Daegu pork belly restaurant: smoked belly and kimchi stew at Hwasimdo

What kind of pork belly restaurant is Hwasimdo in Beomeo-dong?

Hwasimdo (화심도) is a meat restaurant in Beomeo-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu, serving pork that is smoke-seared over real charcoal. I went on a Sunday evening with my husband! I usually love pork belly, and Hwasimdo lets you try meat pre-seared over charcoal smoke. The meat was really tender and even the side dishes were good one by one, so we had a very satisfying dinner haha. Here's my visit review for anyone looking for a good pork belly place in Beomeo-dong!

Hwasimdo hours, reservations and waiting

Hwasimdo is at 54 Beomeocheon-ro, 1st floor, Suseong-gu, Daegu, and it's open daily 11:00–24:00 with last order at 23:00. For parking you can use a nearby paid public lot, and Naver reservations are available.

We arrived around 5:30 PM on a Sunday and got in right away with no wait. Since you can also reserve through Naver, booking ahead would make things a little easier :)

How to get to Hwasimdo and parking fees

Hwasimdo specializes in smoke-seared pork in Beomeo-dong, and for parking you can use the public roadside lot at Beomeocheon-ro 2, right in front of the restaurant. There's a big Hwasimdo sign outside and you can see the interior through the glass windows, so it wasn't hard to find.

The Beomeocheon-ro 2 roadside lot is right in front, so it was fine to come by car. The posted fee was ₩600 for the first 30 minutes and ₩300 per 10 minutes after that, with a maximum of ₩6,000. It's a paid lot, but the cost isn't a big burden, so parking was less of a worry haha.

What's the atmosphere at Hwasimdo like?

The restaurant has a tidy look, with wood-tone tables and black chairs neatly arranged. There's ventilation equipment on the ceiling and a grill at every table.

The overall tidy atmosphere made it comfortable for my husband and me to eat. When I look for a meat restaurant in Beomeo-dong, the atmosphere matters to me too, and I liked Hwasimdo's clean feel :)

Hwasimdo menu and the price of dinner for two

Hwasimdo is a pork specialist that smoke-sears carefully selected domestic Korean pork (hanbon) over charcoal itself, with pork belly, pork neck and hangjeongsal (pork jowl) on offer. The menu said you can choose smoke-seared or regular searing, and the searing takes about 10–12 minutes.

Here's what we ordered, ₩39,000 in total! We got 2 servings of pork belly plus stew and rice haha.

• Smoke-seared pork belly, 140g × 2 servings: ₩28,000
• Kimchi stew: ₩7,000
• Steamed rice, 2 bowls: ₩2,000
• Coke Zero: ₩2,000

By the way, Hwasimdo also has a charcoal-grilled set menu at lunch. The store notice listed the lunch special as 11 AM to 3 PM, so it would be a good place to visit for lunch too.

What side dishes does Hwasimdo serve?

Hwasimdo's banchan (side dishes) include pajeolim (seasoned scallion salad), mu saengchae (shredded radish), kimchi, pa-kimchi (scallion kimchi), lettuce and perilla leaves, chili peppers, garlic, wasabi, several sauces, scallion salt and mushrooms. The side dish lineup was the first thing that surprised me at Hwasimdo!

While we waited after ordering the meat, side dishes kept arriving on the table one after another, and there were so many kinds haha.

Scallion salad, shredded radish, kimchi, scallion kimchi, lettuce and perilla leaves, peppers, garlic, and on top of that wasabi, several sauces, scallion salt and mushrooms!

I could hardly decide which side dish to eat with each bite of meat. The scallion salad was especially good!

Rich pork belly with the scallion salad was such a great combination. Hwasimdo's banchan aren't just many in number, they're good one by one, which made me like them even more. There was plenty of wrapping greens too, so we could eat it in all sorts of ways to suit our taste :)

How is Hwasimdo's smoke-seared pork belly (2 servings, ₩28,000)?

Hwasimdo's smoke-seared pork belly is ₩28,000 for 2 servings of 140g, and the texture was really tender, not tough. And here it finally came, the smoke-seared pork belly! The pre-seared pork came on a wooden plate cut into bite-size pieces, along with big mushrooms and scallions.

The outside was golden and the inside looked juicy, so it looked appetizing from the start haha. Hwasimdo's specialty is serving meat that's smoke-seared over charcoal.

The staff grill the pre-seared meat for you, nicely browning it over high heat,

which locks the juices inside and makes the pork belly super tender! They grill it to just the right doneness.

And then I took a bite! The pork belly was really tender. The texture felt a little different from the pork belly I usually eat, not tough at all, really soft. I loved the rich flavor and how smoothly it goes down as you chew. If I visit Hwasimdo, I'd choose the smoke-seared pork belly haha.

It's tasty on its own, but it also went well with a little wasabi on top or with the scallion salad. Grilling the scallions and mushrooms on the grill with the meat was nice too.

I especially enjoyed the golden-grilled pork belly, where you feel the richness of the outside and the juiciness of the inside together :)

How is Hwasimdo's kimchi stew (₩7,000)?

Hwasimdo's kimchi stew is ₩7,000 and comes in an earthenware pot (ttukbaegi) with red broth, plenty of tofu and kimchi. The kimchi stew we ordered with the pork belly!

With a hot kimchi stew on the table, it looked great for eating with rice. Having some stew between bites of meat made it a hearty full meal.

The tofu was in big chunks, so it looked appetizing even in the photo. If you want stew along with your pork belly, this combination is a good one haha.

Steamed rice, 2 bowls for ₩2,000

Hwasimdo's rice was 2 bowls for ₩2,000, and it was sticky and tasty. You can't skip rice when eating meat, right? A piece of meat on warm rice with the tasty side dishes, and I kept reaching for more haha. I especially liked pork belly with the scallion salad. The rice itself was good too, so we ate a hearty meal with the kimchi stew :)

Coke Zero ₩2,000, in an iced beer glass

When I ordered a Coke Zero (₩2,000) at Hwasimdo, it came chilled in a beer glass filled with ice. A small thing, but it stuck with me! I'd expected a can or an ordinary cup, so getting it in a cold beer glass put me in a better mood haha. A cool sip of cola while eating meat goes really well. Even a small detail like this left a nice memory :)

Does Hwasimdo have dessert?

Hwasimdo's dessert is, believe it or not, soft-serve ice cream! There's coffee too, so an affogato looked possible. It was just right as a dessert after the meat.

Hwasimdo Naver receipt review event

The restaurant had a notice for an event: write a Naver receipt review with photos and show it to the staff, and you get a bowl of pork neck rice and one canned drink free. Photos are required and it's once per table, so take note if you're visiting :)

Hwasimdo pork belly in Beomeo-dong: my verdict

What stayed with me most from Hwasimdo in Beomeo-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu, with my husband was the tenderness of the smoke-seared pork belly.

The meat was really tender and rich, and I was happy the whole meal. The side dishes were varied and each one tasty, so it was fun to eat the meat in different combinations. The scallion salad went so well with the pork belly that I kept adding it haha. We also had a hearty meal with the kimchi stew and sticky rice, and the little touch of serving Coke Zero in an iced glass stuck with me. I hope this visit review helps anyone looking for pork belly or a meat restaurant in Beomeo-dong :)