Korean BBQ in Jinhae, Changwon: frozen pork belly set at Smile Hoegwan

Where is Smile Hoegwan Main Branch in Jinhae?

Smile Hoegwan Main Branch is a BBQ restaurant on the 1st floor of 58-1 Dongjin-ro, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, right across from Seokdong Chojangjip. Easier to place if I say it's on the Anmin line, haha. My husband and I went for frozen samgyeopsal (냉삼, thin-sliced frozen pork belly) again after a while at 'Smile Hoegwan,' a well-known spot in Seokdong, Jinhae! Back when I used to work in Jinhae, I came here often for frozen samgyeopsal, haha. This is basically my go-to place whenever I want it. It's one of my personal favorites, so let me review it quickly~

They're open from 5 PM to 1 AM, last order at 12:10 AM, open every day. No parking lot on-site, so you'll need to use the Seokdong public parking building — no parking support provided.

The retro vibe hits you right from the entrance, right? Let's go in~

Smile Hoegwan menu and what two people ordered

Here's the menu at Smile Hoegwan, a well-known Seokdong, Jinhae spot! They specialize in domestic flash-frozen pork belly~~ We wanted to try a bit of everything, so we ordered the flash-frozen combo set for 2-3 people (₩48,000), plus doenjang jjigae (₩6,000) for our meal.

What side dishes come with the meal?

Smile Hoegwan really brings out the side dishes!! From the top: their special sauce, geotjeori (fresh kimchi), and on a metal tray — pickled onion, kimchijeon (kimchi pancake), rolled egg, garlic scapes, onion, kimchi, ssamjang (dipping sauce), lettuce wraps, and peppers. Serving it on a metal tray was so cute, haha. The kimchijeon and rolled egg that came with it were great for nibbling on while the meat cooked!!

A grill lined with foil, lol. So charmingly old-school,,,?

Old-school interior and seating at Smile Hoegwan

This Seokdong, Jinhae spot has a strong old-school (노포) vibe! It feels like the kind of place where memories are made, lol. It's a nostalgic atmosphere, and while there aren't that many tables, they'll hold a spot for you if you reserve~~

These soju bottle caps, lolololol. Shows how much soju gets poured with frozen samgyeopsal,,,,

What's in the 48,000-won flash-frozen combo set (small)?

Flash-frozen combo set (small) – ₩48,000. Our order at this Seokdong, Jinhae favorite arrived! Since there were two of us, we ordered the 2-3 person set, and it was plenty for two~ It includes pork belly, flower pork belly, ogyeopsal, and hangjeongsal — basically every menu item at Smile Hoegwan except the marinated frozen samgyeopsal, haha.

Does the owner grill the pork for you?

We were going to grill it ourselves, but a staff member — the owner, maybe? — grilled it for us. Apparently they'll grill for you if possible, but if they're busy, they can't, so keep that in mind! They put the frozen samgyeopsal down, sprinkled salt and pepper, and grilled it up.

Low-quality frozen meat has a nasty pork smell when grilled, but there was absolutely none of that here at this Seokdong, Jinhae spot. Turns out they use grade-1 fresh pork belly slaughtered the same day, then flash-freeze it. Of course, domestic Korean pork!!!!!

They say the meat should be cooked to about 80% on medium heat without burning to stay tender and delicious, so keep that in mind~ As the meat was nearly done, the owner — who really knows what's good — laid kimchi on the side of the grill,,,, seriously amazing ㅠㅠㅠ

Look at how tender this pork belly looks,,,♥ We like ours grilled to a nice golden brown, so we waited a bit longer for it to look like this, haha.

How to eat flash-frozen pork belly for the best flavor

It's great with pajeori (scallion salad), delicious wrapped with grilled kimchi in a lettuce wrap, and honestly amazing with just kimchi alone ㅜㅜ Above all, I personally prefer this kind of thin frozen samgyeopsal over thick-cut meat, lol. This BBQ spot in Jinhae was totally my type.

The owner grilled our first batch, but suddenly a wave of customers came in. The place filled up completely while we were eating! When it gets this busy, the owner can't grill for you ㅠㅠ But there's a certain fun in grilling it yourself too~

Following the tips from this Seokdong, Jinhae spot, we grilled it up nice and golden ourselves.

The hangjeongsal had great texture and was nice and fatty when grilled. But since this is a frozen samgyeopsal place, the frozen samgyeopsal is genuinely insane,, especially the flower pork belly 👍👍👍👍👍

Doenjang jjigae for 6,000 won to finish the meal

Doenjang jjigae – ₩6,000. The stew we ordered for our meal! I actually thought a lot about getting fried rice instead, but since we were already full, we ordered just doenjang jjigae with a bowl of rice, haha. But this doenjang jjigae was seriously amazing...

There were thinly sliced pieces of meat inside, and since it's a seafood-based broth, it was clean but with an extra kick of spiciness!! Genuinely the best doenjang jjigae I've had at a BBQ restaurant. My personal best got updated again today,, I wish they sold the jjigae on its own ㅜ

Who eats at Smile Hoegwan?

This spot is already well-known in Seokdong, Jinhae, so there were tons of soldiers there, lolololol. All ages and genders too~ Smile Hoegwan Main Branch had both great retro vibes and great meat. Totally recommend it ~~

This is a subjective review, so please take it as reference only.