Korean BBQ lunch in Doksan-dong, Seoul: pork neck with minari, Daepan

Why I came to Daepan in Doksan-dong for lunch

Daepan Sotttukkeong Kimchi Samgyeopsal (대판솥뚜껑김치삼겹살) is a cast-iron pot-lid BBQ restaurant on the 2nd floor of the WEST building at Lotte Castle Gold Park 3 in Doksan-dong. I'd eaten an unusually light breakfast, so I was hungry well before lunchtime and promised myself something filling and delicious.

Inside, a huge pot lid sits on every table, and I instantly felt I'd come to the right place.

Opening hours

• Friday, Saturday: 11:00 - 23:00
• Sunday to Thursday: 11:00 - 22:00
• Break time: 15:00 - 17:00 (except Saturday and Sunday)

What's at the self-bar?

There's a self-bar where you can grab whatever side dishes you need. It's stocked with lettuce, kimchi, scallion kimchi, bean sprouts, scallions, mushrooms, potatoes and plenty more fiber-rich vegetables.

A generous basic table that's a feast for the eyes and mouth

The staff kindly bring out the basic table first.

There's tangy-sweet ssam-mu (pickled radish for wrapping) and crunchy shredded scallions, but the scallion kimchi here is honestly so good that I kept reaching for it before the meat even started cooking.

Lettuce and chili peppers come too, which is perfect for wrapping meat. The grill isn't a coated pan but a real cast-iron pot lid.

Thinly sliced potatoes on the pot lid tasted like French fries

They put fresh mushrooms, well-ripened kimchi and crunchy bean sprouts on the pot lid too, and I ate them with the meat. What impressed me most was that thinly sliced potatoes go onto the heated lid.

When I tasted them, I honestly felt like I was eating crispy French fries. So good!

Female Hanwoo-brand pork brisket, 180g, ₩16,000

The first meat was female Hanwoo-brand pork brisket, 180g (₩16,000). The meat party was officially on, and I put the thin brisket on the hot grill first to cook it quickly.

The thin slices cooked the moment they touched the grill. My first bite was tender, with juices filling my mouth, just wonderful. It went really well with the ripe kimchi and shredded scallions.

Grade 1+ female pork neck, 180g, ₩17,000

Next I put on the grade 1+ female pork neck, 180g (₩17,000). It's a thick cut.

They say the muscle fibers of a female pig are finer and more tender than a male's, so the texture is smooth and soft.

Extra minari with the pork neck: how big is the portion?

To really enjoy the pork neck's clean, chewy texture, I added minari (water dropwort, a fragrant Korean herb) at Daepan. That's a lot of minari, right?

The writer also added a note about minari, so here it is. Minari is known as a representative healthy vegetable that helps flush out toxins and heavy metals, protects liver function and cleanses the blood. They say alkaline minari neutralizes acidic pork, and its rich fiber stops the body from absorbing fat and cholesterol.

The minari wilted on the pot lid after soaking up lots of meat fat, and its fragrance was a work of art. Wrapping the clean-tasting pork neck and fragrant minari together with ssam-mu cut right through the greasiness, so I never got tired of it.

Finishing with stew and pot-lid fried rice

The stew at Daepan was great to sip between bites. Its deep broth paired fantastically with the meat. It came out steaming, and the mix of tofu, zucchini and onion worked really well.

When I'd nearly finished the meat, I finished with fried rice. What can I say about fried rice slightly scorched onto the pot lid? I couldn't put my spoon down.

Free yogurt after the meal

As I was about to leave, the owner gave us yogurt as a free after-meal treat. The sweet, cold yogurt made it feel like digestion would go smoothly. The writer added that yogurt helps break down protein and eases indigestion, suppresses harmful gut bacteria to protect a greasy stomach, and raises the absorption of nutrients from meat.

Is Daepan worth going back to?

From the kind service to the generous menu and the perfect meat, everything about this meal satisfied me. I definitely plan to come back with my family soon.