Daegu Korean BBQ restaurant with staff-grilled pork belly: Hubaldae

Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch in the heart of Daegu Jongno

Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch is in Daegu Jongno, an area packed with popular eateries and bars. Jongno is also close to Dongseong-ro, so it is a nice spot to head over for dinner after a date or to meet up with friends.

By evening, the whole alley gets bustling and takes on its own lively energy, and Hubaldae fit that Jongno atmosphere perfectly. It is also great for heading somewhere nearby for a second round after Korean BBQ, so it seems like a solid weekend dinner-meetup spot! It is really popular, so I recommend reserving ahead. Same-day Naver reservations were available too!

An interior made for Korean BBQ and drinks

Once inside, it had just the right atmosphere for comfortably enjoying meat and a drink. Personally, I prefer Korean BBQ places with a pleasantly lively vibe rather than ones that are too quiet, and Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch was exactly that!

It would be nice for a date with just two people, but it also had the perfect atmosphere for visiting with a group of friends and having pork belly with drinks.

There were around ten four-person tables too? So it could actually accommodate quite a lot of guests.

They were also incredibly thoughtful: there were separate baskets for belongings, and they put blankets over them so they would not pick up the smell of meat!!!

Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch menu and free corkage

As you would expect from a Korean BBQ restaurant, the meat menu included pork belly, pork neck, grilled beef large intestine, and grilled beef tripe. For meals, there were naengmyeon (cold noodles), ramen, and fried rice.

They also had all kinds of alcoholic drinks, and corkage is free here, so it would be nice to bring a good bottle if you have one!!

Three servings of pork belly, grilled by the staff

The basic setting came with assorted vegetables, mushrooms, and potatoes.

Unusually, they grilled the basil on the grill first! So interesting, so interesting...

The cute little potatoes for the signature potato wrap made their appearance too.

Our main order was three servings of pork belly! When the meat arrived, I wondered whether we would have to grill it ourselves, but a staff member grilled it for us from the very beginning.

Honestly, pork belly can taste quite different depending on how it is grilled. When you are chatting, it is easy to forget it and burn it, or to flip it too often and lose the juices. Here, though, the staff grilled it themselves, so we could simply talk comfortably while we waited.

They cut it into easy-to-eat pieces, and we could eat it right when it was perfectly cooked. It was much more convenient than I expected.

The nicely cooked pork belly was golden on the outside, with a wonderfully savory bite! It was delicious even on its own, but Hubaldae did not stop there.

A jjageuli-style stew (?) came out too, with deliciously fermented kimchi.

A pork belly bite with potato and basil

Wrapping the pork belly with the jjageuli kimchi, potato, basil, neungi mushrooms, and wasabi was seriously delicious. At first, I thought, “Potato and basil with pork belly?” It felt a little unfamiliar, but after trying it myself, it was way more delicious than expected...!

The soft texture of the potato joined the rich, savory pork belly, while the distinctive fragrance of basil and neungi mushrooms came through, and the wasabi cut through the richness at the end. Each ingredient seemed a little unusual on its own, but together in one bite with the meat, the balance was surprisingly excellent.

It felt completely different from the usual ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), garlic, and lettuce combination, which made it even more memorable. After one taste, I found myself making wraps with this combination again and again without even realizing it, haha.

A comfortable, varied Korean BBQ meal in Daegu Jongno

Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch was not simply a place with good pork belly; it was a Daegu Jongno Korean BBQ restaurant where we could enjoy meat comfortably and in lots of different ways. It was convenient because the staff grilled the pork belly deliciously, and above all, they were so kind that we felt good throughout the meal.

From the unusual combination of pork belly with potato, basil, neungi mushrooms, and wasabi to the signature Gangwon-do honey potatoes, there were so many ways to enjoy pork belly differently from usual! I think being able to try all these combinations is part of Hubaldae's charm.

If you are looking for a Daegu Jongno restaurant for a tasty meat dinner after a date downtown, or a Daegu Jongno Korean BBQ spot where you can comfortably have pork belly and drinks with friends, Hubaldae Daegu Jongno Branch could be worth a visit :)