Gwangju BBQ with makchang and bibim naengmyeon: Sangnok Hoegwan

What kind of BBQ restaurant is Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch?

Sangnok Hoegwan Yeontan-gui Taejeon Branch (상록회관 연탄구이 태전점) is a briquette-grill BBQ place in Taejeon-dong, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, and you can pick your meat in 100g portions per cut. The fun of choosing 100g of each! I was looking for somewhere to eat meat in Gwangju and ended up here.

What I liked is that instead of ordering lots of just one kind of meat, you order 100g of each cut and get to taste a bunch of different ones.

Is parking easy at Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch?

You can park right in front of the restaurant, so it was easy to come by car. When you're looking for a place to eat in Gwangju, whether you can park is a quiet worry, and here parking right out front made driving less of a burden.

For family gatherings or going with a group, easy parking really matters, and this was fine too. When I go for BBQ, I'd rather not eat only pork belly; I want to try pork neck, makchang and other cuts in small amounts, so this ordering style was very welcome. They also sold seafood dishes, but I came for meat from the start, so I mostly stuck to meat that day.

I tried quite a few dishes, so I'll write about which meat was good, how the side dishes were, and whether it works for family gatherings or company dinners.

Why Sangnok Hoegwan's briquette BBQ is good for trying many cuts

Because meat can be ordered in 100g units, it was easy to taste several cuts in small amounts.

For the first order I got 100g each of pork neck, pork belly and makchang. At most BBQ places you order by servings, like so many servings of belly and so many of neck, so even if you want to try a bit of everything, the quantity makes ordering several things awkward, right? Here you can order a little of each cut, and that was especially nice.

My plan was to try about three kinds and add other cuts if they were good. They turned out better than I expected, so I ended up ordering more. After the first pork neck, pork belly and makchang, I added pork skirt (galmaegisal), pork jowl (hangjeongsal) and pork skin. It's fun to compare several cuts in a single visit.

Which cuts were best at Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch?

The makchang was chewy and nutty, and the pork neck was tender, so those two stuck with me most.

Pork neck

The pork neck wasn't too dry and was tender to eat. Grilled over briquettes, it had a subtle smoky flavor, great for enjoying the basic taste of meat.

Pork belly

The pork belly was good too. Maybe it's the fun of grilling directly over fire, but briquette BBQ feels different from grilling at home.

Makchang (grilled pork intestine)

And one of the things I enjoyed most was the makchang. It was chewy and nutty. The signature makchang texture was intact, so it was fun to chew, and the nutty flavor kept me reaching for more.

Extra orders: pork skirt, pork jowl and honeycomb pork skin

I started out thinking I'd just try 100g, but after eating several dishes there was a reason I ordered more. After that I added pork skirt, pork jowl and pork skin.

The pork skin in particular doesn't come out thin and flat; it comes in a honeycomb shape, so the texture was fun, chewy and nutty.

How to eat Sangnok Hoegwan's bibim naengmyeon with grilled pork

I scooped out a bit of the sauce from the bibim naengmyeon (spicy cold noodles) and ate it with the pork jowl, and it was just right. When I first looked at it, I thought the seasoning might be a little spicy, so I removed some of the sauce before eating.

That took the edge off the heat, so it was easier to eat alongside the meat. The pork jowl and bibim naengmyeon combo was especially good.

If you keep eating only meat it can get a bit greasy, but the tangy, spicy noodles brought my appetite back. I'd eat meat, take a bite of naengmyeon, then go back to the jowl, and it just kept going down. I also had doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and rice, which came out hot and went well with the meat. After meat, naengmyeon and jjigae, it was a pretty filling meal.

Side dishes and self-serve bar at Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch

At the self-bar you can take what you need yourself, from lettuce, perilla leaves, bean sprouts and kimchi to sauces, which was convenient. Basic side dishes that go well with meat are provided, and you can refill anything you run out of at the self-bar. There were wrap vegetables like lettuce and perilla leaves, plus bean sprouts, kimchi and other things that pair nicely with meat.

You can also grab the sauces yourself at the self-bar, so if you run short mid-meal you don't have to keep calling the staff. I think that's especially handy when you come with several people.

One more thing I personally found fun: the tissue paper hangs from above the table, so you can pull some whenever you need it.

When you're eating meat, sauce gets on your hands and oil splatters, so you reach for tissues a lot, and having them right there was handy. The staff were also friendly, so I had no complaints during the meal.

Is Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch good for family or group dinners?

There are about 17 tables, so it looked fine for visiting with a larger group. When I visited, there were quite a few tables, so it seemed good not only for a meal for two but also for family gatherings or company dinners.

Since meat can be ordered in 100g portions per cut, I think it would also be nice for a group where everyone picks the cut they want. Even if one person only eats pork belly, another loves makchang and another loves pork jowl, nobody has to agonize over the menu, and that felt like an advantage. After the meal, a slushie was also available as dessert.

After a big meat meal, I could cleanse my palate with a cold slushie, which made for a fun finish.

Who Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch is best for

• Looking for a good restaurant in Gwangju → people who want to try many kinds of meat in one go
• Looking for briquette BBQ in Gwangju → people who like grilling meat directly over briquettes
• Looking for a BBQ place in Taejeon-dong → people who want makchang, pork jowl, pork skin and more besides pork belly
• Looking for a company dinner spot in Gwangju → groups, since there are plenty of tables
• Looking for a family dinner spot → families where everyone from adults to kids wants to pick their own meat

What we ordered at Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch, in order

At Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch, the most fun way was to skip ordering a lot at first, try several kinds at 100g each, then add the ones you liked.

I started with 100g each of pork neck, pork belly and makchang. After trying them, I added pork skirt, bibim naengmyeon, pork jowl and pork skin. I hadn't planned to order this much from the start, but after tasting a little I got curious about the other dishes and naturally added more. Personally, I think it suits people who want to try lots of different meats in small amounts.

The chewy, nutty makchang, the tender pork neck, the richness of the pork belly and the fun texture of the honeycomb pork skin each had their own charm. That said, next time I'd pick more things I haven't tried yet. They sold seafood too, but I only ate meat that day, so I haven't tried the seafood dishes.

The verdict in one line

Sangnok Hoegwan Taejeon Branch was a Gwangju BBQ place where I enjoyed briquette grilling while picking a variety of meats at 100g each. If you're like me and prefer a little of this and that over one kind of meat, you should have a fun meal. And if you enjoy different textures by cut, like makchang, pork jowl and pork skin, ordering a bit of several is a good idea.

Finishing the meat with a slushie was a kind of cute ending. :) When you go for BBQ, are you team pork belly, or team special cuts like makchang and pork skin?