Seoul Korean BBQ with stone-pot doenjang soup in Seocho: Gyodaepae

Have you ever had chilled fresh thinly-sliced pork belly, not frozen? Honestly I haven't even had thinly-sliced pork belly all that often, so fresh chilled thinly-sliced pork belly was even more unfamiliar to me...!!!

I heard this thinly-sliced pork belly place was made by Yuktongryeong, who I think of as the top tier in the grilled pork world, so I was so curious I had to go check out Gyodaepae myself.

Where is Gyodaepae and what is the restaurant like?

Gyodaepae is a thinly-sliced pork belly restaurant on the 1st floor of 23 Seocho-daero 48-gil, Seocho-gu. It's between Seocho Station and Gyodae Station, so it's a great spot to stop by on the way home from work, and there's a self-service bar set up inside the restaurant.

What we ordered at Gyodaepae

Gyodaepae's standard side dishes

Gyodaepae's basic table setting comes with lettuce wraps and peppers, pork dipping sauce, ssamjang, and raw garlic. The basic sides are more than enough to fully enjoy the thinly-sliced pork belly — solid, no-nonsense basics.

Stone-pot ugeoji doenjang-guk at Gyodaepae

I thought that was the whole basic table setting, but then an ugeoji doenjang-guk showed up too?! The portion was generous and the stone pot was huge...

I tried it and... wow, even though it's just napa cabbage, it's deep, rich, and full of umami. So so good!!! >.< The kind of soup that makes people who eat a lot polish off a whole bowl of rice.

What comes in the 500g Gyodaepae set?

Since it was my first time at Gyodaepae, I wanted to try everything, so I ordered the Gyodaepae set, which comes with chilled fresh pork belly, chilled fresh pork neck, and frozen pork belly all together. 500g total, so a hefty amount.

The chilled fresh pork belly comes out with the biggest volume, like this.

Quite the generous spread, right? Haha. Since it was chilled fresh thinly-sliced pork belly, something I'd never had before, I was so curious.

Grilling the frozen thin-sliced pork belly first

On the well-heated cast iron pan, they first put on the frozen thinly-sliced pork belly. Haha, I figured if I ate the chilled one first, the frozen one might feel disappointing after, so I decided to try the frozen one first! Cooking the instant it hits the pan is part of the fun of thinly-sliced pork belly. Haha.

I prefer my thinly-sliced pork belly cooked golden brown and crisp, so that's how I ate it. Of course, you have to sprinkle on the pepper partway through. The pepper shaker on every table is such a love. Haha.

Oh, I usually notice a gamey smell easily with thinly-sliced or frozen pork belly, so I don't eat it that often, but even though this was frozen thinly-sliced pork belly, there wasn't a hint of gamey smell and it was so savory! The juiciness was, of course, a bit less than the fresh version, but it was so nutty with zero gamey smell that I thought — this must be good-quality raw meat that was frozen right away.

Personally I like dipping meat in salt, so I asked for salt and they gave me sesame oil salt dip instead. Haha, it went really well.

I put the fully cooked pieces on the tray, grilled some kimchi too... grilled the seasoned scallions too... grilled the seasoned bean sprouts too, and wrapped it all up in lettuce. Haha.

How does the chilled fresh thin-sliced pork neck taste?

Next up, I grilled the chilled fresh thinly-sliced pork neck. Thinly-sliced pork neck was a first for me, so it was even more fascinating. Haha.

My boyfriend just eats it whole without cutting it... big bites. Haha. Dipped in the sauce, it has a clean, mild flavor.

The highlight: chilled fresh thin-sliced pork belly

Today's highlight and the real star is this chilled fresh thinly-sliced pork belly. Since it's not frozen, it seems to cook even faster once it hits the pan. Of course, sprinkle the pepper evenly again.

I grilled it golden brown and ate it. My boyfriend, as always, eats the whole strip without cutting it. Hahaha.

Wow, this is delicious!!! The best of the three! First of all, it's savory. It cooks fast, which is great. And even though it's thin, the juiciness is still there. The nuttiness is really impressive, and there's zero gamey smell... maybe because it's thin, the fat renders out really well too... this is way too good? T.T

I guess the thinly-sliced pork made by Yuktongryeong, the prince of grilled pork, really is different. Hahaha. Even I, who don't usually enjoy thinly-sliced pork belly that much, was satisfied.

It's also delicious wrapped in lettuce.

Cooked golden brown like this... the moist fat is quite different from the frozen version, right? Hahaha. It was seriously, seriously delicious. Haha.

Plump, juicy, flavorful pork belly is great, but sometimes you crave that quick-cooking, nutty thinly-sliced pork belly, don't you? The chilled fresh thinly-sliced pork belly, never frozen, had a whole different charm and flavor — tasting it for the first time was so fun and fascinating! Haha.