Korean BBQ in Jongno3-ga with free milk thistle: Cham Dwaejitgan

Where is Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, and is there a wait?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is a pork belly restaurant on the first floor of the Piccadilly CGV building near Jongno3-ga Station, on the left side of the building. I came straight from work so there was no wait when I went in, but by the time I left, there was already a line — that says it all, haha! (Even when I went in, seats were already pretty scarce.)

There's a waiting area set up right in front of the restaurant, so you can sit comfortably while you wait.

What we ordered at Cham Dwaejitgan and what it cost

Once we got a table, we ordered comfortably from our seats using the tabletop kiosk. We got two servings of pork belly, one serving of gabrisal, doenjang jjigae with rice, beer, and Coke.

• Boseong Nokdon pork belly ₩16,000
• Boseong Nokdon gabrisal ₩19,000
• Doenjang jjigae ₩6,000
• Rice ₩1,000
• Chamisul / Chum Churum / Cass / Terra ₩5,000
• Coca-Cola / Coke Zero / Sprite ₩2,000

What is the dining room like? Smoke-free and roomy

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch has really good ventilation, so there's no smoke, and the tables are spacious, which made it comfortable. It looks like a great spot for family meals or group gatherings too.

Side dishes and sauces served with the pork

The basic side dishes were kimchi, minari (water celery), scallion salad, salad greens, perilla leaves, lettuce, and garlic. All perfect matches for the meat, right?

The basic sauces included pickled radish, wasabi, spicy sauce, salt, and ssamjang (dipping paste). With so many sauce options, I could eat it however I liked.

Order a beer and free milk thistle arrives

When we ordered beer, we even got milk thistle liver supplements. They look out for drinking guests' liver health, and matched the number to our headcount with three of them — total genius! My friends each took one before drinking.

I can't drink, so I went with Coke 🫶🏻 Both the regular and the zero were Coca-Cola!

Two servings of Boseong Nokdon pork belly plus one gabrisal

Here are the two servings of pork belly and one of gabrisal. They come with mushrooms, cheongyang pepper, and sliced potato.

As instructed on the tabletop kiosk, you're supposed to wrap the meat, kimchi, and minari in a potato slice for a big bite. I found this tip later and ended up eating the potato slices on their own, but the thinly sliced potato was delicious anyway.

Staff grill every piece and tell you when to eat it

At Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, a pork belly spot near Jongno3-ga Station, staff grill all the meat for you, so it's easy to keep chatting while you eat. They cut the kimchi and meat into bite-sized pieces. And once everything was grilled, they made sure to tell us exactly when it was ready to eat.

How did the Boseong Nokdon pork taste?

The meat was tender and had no off odor at all. Eating it with minari made it even more fragrant. It wasn't too greasy, either — just right. Soft and chewy is the key point here. It made me curious how chewy the thousand-layer pork belly (cheongyeopsal) might be, so I'd definitely come back again!

After grilling the meat, they grill the potato slices along with it too — try wrapping the pork belly in it rather than eating it alone!

Finishing the meal with doenjang jjigae

We also ordered doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) for dessert. It was packed with savory flavor and had vegetables and tofu in it, which made it even better. The kind of flavor that makes you polish off a whole bowl of rice.

This is a great spot for group gatherings, dates, or meetups with friends in Jongno3-ga — no meat smell, chewy texture, and you'll leave with a full stomach!

Location: 1F, 1-89, Piccadilly CGV, 1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea — Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch