Charcoal-grilled pork in Siheung: Samstar Charcoal Grill

I heard there was a place in Jeongwang-dong, Siheung, where you can properly enjoy charcoal-grilled pork, so off we went~ Time to grease up the throat 🥩 Honestly, it feels like I eat meat every day... but it had been a while since pork belly!

Samstar Charcoal Grill location and visitor information

It is at 102, 47 Jungsimsangga-ro, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do. Hours are 17:00–23:00, and it is closed on Sundays. Use the Sihwa Parking Lot behind the building for two hours of free parking; pets are welcome, group visits and reservations are available, and there are high chairs too.

The deals really catch your eye from outside!! Ah... we got there after 6, what a shame haha. Charcoal galbi is ₩13,000 from 5–6 p.m., while soju and beer are ₩2,500.

A spacious retro interior for group gatherings too

Samstar Charcoal Grill was more spacious than I expected, with a retro atmosphere that was clean and neatly arranged! A few tables already had groups in, perhaps company dinners~ They seemed to be aiming for the pre-6 p.m. deal 😆 I need to come early next time too!! There are plenty of tables and it does not feel cramped, so it looks really well suited to group gatherings.

Haha, the story of how Samstar Charcoal Grill came to be is full of such cute little tales if you read it :-) The conclusion is that a piece of meat lifts your mood, and a drink makes your worries disappear!! Let's happily eat our fill today too 😍

Ordering pork belly and pork skin

The main meats are king galbi, Paldo pork belly, beef rib meat, and pork skin; meal options include perilla-oil makguksu (buckwheat noodles) and naengmyeon (cold noodles). ✔️ We ordered three servings of pork belly + one serving of pork skin.

The basic side dishes were set out so neatly too! Pickled onions, myeong-i namul (wild garlic leaves) and pickles, white kimchi, gat kimchi (mustard-leaf kimchi), and aged kimchi. What makes Samstar Charcoal Grill different is the sauces!! They bring out pork cutlet sauce and breadcrumbs 🍞 I think kids would dip everything in those.

Side dishes and wraps at the self-serve corner

For any extra side dishes, ssam (lettuce wraps), sauces, and so on, just head to the self-serve corner haha.

It was nice that bowls were ready for each type of dish, and the aged kimchi was better than expected, so refill, refill haha. Also, as someone who likes perilla leaves more than lettuce, thank you for having them 😋

Charcoal-grilled pork belly and seafood doenjang-jjigae

In came the neatly arranged pale-pink pork belly and king oyster mushrooms. Looking at the pork belly turning golden on the grill, I thought again: charcoal grilling really is different.

The pork belly was cooking quickly over high heat and getting nice and crisp haha. At first the heat is so strong that you need to adjust it as you cook. The grill can burnㅠㅠ As it cooks over charcoal, the dripping fat gives off a gentle charcoal aroma. I'm hungry~

Seafood doenjang-jjigae (soybean-paste stew) comes as the basic soup, and wow, the quality! I was surprised by how generously it was filled. Pork belly really needs stew, right? That way you can eat lots while keeping everything fresh and satisfying haha. Since it is a complimentary stew, an extra one is ₩3,000~

Alcohol is so expensive these days, and it was 50% off, so how could we not have some?? You can take only as many bottles as you need from the fridge, and chilled glasses are ready inside too! But I saw Terra Zero for the first time and thought it was a newly released zero-calorie beer... We were happily drinking away... and it was non-alcoholic^^ We mixed somaek (soju-and-beer cocktail), so what exactly were we drinking, haha? Terra's non-alcoholic version is good though~ It tasted so much like real beer that I thought it was beer.

So we mixed up our non-alcoholic? somaek and had a refreshing drink haha.

Jeongwang-dong's Samstar Charcoal Grill has lots of sauces, which is a plus because you can eat to your own taste! 🤩 The meat was not too dry, yet still had a lovely texture, so it was even more delicious haha.

The aged kimchi was tastier than expected, so it made such a good pairing~ Grilling the aged kimchi with the meat makes it even better~

The kids' favorite sauce and pork skin

The kids' favorite sauce: pork cutlet sauce + breadcrumbs haha. It was so cute to see the siblings carefully dipping their meat in the sauce and breadcrumbs before eating it haha. Kids like having something alongside their food more than eating it plain, you know~ They dipped the meat and the mushrooms too! My eldest also liked the stew and ate it well. Starting elementary school next year, so she should be able to handle this level of spice, right!?

The owner gave the kids mango juice!! 🥭 I had meant to bring some from home but forgotㅠㅠ The kids probably wanted juice rather than water with all that meat, so thank you.

After pork belly, should we have galbi? Or pork skin? I debated so much... but my eldest said she knew how to eat pork skin too, so pork skin it was! When had we ever given her pork skin?? Hahaha, I thought she must be mistaken.

What in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😦😦 My eldest had her face right in there, eating away haha. Wow~~ our girl really knows what she's doing. I guess she fell for the savory, chewy texture that gets better the more you chew haha. If it had been cooked on a burner, it might have gone hard quickly and would not have had this much chewiness, but I think it was more delicious because it was cooked over charcoal. Great choice, us!!

Soybean powder is definitely the finishing touch haha, so good 😆 She ate so well that Dad gave up his share for his daughter. Let's come back for it again^^ We ate so well today too~

At Samstar Charcoal Grill in Jeongwang-dong, we spent a happy time eating delicious meat comfortably with the kids. It was a pork restaurant that will stay in my mind as a family dining spot!