Mapo Seoul Korean BBQ with dry-aged pork: Gim Sukseong

Today I visited Gim Sukseong (김숙성), a Korean BBQ spot in Hapjeong. True to its name, it prides itself on the texture of meat aged using a dry-aging method—so here comes my honest review.

Gim Sukseong Hapjeong hours and outdoor tables

Gim Sukseong Hapjeong

Are you Gim Sukseong? I’m Gim Honest, though.

⏰️ Hours are 11:30 AM–1:00 AM the following day, every day. There are also two tables out front with that open-air tent-bar vibe. The weather is cooling down, so it’s totally outdoor-table season now—getting a seat is going to be competitive.

Inside the open-front restaurant

It was nearly full inside too, so I guess it really is a popular spot. The doors are completely open, which keeps it cool and means the meat smell doesn’t cling to you as much—love that.

Here is the meat that was dry-aged for 25 days before making its way onto our grill.

Ordering Gim Sukseong Special 2 and marinated raw crab rice

We immediately ordered the Gim Sukseong Special 2 and marinated raw crab rice. It includes two servings of premium pork neck, limited-edition aged pork jowl and pork belly—550 g in total—plus minari and aged kimchi. If you want beef brisket on top of that, I think Special 1 would be the way to go.

Side dishes with only things I love

Seriously, it had only things I love. Especially the sauces: house-made cheese salt, ssamjang (savory soybean dipping paste), and shiitake wasabi. Homemade is automatically approved~~~

And above all, the marinated raw crab 🤤🤤 Not many places give you this as a side dish, but we finished it within three minutes of it arriving. Haha, it’s okay—the marinated raw crab rice is coming soon~~~

Premium pork neck and aged pork grilled for you

Premium pork neck in the middle.

Pork belly and pork jowl. The quality of this meat is just ridiculously good, right? The fat-to-lean ratio is practically golden. And just as important: this is a place that grills the meat for you!!!

Restaurants that grill the meat for you are always love. 😍 The staff came over only when needed, so I could comfortably chat with my companion—that was so nice~

If meat that looks like this tasted bad, that would be a lie. Do you think this is my first day eating meat?

They cut the meat for us, added the minari, flipped it themselves, and even lined everything up neatly.

So all I have to do now is eat?

For the first bite, dip it only in cheese salt. I think there really was a subtle little cheese aroma? Delicious meat is amazing with just salt, as expected. 👍👍👍 Officially calling this a great restaurant right here.

Since the pork neck is a little less fatty, go with flavorful ssamjang. Admit I know my meat, right? How could this possibly not be good?

Meat with minari and mushrooms. The mushroom juices(?), the meat juices bursting out~ But seriously, why does minari smell so good?? I already liked minari, but the aroma was incredible... 😇 (My girlfriend doesn’t like minari, so that’s a total win for me.)

The final highlight: green onion kimchi. It was sweet and didn’t have an overpowering bitter onion flavor, so it was delicious. Honestly, it probably would have been delicious even if it were strong. I just love green onion kimchi. Could they add Chapagetti as a side too? Hahaha, I would absolutely order it.. So good..

Putting meat on marinated raw crab rice

How about the marinated raw crab rice at this point? The meat was so good that I seriously considered getting plain rice instead, but I’m famously crazy about marinated raw crab. (That’s what it means.)

Ahhh. I saved one piece of crab to eat with the crab rice. Certified food-combination expert.

When it’s delicious, you have to put more meat on it. Delicious thing + delicious thing = insanely delicious thing.

I couldn’t get a cross-section photo, but the steamed egg here was seriously steamed egg. It seemed like it was made with real egg only, without mixing in water. What a protein party~~~!!

There was marinated raw crab rice? Nope, there isn’t. It’s just gone.

When we left, it was full with people waiting... I was the only one who didn’t know about this place... If you’re looking for a meat restaurant near Hapjeong Station, give it a visit. It’s outdoor-table season—an Instagram Story with beer at one of these tables is coming soon, agreed?