Korean BBQ in Naju: aged pork belly grilled for you at Yugondam

I was craving meat so badly after working out today that I looked around and ended up at Yugondam, a BBQ place in Bitgaram-dong!

Where is Yugondam, and where do you park? (3 hours free under Kingdom Plaza)

Yugondam is located in the Bitgaram-dong restaurant alley, right across from Megatium 1! I pass by it often and it always has a lot of customers haha, it's a famous spot among locals.

For parking, you can park underground at Kingdom Plaza (3 hours free support available). The lot is spacious too, so you don't need to worry about parking~

Inside Yugondam: seating and how far apart the tables are

The first thing I noticed walking in was how roomy the spacing between seats was. I could talk comfortably without worrying about the next table. The place is also clean, so I'd recommend it for a group dinner or gathering in Bitgaram-dong.

Yugondam menu and prices

Check the photo for the menu~

Side dishes at Yugondam: green onion kimchi, corn salad, curry powder, soft tofu stew

The basic side dishes were really generous, and among them the green onion kimchi was genuinely delicious! It went so well with the meat haha.

And then my favorite, corn salad~~

And dipping the pork belly in this curry powder turned out to be a hidden gem, more than I expected! It cuts through the greasy taste of the pork belly while adding that distinct curry aroma — surprisingly it worked really well haha.

The sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew) that came as a default side was served bubbling hot too, and eating the spicy stew together with the meat was a genuinely great pairing! This place clearly has good cooking skills across the board.

Aged pork belly, 180g for 16,000 won: ordering three servings

They gave us individually wrapped spoon and chopstick sets, which showed how much they care about hygiene! A trustworthy utensil setup, approved 😗

Pork belly is 180g for ₩16,000. We ordered 3 servings of pork belly that day! Maybe because it's aged meat, it definitely felt different in texture from regular fresh meat haha. Doesn't the meat quality look great even just from the photo? Among BBQ places in Bitgaram-dong, Yugondam is one of the few I've gone back to multiple times 🤭

The staff grill the meat for you, so you can just relax and eat! Really, meat is always best when someone else grills it for you,, they grill the onions and mushrooms with it too. And boiling the myeoljeot (fermented anchovy sauce) to dip the meat in — so good 🤤

Free steamed egg coupon and paying with gift certificates

They give a free steamed egg coupon to people who've turned on notifications, so make sure to follow Yugondam on Naver Place before you go~~ You can also pay with Naju Love Gift Certificates and Onnuri Gift Certificates, making this a great-value pork belly restaurant in Bitgaram-dong.

Once the meat was fully cooked, they gathered it in one spot, which made it easy to eat slowly. And honestly it looked so good.

Dipping it in myeoljeot and trying it with different sauces was fun too haha. Being aged meat, it definitely had a different tenderness and richer meat aroma compared to regular pork belly! Personally, I'm more of an aged pork belly person than fresh pork belly haha.

Finishing with mentaiko green onion rice

And to finish, we also ordered mentaiko green onion rice, and this was truly the master stroke! Salty mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe) and crisp green onions come mixed evenly through the rice, and it really cut through the greasiness after eating meat. Definitely order this as a side dish!

And on the way out, they even gave us ice cream as a free service 🩷 If you're looking for a pork belly restaurant in Bitgaram-dong, Naju, I really recommend Yugondam! Next time I'll have to try the galmaegisal (skirt meat) and hangjeongsal (pork jowl) too haha.

Is Yugondam worth it for a Naju group dinner?

Here's a summary of what I liked and what I found lacking about Yugondam, a BBQ restaurant in Bitgaram-dong, Naju.

• Liked: Staff were kind
• Liked: The meat was delicious
• Liked: They grill it for you
• Liked: There's parking
• Didn't like: Nothing