Barley-fed pork belly with soybean powder in Seomyeon: 189 Cheolsune

• Barley-fed pork belly with kimchi, and a glass of somaek (soju mixed with beer)🍺
• ₩1,890 soju and beer, for real⁉️
• Found a good-value BBQ place in Seomyeon‼️

Where is 189 Cheolsune Matgimchi Samgyeopsal and how much does it cost?

189 Cheolsune Matgimchi Samgyeopsal (189철수네맛김치삼겹살) is a BBQ restaurant on Seomyeon Street 2 in Busan that sells soju and beer for ₩1,890. I'd had my eye on it as a good-value meat place in Seomyeon.

Walking past, I saw a sign saying drinks were ₩1,890. A bottle of soju runs ₩5,000–6,000 these days, so at first I wondered if that price could really be right, hahaha.

On top of that, the lunch set of pork belly, steamed egg, doenjang (soybean paste) stew and 2 bowls of rice is ₩35,000. The ultimate value deal,,

What are the atmosphere and self-serve bar like at 189 Cheolsune?

189 Cheolsune is a fairly large, brand-new BBQ place that has only just opened in central Seomyeon, so I skipped in full of expectations,, and the entrance already felt super clean.

There's also a coffee machine at the entrance, which would be perfect for a cup after your meal to freshen up.

And the kitchen runs in one long line! The showcase in front has barley-fed pork belly and pork neck on display, and the meat looks way too good to be from a budget BBQ place.

The self-serve bar is near the entrance too, and it was seriously so varied: scallion salad, chickpeas, green peas, potatoes, pickled radish (ssambu), bean sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, onion, mushrooms, garlic stems, garlic, all kinds of sauces, ssamjang (dipping paste), soybean powder and more. Any missing tableware can be picked up at the bar without asking staff, which was convenient.

And there are so many seats.. can you get a feel for the size? They even have private rooms! Restrooms are next to the rooms, separated for men and women.

What did we order at 189 Cheolsune?

You order on the tablet PC at each table!!

Here's what we ordered.

• Kimchi pork belly set (2–3 people) ₩35,900
• Bomb cheese steamed egg ₩6,000
• Draft beer ₩1,890
• Soju ₩1,890

Draft beer is ₩1,890 too, so there was no way I wasn't ordering it, haha.

A bottle of Chamisul and a Hanmac draft beer came out right after ordering, so we had a sip before the meat arrived. Kya~🍺

The basic table setup

The basic setup at 189 Cheolsune is onion, pickled radish, scallion salad, wrap vegetables and a variety of sauces.

If you need more side dishes, just grab as much as you like from the self-serve bar. The table was already full of food before our order even came out!!

Spoons and chopsticks, napkins, paper cups and wet wipes are on and beside the table.

How big is the bomb cheese steamed egg?

The ₩6,000 bomb cheese steamed egg I ordered as a side came out first, and the portion was fierce.. True to its name, the generous look of it caught my eye right away.

The soft steamed egg plus the nuttiness of cheese: a bite of meat, then a spoonful of cheese egg, and your mouth feels smoothly reset so you keep digging in..

How does the kimchi pork belly come out and how does it taste?

The kimchi pork belly set includes mustard leaf kimchi, green onion kimchi, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, bean sprouts, seasoned scallions and tteok-sari (rice cake noodles), and it arrives set up on the grill. Even better, the staff grill the meat for you.

Barley-fed pork belly grilled together with Korean-grown kimchi. You know how the smell alone makes your mouth water..? The savory pork plus tangy kimchi means it never gets greasy and you keep reaching for more~ and more~

They grill the pork belly golden and push it to the edge of the grill, then in the middle they grill the mustard leaf kimchi, green onion kimchi, king oyster mushrooms, enoki, bean sprouts, seasoned scallions and tteok-sari golden once more.

How to eat it: seasoned perilla leaves, scallion sauce and soybean powder

I ate the seasoned perilla leaves and bean sprouts from the self-serve bar with the meat, and the savory depth just kicked in!

And this scallion salad sauce is seriously addictive, so you keep eating.. sweet but with the freshness of scallions.. I piled it into my lettuce wraps too..🥬🥢

Another treat: dipping the meat in soybean powder! Barley-fed pork belly is already savory and clean-tasting, but with soybean powder it's twice as good✌🏻✌🏻

When you finish and head out, there's an opening-celebration prize draw, so be sure to join in and let's win a compact car!!!

Is 189 Cheolsune worth going back to?

As the name suggests, the kimchi pork belly was the kicker here! I also liked that you can enjoy barley-fed pork belly, Korean kimchi and soju or beer at such a good price. Looking for great pork belly in Seomyeon? Don't overthink it: kimchi pork belly and a glass of soju! 🔥