Haengdang-dong Korean BBQ fourth date: nurungji soup at Pujutgan

I was out on a date around Haengdang-dong this weekend and got a craving for pork belly, so we headed to a BBQ place. We went to Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom (푸줏간생고기점), famous as a great-value Haengdang-dong restaurant! The pork belly quality is good, and you can enjoy the side dishes with free refills to your heart's content~!!

A Haengdang-dong pork belly recommendation with bottomless stew and naengmyeon — great value

Where is Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom and when is it open?

Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom is on the 1st floor of a building on Haengdang-ro 17-gil in Seongdong-gu. It's open Mon–Sat 14:00–24:00, and Sundays 12:00–22:30.

On dates, the grill can heat up the whole place and make everyone a bit on edge, haha. But at this Haengdang-dong pork belly spot, the second we walked in the door we got a blast of cool AC, which was so nice. The dining room is also spacious and comfortable, so there was no stuffy feeling from smoke or smells — great for actually chatting!

What we ordered and what comes with free refills

The signature order(?): 3 servings of pork belly, 1 serving of pork jowl for that great texture, and 2 canned drinks. We also confidently ordered the free-refill kimchi jjigae, water naengmyeon, spicy naengmyeon, and nurungji soup for a palate-cleansing finish.

The reason I'd strongly recommend this as a Haengdang-dong restaurant is exactly the free-refill service. If you order according to headcount, you can eat as much as you want of kimchi jjigae, doenjang jjigae, water and spicy naengmyeon, noodles, and even nurungji — all unlimited, ㅠㅠ

At first I figured a free refill would come out in some tiny bowl, but it actually arrives in a big bowl just like an à la carte dish, generous and carefully made..!! (Here's a sneak peek at the naengmyeon..ㅋㅋ)

Cauldron-lid pork belly grilled by the staff

The basic side dishes came out really neat too. Onion, garlic, and kimchi as standard, plus myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves), tangy radish wraps, fresh lettuce for wrapping, and mushrooms — all fully stocked. Our drinks came out too!

Look at this, this right here..! Doesn't the color look amazing?

On the heated cauldron-lid grill, they pile on thick pork belly along with onion, mushroom, garlic, and kimchi. A friendly manager or staff member comes over and sets everything up personally, then grills it to the perfect doneness for you!

Neither of us had to be the one stuck grilling — we could both just focus on the conversation, which was genuinely nice.

How does the bottomless kimchi jjigae arrive?

While the meat cooked, the free-refill kimchi jjigae we ordered came out. You can order both doenjang jjigae and kimchi jjigae, but since we figured we couldn't finish both, we just went with kimchi jjigae by preference.

Kimchi, tofu, and some pork — shoulder or front leg, not totally sure? — either way, it's packed generously! It looks like something you'd have to pay extra for as its own dish.

Once everything's done, they cut it all into easy-to-eat pieces for you. There's really nothing left to do but eat, ㅋㅋㅋ!!

Once the pork belly's done, they add the pork jowl on top too. The kimchi and mushrooms were also grilled just right.

I wrapped a piece of well-grilled pork belly in salty myeongi namul or lettuce, and the second I bit in, the juices burst out with that savory flavor~!! The pork jowl's crisp-chewy texture was seriously amazing too. They grilled it so well, ㅠㅠ❤️

Spicy naengmyeon, cold naengmyeon and nurungji soup to finish

Right around when we were getting greasy from all the meat, I gulped down some water naengmyeon broth — so cool and refreshing, ㅋㅋㅋ it cleaned my mouth right out, you know that feeling?

Putting a piece of pork jowl on top of the spicy naengmyeon is a wild combo too ㅋㅋㅋ and let me say it again, this is also free-refill~!!

Cooling off with a canned drink and then finishing with a hot bowl of nurungji soup made everything feel complete. We hadn't even thought to order nurungji soup, but the owner brought it out for us first. That kind of thoughtfulness really touched me 🥲❤️

Fourth visit: how does Pujutgan work as a date spot?

Between the taste, the owner's service, and the great-value free refills, it was just about perfect and made for a really satisfying date course. If someone asks about going for pork belly in Haengdang-dong, I'm heading to Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom without a second thought. I haven't even posted every visit ㅋㅋㅋ we come to this neighborhood for dates so often that this was already our fourth time~!! If you're looking for a Haengdang-dong restaurant that grills everything for you, definitely check this place out!