Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ lunch, Kelly beer and black pork belly: Cham

Picking Cham Dwaejitgan for a Jongno lunch BBQ

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점) is a Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ restaurant that says it serves only Grade 1 Jirisan black pork. During a day out in Jongno, we went just after the lunch rush. It's been a while since it was just me and Bongbong, a date for two!

We were wandering the back alleys of Jongno 3-ga, and there are still SO many tasty-looking places! Going from alley to alley, I suddenly realized I really wanted meat that someone else grills for me. I saw "Jirisan black pork" on the menu outside and walked right in!

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno hours and atmosphere

Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and until 10:30 p.m. on Sundays! So many people eat BBQ at lunchtime too!

Black pork! Charcoal! But honestly, what won me over was the Korean-grown minari (water dropwort)!

Right when you open the door, you see aged pork hanging out in the fridge! Haha!

Inside it's very spacious and clean, and even though we came a bit after lunch, there were lots of customers. We picked a seat wherever we liked and decided to order the meat first!

The minari grill and side dishes that arrive as soon as you sit

At Cham Dwaejitgan, side dishes, sauces and a big grill piled with minari are set out even before you order. I was surprised when a whole head of kimchi and bean sprouts were plopped down the moment we sat. Since it's a BBQ place and we'd order meat anyway, I guess it's standard. It's been so long since I had grilled pork that I'm not used to this, haha.

It's a pork belly specialist, but we put 2 servings of Grade 1 Jirisan black pork belly (ogyeopsal, five-layer pork belly) in the cart and hit order! Then the real photo-taking and looking around began!

Cabbage salad, ssam vegetables, chili peppers and more came out, and there are lots of sauces too: plain salt, ssamjang (seasoned bean paste), spicy sauce, chili wasabi and so on. Can't wait!

What's free to refill at the self-bar, and what isn't

At the Cham Dwaejitgan self-bar, the vegetables, kimchi, mixed ssam greens and cabbage salad are all free to refill. Wow, even all those vegetables at the self-bar are unlimited! The grill already had plenty of minari, bean sprouts and kimchi from the start, so we only refilled the ssam vegetables.

Does Cham Dwaejitgan grill the meat for you?

At Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, staff handle everything from checking the grill to cooking and cutting. Our Jirisan black pork belly arrived, and a staff member came over to check the grill, lay the meat down, and later I noticed they even cut it and moved it to the lower part of the grill. Meat that someone else grills for you is pure happiness!

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno menu and sides

The meat menu at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch includes Boseong green-fed pork belly, flower neck and pork jowl, among others. We browsed the menu while the meat cooked, and yes, it's a proper pork belly place. Sides include kimchi stew, doenjang (fermented soybean paste) stew, steamed egg, Jirisan kudzu cold noodles and margarine soy sauce egg rice. We added doenjang stew and rice to the cart and ordered.

One unusual thing: when you order meat, sliced potatoes come as a side, but the minari, potatoes and king oyster mushrooms are not free refills and cost extra. Seeing the drinks in the fridge made me thirsty, so I ordered a bottle of beer too.

Black pork belly, doenjang stew and minari wraps: how it tasted

The rice came out first, and the doenjang stew seemed to still be boiling. The meat wasn't cooked yet and I was hungry, so I ate rice and garlic, haha. Meanwhile the staff came back, flipped and cut the meat, and left! Hurry up and cook!

The meat cooked quickly. The cooked pieces were moved down next to the minari! First, a dip in salt for a taste! It's been ages since I had black pork belly!

The doenjang stew showed up right on time too! While I ate the bubbling, freshly boiled stew with rice, the meat finished cooking.

Black pork belly wrapped with minari is crunchy-chewy and so delicious! After moving all the grilled meat down, the staff put sliced potatoes on and left, haha.

A lunchtime Kelly beer that came with milk thistle

The Kelly beer we ordered at Cham Dwaejitgan arrived with 2 milk thistle tablets, a liver supplement. Little touches like this put me in a good mood. Cheers! How long has it been since I had a daytime beer!

Now it's real mukbang (eating show) time! Dipping in sauces, making wraps, sipping beer! Such a fun meat time. The chewy pork belly is sooo good.

Wrapping pork belly in sliced potato

The sliced potatoes that come with the meat at Cham Dwaejitgan are good on their own once cooked, but if you wrap a piece of meat in a potato slice with a little ssamjang or sauce... it's. so. good!

Floss, Garglin and hand cream at the counter

Next to the register at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch there are single-use dental floss, hand cream, Garglin mouthwash, hair ties and even Anytime (breath freshener). After a happy afternoon, I looked to the right while paying and what a thoughtful touch!