Jongno3-ga Korean BBQ with potatoes fried in pork fat: Cham Dwaejitgan
In short
Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is a pork belly and black pork grill restaurant on the first floor of CGV Piccadilly, 100m from exit 2 of Jongno3-ga Station in Seoul. On a Friday night the writer ordered Jirisan black pork five-layer belly at 19,000 won per portion and two people worked through three portions, with the owner and staff grilling every piece from start to finish. The thick-cut belly and the potato slices fried in pork fat were good enough that a partner who claimed not to be hungry ordered one more portion.
Good to know
- Location
- 100m from Jongno3-ga Station exits 2 and 2-1, 1st floor of CGV Piccadilly (outside entrance on the left side of the building, next to Tom N Toms)
- Menu lines
- Boseong green pork (pork belly, flower-cut collar, thousand-layer belly) and Jirisan black pork (five-layer belly, collar)
- What we ordered
- Jirisan black pork five-layer belly, 19,000 won per portion, three portions for two people
- Sauces and vegetables
- Spicy sauce, mushroom wasabi, minari (water dropwort), seasoned bean sprouts, kimchi, potato slices, garlic scapes, lettuce and perilla leaves
- Self-serve bar
- Side dishes can be refilled as often as you like at the self-serve bar (potato slices must be ordered separately)
- Hours
- Daily 12:00-23:00
- Reservations
- No phone bookings after 18:00 on weekdays or after 14:00 on weekends and holidays
- Other branch
- A second branch in Magok
- Price reference
- ₩19,000 ≈ $14 (2026-09-22)
as written by the visitor on Sep 22, 2026
I went to Jongno last Friday for some Friday-night fun. But when you actually go to Jongno, what do you eat? I like real local favorites more than Instagram-famous spots, so let me roll out the Jirisan black pork you can enjoy in Jongno.
Where is the entrance to Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch?
Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점) is 100m, a 1-2 minute walk, from exits 2 or 2-1 of Jongno3-ga Station. It's on the first floor of CGV Piccadilly.
But the entrance isn't inside the building — it's outside. I walked into the building and got lost too. Instead of going right, go left, and it's right there. It's next to Tom N Toms!!
Two pork lines: Boseong green pork and Jirisan black pork
The menu at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch splits into two lines. Boseong pork covers pork belly, flower pork collar, and thousand-layer pork belly, while Jirisan black pork covers five-layer pork belly and pork collar.
I love five-layer pork belly with the skin still on, so I ordered the Jirisan black pork five-layer pork belly. It's ₩19,000 per portion. The meat is really thick.
The grill at Cham Dwaejitgan is an unusual one
The grill at Cham Dwaejitgan is a bit unusual. Staff grill everything from start to finish, and once it's cooked, they slide it down to the lower part of the grill.
That way it doesn't go cold or burn. This was genuinely great.
Kimchi and minari cooked in the pork fat
When you grill meat, the fat drips down to the lower part of the pan, right? They grill kimchi and minari (water dropwort) in that pork fat. It's a visual and a flavor that explains why this place is always packed.
Even the basic table setting smells like a place that knows what it's doing.
The classic pork belly wrap combo, rolled by the owner himself
Six sauces, but salt plus kimchi won me over
Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch has several types of dipping sauces and sides for the meat. This was also magic that made the meat disappear endlessly.
- Spicy sauce: fiery umami boost!
- Mushroom wasabi: intensifies the mushroom flavor!
- Three vegetables: minari, seasoned bean sprouts, kimchi
- Potato slices: deepens and enriches the flavor of the meat!
- Garlic scapes: crunchy garlic scapes cut through the richness!
- Lettuce and perilla leaves: a mouthful of fresh wrap greens
The spicy sauce was so hot it made me wonder if it was buldak-flavored, but it seemed like it would pair well with the fatty meat. Still, for me, salt with kimchi was the best.
And I liked that you can keep grabbing the side dishes from the self-serve bar whenever you need more!! But potato has to be ordered separately... honestly, for me, the potato was the best of all haha.
The owner and staff, who clearly know what they're doing, grill everything into bite-sized pieces for you.
Real black pork really is on another level... I think I caught a case of 'black pork is a different dimension' disease.
My partner said she wasn't hungry, then ordered another portion
My partner had eaten a big lunch and said they weren't really in the mood to eat much. But after the first bite, they said, 'I think I can eat a lot.'
We ended up ordering one more portion of five-layer pork belly because we wanted more. We ate three portions between the two of us. It was chewy and delicious.
What grilled kimchi and minari taste like here
When you grill meat, the fat drips down to the lower part of the pan, right? They grill kimchi and minari in that pork fat. It's a visual and a flavor that explains why this place is always packed.
Potato slices fried in pork fat, the best bite of the night
And above all, the potato. They grill thinly sliced potato in pork fat. I couldn't believe someone thought to serve it this way. Wrapping the meat in this potato is genuinely delicious.
Hours 12:00-23:00 and the phone booking cut-off times
Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is open daily from 12:00 to 23:00. Phone reservations aren't accepted after 18:00 on weekdays or after 14:00 on weekends and holidays.
If you want to go in the evening, you should book early or just walk in. I heard there's also a branch in Magok. I'll go check whether it's this good because it's the main branch, and write about it again.
Where it is
1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Piccadilly CGV Theater 1st floor, Unit 1-89, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea서울특별시 종로구 돈화문로5가길 1 피카디리 cgv극장 1층 1-89호
