Jongno outdoor-seating BBQ with a 44-team Friday wait: Meongseokjip

Meongseokjip Jongno 3-ga Branch — a Jongno 3-ga favorite for outdoor grilling and Jongno pork belly under the stars.

The other night the evening temperature was just right for outdoor grilling, so I went looking for a yajang (outdoor-seating) BBQ spot in Jongno and ended up at Meongseokjip Jongno 3-ga Branch! Jongno 3-ga is already famous for yajang, but I'd walked past this place before and thought the vibe looked properly good, so I'd wanted to try it. The weather was so nice that grilling pork belly outside just felt amazing ㅠㅠ and in the end, sitting right there, we polished off three bottles of soju... haha. If you're looking for a BBQ restaurant in Jongno 3-ga, I recommend this place without hesitation!!!!

Meongseokjip Jongno 3-ga Branch and its outdoor yajang mood

The real merit of Meongseokjip Jongno 3-ga Branch is honestly the atmosphere. Since Jongno basically equals yajang, I wanted to find the place with the best vibe among them, and this is it... total yajang energy. Eating pork belly in front of a mural-covered wall... it's just amazing 👍🏻

Check the menu board first~

How long is the Friday evening wait at Meongseokjip?

Watching other people eating their pork belly made my mouth water. Since it was Friday evening, there were 44 teams ahead of us 😭 I signed up for the walk-in wait and it took about an hour before we got in!

There's outdoor seating and indoor seating, and you can choose which one when you register for the wait. We loved the yajang mood too much, so we signed up for outdoor seating -!!

Aged pork belly quality at this Jongno 3-ga BBQ restaurant

We ordered the aged pork belly, and the cut was thick and the meat looked to be in great condition.

On the grill plate, along with the pork belly, you get kimchi, bean sprouts, and garlic to grill together — genuinely the best… the kimchi is also so tasty!

Grilling the kimchi and bean sprouts together and eating them with the pork belly cuts through the richness perfectly. Lettuce leaves, peppers, and garlic all come as standard sides, so mixing and matching to your taste made for real food-mood combos lol. The pork belly itself is delicious, but with so much to pair it with, you never get sick of it even by the last bite. The hidden treasure among the side dishes is the green onion kimchi (pa-kimchi)!! You have to try it! It's great grilled too, haha.

The kimchi and bean sprouts cook in the fat rendered from the pork belly, and it's an unbeatable combo... The pork belly kept its juices well and was nicely chewy.

And the meat quality was genuinely excellent. I wondered if this was just a place with good vibes and nothing else, but the meat itself was so tasty that I think I'll be back.

Honestly, the juiciness and thickness were just unreal.

A piece of pork belly on a lettuce leaf, topped with grilled kimchi and garlic, one bite followed right by a shot of soju — that's it, that's the whole thing. 🫶🏻

The 5,000 won bomb-sized gyeranjjim and other sides

We ordered the gyeranjjim (steamed egg) for 5,000 won alongside the meat! Even from the photo you can tell — it puffs way up over the earthenware pot!! Scoop up a big spoonful and it's fluffy, soft, and warm, perfect for eating between bites of meat.

Why Meongseokjip's kimchi jjigae tastes so savory

Honestly, most kimchi jjigae tastes about the same, but this one is on another level..💗 The moment I took a sip of the broth, I thought, uh oh, this is trouble 😭 Loaded with ingredients, and that savory depth that just calls for soju!!!

Is Meongseokjip Jongno 3-ga Branch worth the wait?

That evening, the mood, the weather, and the meat all lined up perfectly. Sitting outside in the cool evening air, grilling pork belly, taking a spoonful of kimchi jjigae, and a sip of soju — the drinks just kept going down easy. In the end, the two of us finished three bottles of soju…haha.

Honestly, when you hear "Jongno yajang," you think of the atmosphere first — but Meongseokjip won me over with more than just the mood, from the quality of the aged pork belly to the gyeranjjim and the kimchi jjigae. Especially that kimchi jjigae depth of flavor — I'm still thinking about it ㅠㅠ If you want to properly enjoy the outdoor-grilling mood in Jongno on a nice-weather day with meat and soju, I recommend this place! Whether you're hunting for a Jongno 3-ga BBQ restaurant or looking for dinner after a date in Ikseon-dong, give it a visit :)