Repeat visit for black pork ogeopsal in Jongno3-ga: Cham Dwaejitgan
In short
Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is a Korean BBQ restaurant on the first floor of the Piccadilly CGV building by Jongno3-ga Station in Seoul, where staff grill the meat for you. On a second visit with a Taiwanese friend, the order was two servings of black pork ogeopsal (five-layer pork belly), one serving of samgyeopsal (pork belly), kimchi jjigae and rice, and the staff grilled the thick cuts to the right doneness. There was already a queue at 7:10pm on a weekday, so putting your name down in advance on CatchTable makes the visit much easier.
Good to know
- Location
- 1-89, 1st floor, Piccadilly CGV, 1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
- What we ordered
- 2 servings ogeopsal (five-layer pork belly), 1 serving samgyeopsal (pork belly), 1 kimchi jjigae, 1 rice
- Meat menu
- Boseong green tea-fed pork belly, marbled pork neck, hangjeongsal (pork jowl), gabrisal (pork collar), black pork ogeopsal, black pork neck
- Sides
- Kimchi jjigae, doenjang jjigae, naengmyeon (cold noodles), steamed egg
- Waiting
- Queue at around 7:10pm on weekdays; CatchTable advance queuing recommended (30 minutes to over 1 hour if you walk in)
- Seating
- Seats groups of 2 to 6 or more, roomy tables
- Good to know
- Self-serve side bar (shredded scallion, kimchi, salad, lettuce); staff grill the meat for you
as written by the visitor on Sep 25, 2026
Today's my second visit to a repeat favorite — the pork belly spot near Jongno3-ga station, "Cham Dwaejitgan." I finally got to see my best friend Cas, a Taiwanese friend who just renewed her visa and came back! We live really close and usually see each other once or twice a week, but she'd been in Taiwan for three whole weeks, so it had been a while since we last had dinner together.
I booked ahead through CatchTable, and honestly, if I hadn't, we would've waited forever. Evenings can get busy, so I'd really recommend booking through the CatchTable app before you head over. Since it's a BBQ place, table turnover isn't super fast, so you might wait 30 minutes to an hour otherwise! Let's get into how the meal went haha.
What pork does Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch serve?
Cham Dwaejitgan grills over real charcoal to keep the meat tender, and apparently only uses black pork raised in the pristine Jiri Mountain area and grade-1 Boseong green tea-fed pork. No wonder the meat itself looked so fresh and high quality.
How long is the weekday evening wait at Cham Dwaejitgan?
There was a wait at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch around 7:10pm on a weekday. I'd already booked ahead via CatchTable on the subway rather than waiting on-site, and I'm really glad I did. Otherwise we might have waited almost 2 hours ㅠㅠ
The inside was packed with customers, which probably says something about how good the food is, right? There were plenty of tables that could seat 2 to 6 people or more, and the seats were quite spacious too.
Cham Dwaejitgan's menu and what two people ordered
The menu had meats like Boseong green tea-fed pork belly, flower pork neck, hangjeongsal, gabrisal, black pork ogeopsal, black pork neck, plus sides like kimchi jjigae, doenjang jjigae, naengmyeon, and steamed egg!
We ordered 2 servings of ogeopsal, 1 of samgyeopsal, 1 kimchi jjigae, and 1 rice!
You can tell from the meat that it wasn't too fatty or too lean — the ratio of meat to fat was just right, so it should suit anyone's taste!
Staff-grilled pork and six sauces at the table
At Cham Dwaejitgan, staff grill everything perfectly for you, so you can just relax and eat. They grilled the thick pork belly and five-layer pork belly to just the right doneness for eating.
Besides salt and ssamjang, there was wasabi, spicy sauce, mushroom wasabi and more, so it was nice being able to pair the meat with different sauces.
Once everything's grilled, they push it all to one side of the grill so it's easy to eat — from that point on, all you have to do is dig in!
I tried it with wasabi, with shredded scallion, and wrapped with grilled kimchi, bean sprouts, and thinly sliced grilled potato. So good, as always haha.
The ogeopsal with the skin still attached is even more delicious. The meat quality here is so good that I end up coming back often.
Kimchi jjigae as a side at Cham Dwaejitgan
Cham Dwaejitgan's kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) was also great — a rich broth packed with big chunks of pork. A textbook good kimchi jjigae flavor!
Eating the tofu, kimchi, and pork from the stew together with rice is heavenly, haha.
Ta-da! That's how we had a delicious, filling meal.
There's a self-serve side bar too, so you can grab as much shredded scallion, kimchi, salad, lettuce and so on as you want — a nice touch.
Why Cham Dwaejitgan stands out among Jongno3-ga Korean BBQ spots
There are tons of BBQ places around Jongno3-ga station, but personally I recommend Cham Dwaejitgan. First, the meat quality is great, and they sell both samgyeopsal and ogeopsal so you can choose based on your preference. Staff grill everything for you so you can eat comfortably, and the restaurant is spacious enough to be good for dates or group gatherings.
I found this place while searching around since there are so many BBQ spots in Jongno, but if you're going to choose meat as your meal out, it's so much nicer when it's tasty and someone else grills it for you! That's why I recommend it. The side dishes are good too — last time I ordered mul-naengmyeon (cold noodle soup) as a side and it was tangy and refreshing, really memorable. 100% would come back.
- A Korean BBQ restaurant near Jongno3-ga station where staff grill for you
- Recommended if you want to try both samgyeopsal and ogeopsal
- For evening visits, booking ahead via the CatchTable app is recommended!
- The sides are pretty tasty overall, and the self-serve side bar is a nice bonus
Where it is
1-89, 1st floor, Piccadilly CGV, 1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 종로구 돈화문로5가길 1 피카디리 cgv극장 1층 1-89호
