Western Dom Korean BBQ in Ilsan: ₩34,000 pork belly for two at Auseong

A premium pork belly spot in Western Dom famous for its kimchi samgyeopsal, Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu (아우성 개성손만두). Located at 1st floor, 31-10 Jeongbalsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, open daily 00:00–24:00 with parking available.

What kind of restaurant is Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu?

Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu has held its spot in Ilsan's Western Dom for a really long time. Not just mandu (dumplings) — it's a fresh pork belly restaurant where the sweet-and-sour grilled kimchi is half the draw!! Being open 24 hours, so you can eat there even late at night, is probably one reason so many people keep coming back.

Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu is a special place where you can get delicious hand-made mandu hot pot, shabu-shabu, and both fresh samgyeopsal (pork belly) and ogyeopsal (five-layer pork belly) all in one spot. I'd walked past it countless times passing through Western Dom over the years, and this time I finally got the chance to eat there!

The ladies running the kitchen keep pinching dumplings nonstop, while the hall fills with customers eating pork belly or mandu soup depending on their mood. These days evenings have gotten really pleasantly cool, so with the doors open you can eat with the breeze coming through — a nice atmosphere, even better.

Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu uses only hand-made dumplings pinched fresh every single day, so they're packed with nutrition, fresh and chewy and all the more delicious — and even setting mandu aside, the sizzling grilled pork belly itself is just outstanding!

What we ordered at Auseong, prices, and is takeout available?

Both the mandu hot pot and steamed mandu at Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu can be packed to go. You can even order extra broth for takeout, so you can bring it home and enjoy it comfortably as if you were still at the restaurant!

Writing this review and looking at the menu again, now I'm curious about the dubu-ruchigi (stir-fried pork) too,,, gotta come back again and try a bunch of different things haha

• Domestic fresh pork belly (2 servings) ₩34,000
• Bowl of rice ₩1,000
• Drink ₩2,000
• Total ₩37,000

Kimchi grilled on the pan and the side dishes at Auseong

After we placed our order, one of the ladies brought over a full bowl of kimchi and set it right on the grill pan. When I eat samgyeopsal I absolutely have to have a place that lets me grill kimchi.. how do you even eat meat without grilled kimchi!!!!

But at Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu, an Ilsan pork belly favorite, they serve the kimchi already placed on the pan from the start, so you get to grill it so comfortably,,,haha. The scallion salad, seasoned bean sprouts, and other side dishes were all the kind that pair perfectly with the meat, so you could easily polish off a whole bowl of rice with them!!

Once it starts turning golden, the fat rendering off the meat starts coating the kimchi in the most amazing glossy layer of oil. The sizzling sound is just... incredible... The kimchi is fully fermented so it pairs so well with the pork belly. The smell of the meat fat searing it, sour and sweet, is seriously...!

Ugh, make sure you pile the scallion salad and bean sprouts on together too. The kimchi is a little sweet-and-sour so it pairs even better with the fatty pork belly, and it's dangerously addictive — you end up eating several pieces of kimchi with just one bite of meat~ a familiar taste is a scary thing ㅠㅠ Pork belly and kimchi, what more is there to say. I do not regret one bit choosing pork belly over the mandu hot pot!!!!

Got so excited the photo's out of focus but meat + ssamjang + bean sprouts + scallion salad combo is the absolute best!!!!

Free egg custard and 24-hour opening in Western Dom

Egg custard comes included as a standard side too. Freshly simmered, all puffed up and fluffy ㅠㅠ So soft, with sprinkled scallions on top giving it a nice crunch!!! The name on the sign literally says dumpling house — is it even allowed for the pork belly to be this good!!!

Every other place open late in Western Dom is basically just a bar, so a Korean BBQ place open until 24:00 is something else. Being open that late means you can drop in without any pressure and try a bunch of different menu items — a great spot. If you're looking for a pork belly or ogyeopsal restaurant in Western Dom, I highly, highly recommend Auseong Gaeseong Sonmandu!!!