but I went all in and dipped generously.

Coating the meat heavily in yukjang sauce made it taste like gochujang pork belly. So I basically turned it into a self-made gochujang pork belly, and that was pretty great too. Same meat, but the flavor completely changes depending on the sauce, so it was fun switching it up along the way.

I started with just salt and the basic accompaniments, then switched to dipping generously in the special yukjang sauce. Personally, I found the sauce-heavy version a bit more fun. Taste the meat itself first, then switch to sauce partway through — you get a constantly changing experience, so if you're going with a group, it's worth trying it different ways like this.

Sides at Hongkyojip Jamsil: gyeranjjim and chadol doenjang sulbap

The gyeranjjim we got as a side while eating meat. I thought it'd be a plain steamed egg, but there was a generous layer of cheese spread on top with peperoncino sprinkled prettily over it. The soft steamed egg plus peperoncino gave it a hint of spicy kick here and there.

The chadol doenjang sulbap I personally enjoyed a lot. Instead of the usual doenjang jjigae or fried rice at a BBQ place, I went with this — a soybean paste base with thin-sliced beef, served with rice, which made for a great way to finish the meal. The portion was generous too, so definitely order it.

That day we ordered myeongpum ogyeopsal, tongdaepa galmaegisal, gyeranjjim, and chadol doenjang sulbap, so we got to try a pretty wide variety. We got to have two different meat dishes plus a side and a rice dish, so the whole spread felt substantial. Most of all, having staff grill the meat for us made the meal really comfortable. Being able to just chat without worrying about the grilling was more relaxing than I expected.

Beyond the meat itself, the eggplant and mushrooms were grilled beautifully too 🥩 For pieces of galmaegisal too small to fit the whole scallion, they just grilled the meat plain, which was still nice and chewy. My homemade gochujang pork belly was a fun little treat too, haha. Playing around and eating solo~

Scraped the plate clean for the first time in a while. This place is genuinely delicious, highly recommend!

Hongkyojip Jamsil: address, hours and menu

• Location: 18-11 Olympic-ro 32-gil, 1st floor, Songpa-gu, Seoul
• Hours: Mon–Fri 11:30–02:00 / Sat 11:30–02:00 / Sun 15:00–02:00