Korean BBQ Friday night wait in Bangi-dong, Seoul: Chowon Salt Grill

Chowon Salt Grill, a group dinner spot in the Bangi-dong food alley

If you're looking for a genuinely can't-miss spot or a good gathering place near the Bangi-dong food alley in Jamsil, here's one to keep an eye on.

The look of the samhap (three-way combo) and the color of the meat alone set this place apart — and today's spotlight has a very famous celebrity fan!!

That would be singer Lee Mujin — this Bangi-dong spot has become known as a place he's recently visited, and it's also getting buzz for its unique brisket-scallop samhap combo: today's star is Chowon Salt Grill (초원소금구이) in Bangi-dong. I couldn't resist going myself, so here's my review!

Where Chowon Salt Grill is and how long the wait runs

Chowon Salt Grill sits deep inside the Bangi-dong food alley, between Jamsil Station on subway Line 8 and Songpa Naru Station on Line 9 — super convenient if you're getting there by public transit.

It's so popular as a gathering spot for work dinners and get-togethers that during dinner peak hours or on Friday evenings, you're pretty much guaranteed to wait. You'll need to register ahead through the table waitlist app or in person, so personally I'd recommend going a bit early or timing your visit to opening.

Chowon Salt Grill samhap prices and menu

The signature dish here is unmistakably the chadol samhap — grilling brisket, scallops, and shiitake mushrooms together all at once. Prices for the hanwoo (Korean beef) brisket samhap set are:

• Samhap for 2: ₩56,000
• Samhap for 3: ₩86,000
• Samhap for 4: ₩112,000

Besides the main dishes, there are sides like beef tartare, brisket doenjang stew, brisket doenjang ramyeon, and fried rice. As Baek Jong-won always says, the basics of a good restaurant come down to focusing on the main dish! Chowon Salt Grill clearly has that main-dish presence nailed down — just reading the menu, you can tell it's the real deal.

They also stick mostly to domestic Korean-sourced ingredients. In these high-price times it'd be easy to lean on imported ingredients instead, but the fact that they mostly insist on domestic sourcing is probably down to the taste, right?

The 56,000 won samhap for two: how to eat brisket, scallops and aged kimchi

Finally, the long-awaited samhap for two arrived.

Brisket and other special cuts, aged kimchi, and scallops — that commanding samhap visual.......ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ My mouth was watering the second it landed haha.

Since it was our first visit, a staff member kindly walked us through how to eat it — you first lay the fresh hanwoo brisket on the grill, then cook the tender scallops and mushrooms in that rendered fat.

That aged kimchi is seriously insane, guys. I really realized just how crucial aged kimchi is to a good samhap.

I love you, scallops...

The savoriness of the meat, the chewiness of the scallops, and the tangy kick of the aged kimchi all hit in perfect balance in your mouth — now I get why the older generation always sang the praises of samhap (I'm apparently that older generation now, haha).

Skip the fried rice: order the brisket doenjang stew instead

At most Korean BBQ places, fried rice is usually the go-to side, but at Chowon Salt Grill, quite a lot of people go for the brisket doenjang stew instead.

So we ordered the brisket doenjang stew too — and I was surprised by the sheer amount, both the portion of stew and the generous heap of brisket packed inside.

From now on, my go-to side at Chowon Salt Grill is the brisket doenjang stew...!!! It's hot, savory, and just spicy enough — you could easily polish off a whole bottle of soju with this alone.

With its buzzing, lively atmosphere, this is the perfect spot to sit down with friends or coworkers over good food and a drink — highly recommend! Why not spend your next get-together or work dinner enjoying a delicious samhap at Chowon Salt Grill in Bangi-dong?