Uijeongbu pork belly with chewy fat, years of revisits: Cheonpo

Today I'm bringing you a review of Cheonpo Hoegwan, a pork belly restaurant in Uijeongbu.

📍 Location: 21 Beomgol-ro 145beon-gil, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 1st floor ⏰ Hours: 11:00–23:00

Why Cheonpo Hoegwan Uijeongbu is worth returning to year after year

Cheonpo Hoegwan is a pork belly restaurant in Uijeongbu that I've personally been visiting steadily for years. I actually found an old blog post I wrote about a company dinner here three years ago.

I've kept coming back since, and the restaurant is spacious enough to be good for company dinners, dates, or gatherings with friends — a solid Uijeongbu spot for all kinds of occasions.

The menu at Cheonpo Hoegwan and what we ordered

Cheonpo Hoegwan sells more than just pork belly — beef rolls, Seoul bulgogi, and other menu items too. But I always order pork belly as my fixed choice.

• Pork belly for two
• Minari doenjang stew
• Kimchi cheese fried rice
• Drinks, alcohol

Free side dishes that include beef tartare

Cheonpo Hoegwan's biggest strength is how varied the basic side dishes are. There are many dipping sauces, minari (water celery) — a perfect pairing with pork belly — comes standard, and on top of various lettuce wraps, even beef tartare is included as a default side.

And that's not all. They even give you kimchi pancake batter!!! The side dish lineup is seriously varied, right?! And the quality of the sides is pretty good too.

Kimchi pancake batter from the self-serve corner

For the kimchi pancake, you cook it yourself at the self-serve corner. There are instructions on how to grill it, and plenty of cooking space, so it's no problem even when the place is crowded.

The chewy kimchi pancake batter, packed with well-fermented kimchi, was really tasty. And the minari added great texture too.

The visuals already say it all, but every single one of the side dishes was delicious too. I especially liked the beef tartare — a bigger portion than I expected, with a really savory seasoning.

Pork belly for two: thick-cut, chewy right through the fat

After that, the staff brought the meat and laid it on the grill along with the other ingredients. The visuals were incredible..🤍 There was plenty to enjoy alongside it too — kimchi, radish salad, minari, and shredded scallions.

Another reason I love Cheonpo Hoegwan is that the pork belly is really thick-cut. + And it's very fresh.

I'm usually not a fan of the fatty part of pork belly since it can feel greasy, but Cheonpo Hoegwan's is different. The thick cut gives great texture, and the fat itself is actually chewy — both the taste and the texture were really satisfying.

And because there were so many different accompaniments, it was fun trying the meat in different combinations. So I never got tired of it and enjoyed it happily right to the end.

Minari doenjang stew for 3,000 won and kimchi cheese fried rice

By the way, the doenjang (soybean paste) stew I ordered also had minari, chadol (beef brisket), and tofu in it. It had a deep, hearty flavor rather than a light, clear broth. For ₩3,000, the ingredients and taste felt very generous.

You absolutely can't skip the finishing fried rice. The fried rice also comes with minari, plus cheese, egg, and dried seaweed flakes. It stood out to me that minari — the perfect match for pork belly — showed up in every dish: the kimchi pancake, the fried rice, and the doenjang stew.

It's not common for a place to add meat into the fried rice too, so you can enjoy a meaty fried rice even without leftover meat of your own — a perfect finish. If you're looking for a great pork belly restaurant or just a good restaurant in Uijeongbu, I highly recommend Cheonpo Hoegwan. It was a delicious meal :)