Brunch Korean BBQ in Nowon, Seoul with pork jowl: Junggye Gogi Party

Jangji and I met up to plan our trip and grab brunch at the same time. There's still time before the trip, but I'm a total power J — can't stand taking it slow! So we met up in Junggye after a while and went to Junggye Gogi Party.

I'm the person who's fully capable of eating meat as a first meal of the day, that's me! When we actually got there, the place was almost packed. We ate everything from beef to pork jowl, naengmyeon and chadol doenjang jjigae — here's the review haha.

Where is Junggye Gogi Party Nowon Branch, and is there parking?

Junggye Gogi Party Nowon Branch is about a 10-minute walk from Eunhaeng Sageori, and about 7-8 minutes by car from Junggye, Hagye or Sanggye stations. If you're coming by public transit, get off near Bulam High School or Junggye Jugong 7-danji!

Parking has 7 spots in the lot right in front of the restaurant. If it's full, you can park on the alley road in front and just tell the staff!

What the restaurant looks like inside and out

The exterior has big lettering saying it's an Iberico black pork charcoal BBQ specialist, so you could tell it was a meat restaurant just walking by.

The inflatable pig sign's little wave gesture is funny and cute haha. Come in, come in, it says haha.

Once we got inside, there were way more customers than I expected. Most of the tables were already full, so it was a bit tricky to get a relaxed shot of the whole interior. The smell of meat wafting around made me even hungrier the moment I walked in, haha.

The staff were really kind too! Whenever we ordered or asked for something, they took care of it right away, so there was no discomfort during the meal.

Junggye Gogi Party menu and what we ordered

Junggye Gogi Party's menu is split into pork, Iberico black pork and beef, with quite a variety of side dishes too. They have both set menus and à la carte items, so it's easy to order however you like. There's also a nice range of sides like naengmyeon, doenjang jjigae and yukhoe to pair with the meat.

• Premium beef set 500g ₩56,000 (sirloin + chuck flap tail + hwangje galbisal)
• Pork jowl 180g ₩23,000
• Chadol doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew with beef brisket) ₩8,000
• Mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth) ₩6,000

It was just the two of us, but we ordered everything from meat to a proper meal item, so it ended up being a really filling meal haha.

Side dishes and the self-serve corner

The initial table setting already surprised me with how many items there were. There was a good variety of banchan (side dishes) to go with the meat, and I especially liked that there were several kinds of salt so you could pick according to your taste.

And of course, meat wouldn't be complete without wild garlic chives, pickled radish and pickled onion, all of which came out too.

The self-serve corner has lettuce wraps, garlic, chili peppers, kimchi and pickled vegetables, so you can just grab more if you run out. They also said the spoons and forks are managed with a UV sterilizer.

After the meal, we could freely drink their homemade sikhye (sweet rice punch), and coffee and iced tea were also available.

Premium beef set 500g: sirloin, chuck flap tail, emperor short rib meat

After ordering, we waited a bit and they brought out hot white-glowing charcoal!

We started with the chuck flap tail and sirloin. The chuck flap tail was tender and juicy when cooked just right! It went really well dipped in salt or with a little wasabi on top!!

Then we had the sirloin, and as always sirloin is my number one haha. I usually prefer sirloin whenever I eat beef, so it was my favorite that day too. Cooked over the hot charcoal, it felt even more savory and delicious haha.

We also tried the hwangje galbisal. It's a cut that gets more savory the more you chew, and it paired really well with salt, wild garlic chives or wasabi. This set was satisfying because you could try all three cuts evenly!

Adding pork jowl 180g for 23,000 won

We were already full after finishing the beef, but we were curious about the pork too, so we added pork jowl. The chewy yet savory texture unique to pork jowl was so good, and it had just the right amount of fat, getting more savory the more you chewed.

With garlic or wasabi on top, it was less greasy and I kept reaching for more, haha. Saying I was full and... still eating, haha.

And another thing I personally really liked was the small plates haha. They were big and half-moon shaped, which made it easy to portion out a little of whatever side I wanted to eat!

Chadol doenjang jjigae and mul naengmyeon to finish

You've gotta have a stew when eating meat, so we ordered this haha. Maybe because it had chadol (beef brisket) in it, it was even tastier. There was plenty of tofu too, which I loved, and it was also great to eat with rice in between bites of meat!

I always order naengmyeon right at the start when eating meat, so we did that this time too haha. One bite of meat, one bite of mul naengmyeon — it's refreshing, and eating them together throughout the meal cuts through the richness of the meat! The combo with naengmyeon never fails, haha.

Hanwoo beef gukbap is also available to take away

The hanwoo (Korean beef) gukbap was also available for takeout. If you need something simple to eat at home, it seems worth grabbing to go.

Who Junggye Gogi Party Nowon Branch suits best

• Anyone looking for a charcoal BBQ restaurant in Junggye-dong
• Anyone searching for a good Korean BBQ restaurant in Nowon
• Anyone who wants to eat beef and pork together in one meal
• Anyone who likes mixing meat with different salts and side dishes
• Anyone looking for a comfortable spot to eat meat with family or friends

Final verdict on this Junggye-dong Korean BBQ brunch

Junggye Gogi Party gave us a hearty meal from beef to pork jowl, naengmyeon and doenjang jjigae. I liked that there was such a variety of things to pair with the meat, plus several kinds of salt so you could eat according to your taste.

Personally, sirloin was the best haha — cooking it over that hot, white-glowing charcoal made it taste even better! The staff were kind too, and it was a good spot in Nowon for meat even starting from lunchtime.