Midnight samgyeopsal grill in Ilsan: free egg custard at Auseong

There's a place my husband and I sometimes go when we're hungry late at night. It's a 24-hour shabu shabu and hand-made mandu (dumpling) spot — but it turns out the pork belly here is delicious too!! We went to Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu, where the balance of golden, gamy-smell-free grilled fresh pork belly and kimchi soaked in meat juices is unbeatable. ^^

Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu at a glance

• Easy walk from Jeongbalsan Station, with 1 hour of free parking support in the building's basement lot
• Open 24 hours, every day, so there's no time restriction on visiting
• Well-balanced domestic fresh pork belly grilled, served with a complimentary egg custard
• Whole napa cabbage kimchi grilled together on the pan, paired with crunchy seaweed salad

Where is Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu, and is there parking?

Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu is on the 1st floor at 31-10 Jeongbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea, and it's open every day of the year. It was fully open even during Chuseok.

Getting there from Jeongbalsan Station and Western Dom, plus parking

Known as a pork belly spot in Ilsan, this place is an easy walk from Jeongbalsan Station and sits right across from Bethel Church, so it's easy to find~! It's also connected to the Ilsan Lake Park and Western Dom route, so it's great to stop by after an outing.

I always came here for dumplings, but I never noticed the sign had 'pork belly' written on it in big letters. Haha. I should've come to eat it sooner.

If you're driving, you can use the building's underground parking lot, and 1 hour of free parking registration is supported!

Since it's always open 24 hours, it's a convenient place to visit even during holidays or late at night without any worries. This Chuseok, too, it was fully open all three days!! Impressive.

There are also a lot of customers picking up dumplings to go. Since they're hand-made right in the shop, many people come to buy dumplings for Chuseok or Lunar New Year. There's broth too, so you can finish everything in one go.

The hall inside has a pojangmacha (street food tent) feel with round tables. The place was packed with people, but luckily there was a table open so we could sit right down.

What's on the menu at Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu

The signature menu at Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu is shabu shabu, mandu jeongol (dumpling hot pot), and steamed dumplings. Trying it this time, the pork belly and ogyeopsal (five-layer pork belly) were also really delicious. If you like kalguksu (knife-cut noodles), they have unlimited kalguksu too, so you can order to your taste.

Two servings of fresh samgyeopsal: clear fat, no gamy smell

My husband and I chose two servings of pork belly at Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu. When you order meat, a few basic side dishes and wrap vegetables come out.

On top of that, a complimentary fluffy ttukbaegi egg custard!

They put a whole piece of beautifully ripened kimchi on the pan for you. It seems to be the same kimchi they use for the dumpling filling, and it's genuinely... really delicious.

The meat came out quickly, and it looked like fresh, uncooked pork. Good ratio of fat to lean meat~ As soon as the pan heated up, we put the meat right on.

Once the meat hit the hot pan, instead of the usual cloudy white liquid, clear, transparent fat slowly flowed out.

Watching the savory meat fat dripping down and soaking into the whole kimchi, turning crisp and fragrant, gives me a full dopamine hit.

I pretty much always handle the meat myself. I take full credit for my precise flipping timing. Haha.

Pan-grilled kimchi and seaweed salad: the side dishes that stand out

That kimchi, hit!!!!! The kind that's slightly sour eaten plain, the kind you'd normally have to turn into kimchi jjigae — but here, the more it grills, the richer its sweetness and umami become.

The golden-grilled lean meat has a soft texture with no gamy smell at all. Just right.

Wrapped in lettuce or with green onion strips, it's heavenly too. Honestly, when the meat is this good, everything tastes good.

Eating it with kimchi cleans your mouth out perfectly — it's a work of art.

One of the unique side dishes here is the seaweed salad, and wrapping it around the meat works well together too. The crunchy bite of the seaweed pairs surprisingly well with the meat juices.

Meat with white rice is just... haha. I should stop eating but it keeps going in, bite after bite.

Final verdict and tips for a late-night visit

Honestly, Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu is a 24-hour restaurant you can visit anytime, but it's not just home-cooking-level quality — it's genuinely good. Most of the tables around us were eating shabu shabu or mandu jeongol, but I wanted to tell them the pork belly here is really delicious too. I'll definitely come back for late-night pork belly again. Hehe.

Before you leave, tell the counter your license plate number and don't forget to register for the 1-hour free parking discount in the underground lot!