Korean BBQ for three in Hongdae: dwitgogi and mixed noodles, Chopilsal

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch (초필살돼지구이 홍대점) is a pork BBQ restaurant at 172 Donggyo-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul. On a Sunday evening I went with friends and ordered 3 servings of dwitgogi (mixed pork cuts), spicy mixed cold noodles and beer. The location and atmosphere are worth knowing if you're looking for BBQ near Hongik Univ. Station.

I met friends in Hongdae for the first time in a while. It was a Sunday evening, so the streets were packed, and there were lots of foreign visitors, so the mood was livelier than usual. At first we couldn't decide what to eat. We wanted meat but didn't want somewhere stuffy, and while searching for a clean place where we could sit and talk, a bright pink sign and outdoor tables caught my eye, so we headed to Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch.

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch: basic info

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch is a pork and grilled meat restaurant at 172 Donggyo-ro, 1F-2F, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Hours are 12:00-24:00 Thursday and Monday-Wednesday, and 12:00 to 02:00 the next day Friday-Sunday. Last order is 23:00 Thursday and Monday-Wednesday, and 01:00 Friday-Sunday.

• Parking: not available
• Facilities: separate men's/women's restrooms, groups welcome, Wi-Fi, reservations
• Corkage: available / paid

What are the exterior and location like?

Coming from Hongik Univ. Station and heading toward Donggyo-ro, the bright pink sign is the first thing you notice. You'd expect a BBQ place to look a bit heavy, but this pink sign stands out even from far away.

There were outdoor tables in front too. On a nice day they could be an option for people who like sitting outside. But it was a humid, hot day, so the indoor seats appealed to us more.

Besides location, the condition of the interior matters when choosing a Hongdae BBQ place, and the space felt larger than I expected when we walked in. The neighborhood was busy on a Sunday evening, but inside felt less stuffy.

• Located on the Donggyo-ro side, near Hongik Univ. Station
• Bright pink sign and outdoor tables stand out from the street
• The surrounding area was busy on a Sunday evening
• Indoor seats were more comfortable on a humid, hot day

How were the seat spacing and ventilation?

The first thing I liked inside was the spacing between seats. Many BBQ places in Hongdae pack the tables tightly, but here there was room between neighboring tables, so it was easy to talk with friends.

With the humidity and heat I was worried about the temperature indoors, but the inside was cool. It's a grill restaurant, so I feared my clothes would soak up the smell, but not much smell lingered even after the meal. Ventilation matters a lot at a BBQ place, and I was happy with it here.

The mood is closer to a casual evening get-together with meat and drinks than a quiet date dinner. Even if you're looking for a Hongdae date spot, it suits you better if you picture grilling meat and a glass of beer rather than a formal atmosphere.

• Seat spacing was more generous than expected
• Cool, comfortable inside despite the humid weather
• Meat smell didn't cling much to clothes, which was nice
• Atmosphere is a casual evening gathering or drinking spot rather than a quiet date

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch menu and prices

The menu is split into pork skin, pork belly, dwitgogi, marinated ribs and meal dishes. The signature items are Pilsal pork skin and salted pork belly, and you can also pick dwitgogi and Choryang ribs.

Dwitgogi was ₩10,500 and the spicy mixed cold noodles were ₩8,000. Among the signature items, I also saw Pilsal pork skin at ₩9,500 and salted pork belly at ₩12,000. Rather than going through the whole menu, it's easiest to pick your meat first and then add a meal dish.

We started with 3 servings of dwitgogi. It isn't a single cut; it's closer to a plate of various pieces trimmed off the pig while butchering it. So instead of one flavor throughout like samgyeopsal (pork belly), each piece had a slightly different richness and chew.

• Menu centers on pork skin, pork belly, dwitgogi, marinated ribs and meal dishes
• Main choices: Pilsal pork skin, salted pork belly, dwitgogi, Choryang ribs

3 servings of dwitgogi: taste and portion

Side dishes

The side dishes came with scallion salad, kimchi, seasoned radish strips, pickles, garlic and chili, perilla leaf wraps and several sauces. They were set up so you could eat the meat with scallion salad, sauces and pickles, and the tangy sides cleared the greasiness between bites. The seasoned radish strips in particular had a distinct flavor and went well with the meat.

Grilling dwitgogi yourself

The dwitgogi looked deeply colored and strongly meaty on the plate. The grill was flat, so it was easy to lay down and flip the meat, and the heat was strong enough that it cooked fast.

You grill it yourself, so if you expected staff to grill for you, that could be a letdown. But the flat grill and strong heat made grilling easy, and at this price it was understandable.

Eating it, you can feel the differences between cuts even on one plate. Some parts were moist and fatty, others were chewy. So rather than eating one kind of meat over and over, it was fun picking through different cuts a little at a time.

The portion wasn't small either. We'd already eaten and came as a second round, and for three men eating it as anju (drinking snacks), 3 servings of dwitgogi were enough. If you come without having eaten, you'd want to add a meal dish.

Do the Chopilsal mixed cold noodles go with the meat?

The Chopilsal mixed cold noodles (₩8,000) were sweet, tangy and slightly salty, so they went well with the dwitgogi. I'd been curious about them and ended up ordering; I usually like having naengmyeon (cold noodles) with meat, and the cool-looking poster inside the restaurant made them hard to pass up.

The noodles looked tangy too. The taste is close to familiar naengmyeon, but the seasoning is a bit more distinct, with a sweet-and-sour direction like jjolmyeon (chewy noodle) sauce. The seasoning was slightly strong, but that actually made it good with the meat.

Finishing with the noodles after eating a fair amount of meat left my palate clean. After meat, beer and noodles for three people, it ended up a pretty filling finish for a second round.

• Each cut had a different richness and chew, so picking through them was fun
• The mixed cold noodles were tangy and well seasoned, and matched the meat
• You grill it yourself, but the grill and heat were good, so it wasn't difficult

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch: overall verdict

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch is a decent candidate when you're looking for BBQ near Hongik Univ. Station. The location was convenient, and the inside was more comfortable than expected, so eating meat with friends was easy.

Dwitgogi suits people who like a variety of textures more than a single cut. The rich and chewy parts were mixed together, which made it good beer food, and the mixed cold noodles are a bit salty but fine with meat.

It's closer to a meat-and-beer evening gathering than a quiet meal in Hongdae. It's an easy stop for a get-together or second round, and next time I'd order dwitgogi again or try the signature pork skin.

Fact check

• Price: dwitgogi ₩10,500, Chopilsal mixed cold noodles ₩8,000
• Waiting: needs checking
• Crowds: surrounding streets were busy on a Sunday evening
• Parking: not available
• Restrooms: separate men's/women's
• Recommended for: groups who want meat and beer casually in Hongdae
• Revisit: would reorder dwitgogi or compare with the Pilsal pork skin

Before you go, it's best to double-check whether reservations are possible and what the waiting situation is.