Stone grill Korean BBQ with terrace seats in Mangwon: Dwaejibangatgan

Today I visited Dwaejibangatgan (돼지방앗간), a brand-new Korean BBQ place in Mangwon! Korean pork grilled on a stone grill with kimchi, scallions and bean sprouts, what a combo >< Here's my review of the delicious meal.

Dwaejibangatgan location, hours and parking

Dwaejibangatgan is at 95 Woldeukeop-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd floor, and it's open from 16:00 to 01:00. Parking is free, reservations are possible, and there are baby chairs too.

From Mangwon Station Exit 2, just keep walking straight and you'll arrive in only 3 minutes, so access is great. And parking is free! Free parking in Mangwon, where parking is such a pain? Wow, right?

When I saw the 2nd-floor shop from outside, I immediately thought, "Wow, that terrace view must be amazing."

Terrace and rooms at Dwaejibangatgan: good for group dinners and family meals?

Dwaejibangatgan has terrace seats with a leafy green view, and inside there are rooms that are great for company dinners or group gatherings. As expected, it feels so open!!! It's a new place, so the interior is clean and tidy, which I loved.

They even have baby chairs, so families with a baby can easily eat out here. No worries at all.

I wanted to sit by the window and open it, and when I asked, they opened it right away. The evening air was cool, giving it an outdoor-street-pub vibe, and I was in a great mood the whole date.

Dwaejibangatgan menu: raw pork belly and raw pork neck

Dwaejibangatgan focuses on just two cuts: raw pork belly and raw pork neck. Choosing a cut is always the big dilemma at a BBQ place, so I liked how easy this made it, and it looks confident, too.

What's special about Dwaejibangatgan is that the owner's parents run an oil mill (bangatgan, a shop that presses sesame and perilla oil). That's why so many dishes on the menu use perilla oil and sesame oil.

Here's my order, done!

• Raw pork belly, 2 servings, ₩16,000 x 2
• Raw pork neck, 1 serving, ₩16,000
• Oil-mill sesame oil bibimbap, ₩5,000
• Cass (beer) and Jinro (soju)

Side dishes and the free soft tofu stew

The side dishes were assorted ssam (wrap) vegetables, dongchimi (radish water kimchi), young radish kimchi, myeongi namul (pickled wild garlic-like greens) and pickled onions. I hadn't had myeongi namul in ages, so I was so happy to see it!!! Meat plus myeongi namul is just so good~~~

Before the meat arrived, soft tofu stew (sundubu-jjigae) came out, and they said it's an opening service.

It came out bubbling and super hot, with pork in it too. The chili oil gave it a properly spicy kick, so I'd recommend it as a hangover-cure dish.

We couldn't help but clink glasses before the meat came out,,,

What does the sesame oil bibimbap (₩5,000) taste like?

The oil-mill sesame oil bibimbap (₩5,000) I ordered as a side came with freshly pressed sesame oil drizzled around in a circle. The nutty aroma was amazing.

The fried egg looked so good too,,, The bibimbap sauce came separately, so I added it to taste and mixed. It tasted like the familiar bibimbap flavor plus nutty sesame oil! The price is very kind too, so ordering bibimbap instead of plain rice was a good call ><

Pre-seared pork on a stone grill: easy to cook?

The raw pork belly (2 servings, ₩16,000 x 2) and raw pork neck (1 serving, ₩16,000) at Dwaejibangatgan come with the outside quickly seared once and cut into bite-sized pieces. Scallions, bean sprouts and kimchi come too, so you can grill them together on the stone grill.

Finally the main event, the meat, arrived. You just grill the cut sides and eat, so the cooking time is short and so is the wait, which was great haha.

Enter my friend, the grilling master! Setting everything up in no time.

Wow, a delicious-looking grill full of meat is done. Doesn't it look so good? I like meat, but I really love grilling vegetables on the side and eating them together haha. It had also been a while since I'd eaten meat grilled on a stone grill, so I was excited.

The grill's heat was strong, so the meat really cooked fast. Okay, let's dig in.

Sauce tips: perilla oil ssamjang and wasabi on myeongi namul

The sauces were wasabi, cumin (zira) salt, sesame salt and perilla oil ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste for wraps). I first dipped in the perilla oil ssamjang and it tasted just like meat grilled at grandma's house >< The perilla oil ssamjang was totally delicious. And my favorite combo was a dab of wasabi on myeongi namul. No regrets with this combo,,, highly recommended!!!

Raw pork belly vs. raw pork neck: which was better?

The photo above is the pork belly and the one below is the pork neck! The belly had a moderate amount of fat and was chewy and tasty, and the neck was surprisingly tender, better than I expected. Be sure to order the neck too.

The kimchi, grilled well in the pork fat and eaten with a piece of meat, is insane.

Extra vegetables for the stone grill are free

At Dwaejibangatgan, you can keep ordering the vegetables you grill alongside the meat at no extra charge. You can add them by tablet instead of flagging someone down, so there's no need to feel awkward haha. My friend said grilling bean sprouts and scallions and eating them with the meat was so good.

With the ssam vegetables, I put everything from the stone grill into a perilla leaf, added garlic too, and ate it. It can't not be delicious haha

In the end, I added 1 more serving of raw pork belly (₩16,000)... The extra meat came out cutely (?) in a wooden bowl.

Why I recommend Dwaejibangatgan for a company dinner near Mangwon Station

Because the meat comes pre-seared and cooks quickly, I felt Dwaejibangatgan is especially good for company dinners. A full grill of meat was done again haha. Even with extra meat, it cooked so well that the meal flowed without any breaks.

What made me think it works for company dinners is that at BBQ outings there's always one person grilling and others just eating, hahaha, you know what I mean, right? But at Dwaejibangatgan the meat comes seared once, so it cooks fast, and I really felt that advantage.

Free orange dessert, mini perilla oil bottle and the restroom

At the end, Dwaejibangatgan even gave us orange slices for dessert, cut so they're easy to eat. I was so touched! The service was great and the staff were very kind.

It gets even more atmospheric once it's dark. I highly recommend the terrace seats ><

Oh, and they also gave us a mini bottle of perilla oil as a service, can you believe it??? Nice touch. Lastly, the restroom is clean and just half a flight of stairs up after you leave the restaurant!!!

With its outdoor terrace vibe and free parking, I think this place will get popular fast. I recommend Dwaejibangatgan as an easy-to-reach spot near Mangwon Station for gatherings and company dinners~