Thick-cut pork belly and pork jowl at Nonhyeon Station BBQ, Deo Bareun

Nonhyeon Station Korean BBQ restaurant Deo Bareun Butcher Restaurant Nonhyeon Station Branch 🥩 a review of thick ogeopsal with an added order of gapjisal

I wanted Korean BBQ near Nonhyeon Station, so I went to Deo Bareun! It's close to Exit 3 of Nonhyeon Station, so it was easy to find. Best of all, the pork here is genuinely thick-cut — I was already excited just looking at the photos beforehand 🤍

We started by ordering ogeopsal (thick pork belly) for two!

Where is Deo Bareun near Nonhyeon Station, and what about parking and rooms?

Deo Bareun Butcher Restaurant Nonhyeon Station Branch is a quick walk from Exit 3 of Nonhyeon Station, so it's easy to reach by public transit. Parking is also available — after 5pm on weekdays you can use the dedicated lot at Sail Building diagonally across from the restaurant. The first 150 minutes are free and valet fees are separate, so it's worth knowing if you're driving :)

The restaurant has rooms ranging from 2-person spaces to larger rooms for bigger groups, so it looked like a good spot for company dinners or family gatherings too.

Ogeopsal for two at Deo Bareun: how thick is it, and who grills it?

What we ordered was ogeopsal for two! I was surprised by the thickness the moment it arrived, haha. I personally prefer this thick-cut style where you really taste the juices, over thin-sliced samgyeopsal. Here, the meat was clearly thick, with a nice-looking balance of lean meat and fat layers.

What I liked even more was that a staff member grilled the meat for us directly! Thick cuts can easily end up burnt on the outside or undercooked inside if grilled wrong, but since the staff handled it, we could just wait comfortably and eat it right when it was at its best.

I took a bite of the golden-browned ogeopsal and... wow, this place is legit ㅠㅠㅠ The outside was properly cooked with a savory flavor, while the inside stayed moist and juicy. The chewy texture unique to ogeopsal and the rich fat flavor really came through. It paired perfectly with the fresh lettuce salad that came as a side, and between the meat and the side dishes, I just kept eating more and more, haha.

What side dishes come with the pork? And is there a table charge?

When you go to a Korean BBQ place, the basic side dishes matter more than you'd think. Even if the meat is delicious, it can get a bit much without good sides to go with it — but Deo Bareun's side dishes came out clean and well put together, and the fresh lettuce salad paired nicely with the meat. I also liked that there was no separate table charge :)

Eating the thick ogeopsal together with the fresh lettuce salad in particular meant I kept eating without feeling greasy.

Finishing the meal: doenjang jjigae and nurungji

Finishing the meat doesn't mean the meal is over. After the meat, we added doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and nurungji (scorched rice)! You really can't skip hot doenjang jjigae at the end of a BBQ meal... right when the meat starts to feel a bit heavy, one spoonful of the stew clears your palate completely!

And at the very end, we had nurungji too, and this combination was so good. Warm, nutty nurungji is the perfect way to close out a meal after meat. Starting with ogeopsal, adding gapjisal, then finishing with doenjang jjigae and nurungji... I was completely full but still enjoyed every last bite, which made it really satisfying 🤍

Adding gapjisal: how pork jowl differs from ogeopsal

We originally planned to stop after finishing the ogeopsal for two. But could we really do that...? The ogeopsal was so good that we couldn't just stop there, so we ended up ordering gapjisal (pork jowl) too, haha.

And the gapjisal was genuinely thick too ㅠㅠ Not thin slices — each piece was cut nice and thick, giving it a real bite! It had that signature chewy texture of gapjisal, and the nutty flavor really came through the more you chewed.

If ogeopsal was moist and savory, gapjisal had a more chewy, springy texture that was its own appeal. Honestly, both were so good it was hard to say which I liked more, haha. If it's your first visit, I'd definitely recommend starting with ogeopsal and then adding gapjisal.

Worth it for thick-cut pork near Nonhyeon Station?

What I liked most about this visit to Deo Bareun Butcher Restaurant Nonhyeon Station Branch was the thickness and quality of the meat above all else. We only planned to eat two servings of ogeopsal, but it was so delicious we ended up adding gapjisal too — probably the clearest sign of a good review, haha.

Since staff grilled everything for us perfectly, we could eat comfortably without worrying about the grilling ourselves, and we fully enjoyed both the moist, savory ogeopsal and the chewy gapjisal. Add doenjang jjigae and nurungji to finish it off and it's perfect... 🫶🏻

If you're near Nonhyeon Station looking for a great spot for thick ogeopsal or a Korean BBQ restaurant where staff grill the meat for you, this place is worth a visit :) Next time I go, I'll definitely order ogeopsal again and probably add gapjisal too, haha.

Ogeopsal for two → add gapjisal → finish with doenjang jjigae + nurungji — this combo comes highly recommended! 🥩🤍