Myeongdong BBQ 3rd-floor seats, bibim naengmyeon: Yuktongnyeong

It had been a while, so I timed dinner around my boyfriend's finish time and we headed to a Myeongdong favorite! It's known as one of the top 3 samgyeopsal spots in Seoul, and apparently the pork belly is seriously delicious. Let me introduce Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch, famous as a Myeongdong go-to spot — let's go!

Where is Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch, and what are its hours?

A Myeongdong favorite, an old-school spot — Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch is at 37-2 Myeongdong 8na-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul. It's open daily 11:30–23:00, last order at 22:15.

• tvN Wednesday Food Talk — Top 3 samgyeopsal restaurant in Seoul
• SBS Live Today — King bone-in pork belly
• Korean Food Documentary — Best samgyeopsal in Korea episode
• Blue Ribbon selected 5 years running
• Group-friendly / reservations available / takeout available / baby chair
• Review event offers free stew

Third-floor hall: why Yuktongnyeong works for group dinners in Myeongdong

Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch takes up an entire three-story building on Myeongdong's main alley — all of it is the restaurant. The place is huge, so if you're looking for a Myeongdong group spot, I really recommend it!

Only seats by the door were left on the 1st floor, so we were shown up to the 3rd floor and walked up the stairs. On the way up I tried to snap a photo of the packed 2nd floor, but someone blocked the shot so it didn't come out well.

The 3rd floor had tables on both the left and right sides, and it was much more spacious than the 1st and 2nd floors! Foreign guests were seated on the right side — we made eye contact and just sat down, haha.

What we ordered: omija-aged Gwanggaeto black pork belly and dongchimi naengmyeon

Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch is a Myeongdong BBQ spot where you can also order from Eunsung Yangchang (beef intestine) on the same menu.

• ✔️ Omija-aged Gwanggaeto black pork belly
• ✔️ Dongchimi naengmyeon (bibim, mixed)
• ✔️ Rice
• ✔️ Cass beer

That's what we ordered!

They brought over the charcoal — I feel like anything would taste good grilled on this.

Side dishes and sauces at Yuktongnyeong, including sun-tae jeot

The banchan (side dishes) that came out with the meal — since it's a well-known Myeongdong spot, even the side dishes were really good.

Cucumber salad, aged kimchi, myeong-i namul (mountain garlic leaves). Seriously the best, this Myeongdong spot! The tangerine salad was so good I ate all of it myself, haha.

And on top of that, pickled perilla leaves and pajeori (scallion salad)!

Sun-tae jeot (fermented pork intestine sauce) came out too, and out of all the sauces we tried, it was my number one. Perfect with the savory pork belly!!

• Pink salt? or roasted salt?
• Wasabi, salted shrimp
• Omija sauce
• Sun-tae jeot, ssamjang (soybean paste dip)

Since it's a Myeongdong spot that gets a lot of foreign visitors, it seems like they prepared both sauces and side dishes so everyone can eat according to their own taste.

Before the meat even arrived, I was already going to town on a bowl of rice with pajeori. Honestly, I feel like I need to steal their pajeori recipe — it was the best pajeori out of any BBQ place I've been to, seriously.

Staff-grilled pork belly: how is the crispy skin?

The omija-aged Gwanggaeto black pork belly arrived. Mushrooms came out with it too. The staff member grilling our meat was clearly a pro — they wiped the pork fat onto the mushrooms while grilling them!!!

The naengmyeon (cold noodles) arrived and they took a photo of it first — whether it was perilla oil or sesame oil, this place is seriously a naengmyeon spot too...

They poured the beer to my liking too~ and because of my finger in the shot, it suddenly looked like an E.T. cheers moment 👉🏻👈🏻

Since it's pork belly, the skin looked super chewy in the photos too. When we ate it, it really was chewy and delicious.

The staff member grilled it like a true master, locking in all the juices!!! My boyfriend and I basically made this exact face the second we ate it... If you're looking for a real Seoul pork belly spot, please, go to Yuktongnyeong...

Even with just a dab of wasabi it was delicious thanks to the juicy, savory pork belly — try it with aged kimchi and sun-tae jeot too!

The mushrooms were grilled so well too... genuinely moving how good it tasted.

Order the bibim naengmyeon and the broth comes too

We ordered bibim naengmyeon and they gave us the broth on the side too! I tried it separately and it was really rich and delicious. I think ordering the mul naengmyeon (broth-based) version would've been great too, but honestly — just order both!!

Is Yuktongnyeong worth it for Korean BBQ in Myeongdong?

Yuktongnyeong Myeongdong Main Branch is a 4-minute walk from Myeongdong Station Exit 5, making it easy to get to and a great Myeongdong BBQ spot to hit up after shopping or sightseeing around the neighborhood! You can enjoy yukgyeopsal (six-layer pork belly), bone-in pork belly, samgyeopsal, flower marbled beef, king galbi, and even beef/pork intestines and tripe all in one place, and since it's so spacious it's great for Myeongdong group gatherings. It's a Myeongdong spot named one of Seoul's top 3 samgyeopsal restaurants and Blue Ribbon selected 5 years running, so I really recommend giving it a visit~