Gwangjin Korean BBQ with ₩2,900 soju and pork jowl: Ssamchae

We love having a glass of soju with samgyeopsal (pork belly), so while looking for a great pork belly spot, we found Ssamchae Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal in Guui!!!!! After work, nothing comforts me quite like pork belly and somaek (a soju-and-beer mix).

The restaurant atmosphere after walking from Guui Station

It is about a 10-minute walk from Guui Station, so getting there is easy, and there is a bus stop right in front. It is also convenient from the Jamsil side since you get off right after crossing Jamsil Bridge.

The space was divided into front and back sections by that wall, and the tables were generously spaced and wide, so it never felt uncomfortable. You can store your things in the chairs, too!

Menu prices from pork belly to drinks

The menu is really varied, and ₩17,000 for 200g of pork belly felt like a pretty good price.

• Pork belly ₩17,000 / pork neck ₩17,000
• Pork jowl ₩19,000 / chewy pork cut ₩19,000 / beef short rib meat ₩19,000
• Mul naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles) ₩5,000 / doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) ₩6,000 / steamed egg ₩5,000
• Soft tofu spicy ramen ₩7,000 / Jjapagetti ₩5,000
• They also have mushroom kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) at lunch. Having ramen, too, is the best..

You order on the kiosk at the table. Naturally, we were about to order somaek when we saw that soju and beer were ₩2,900??!!! I also love that they offer a small glass of draft beer. It would be perfect when a full glass feels like too much but you want to knock back a cold first one. Drinkers, why are you not going? You save money on drinks alone.

The basic spread and unlimited wrap vegetables

Even the basic side dishes came with lots of seasoned vegetables. The green-onion kimchi is seriously delicious grilled.

They provide turmeric powder and water that tasted like maybe hovenia tea..? Barley tea..? Anyway, a flavor I love haha. It felt much more thoughtful than a place that simply gives you water, and it was even ice-cold. So good.

And the best part: as “ssamchae” in the restaurant’s name suggests, the wrap vegetables are unlimited, and there is such a wide variety. Anyone who loves making wraps, gather around. What I loved most was that they had enoki mushrooms.. Other pork belly restaurants charge an extra ₩2,000–3,000 for mushrooms, but here they are free.. Cook them almost like they are frying in the cauldron-lid grease and they are seriously deliciousㅠㅠ! Please try them—I kept going back for more.

Pork belly and pork jowl grilled for you

For our first order, we got two servings of pork belly and one serving of pork jowl. I really loved how nicely thick the meat was 🤤

And the amazing thing is that they grill the meat for you!!! My boyfriend prides himself on grilling meat and absolutely hates it when someone grills it badly, but they grilled it sooooo deliciously here that he went completely quiet. It is not easy to find a place that grills it for you at this price, so I loved it.. When the time is right, they grill the kimchi, bracken fern, and bean sprouts, too.

Ahh… it is so delicious. It is great with grilled kimchi, meat, and enoki mushrooms, and of course making all kinds of wraps goes without saying. Seriously unreal. And when you grill garlic on that cauldron lid, it cooks almost like it is fried—seriously.. delicious. Make sure to put it in your wrap.

Doenjang jjigae for ₩6,000. Anyone else who needs soybean paste stew with meat 🙋♀️ But.. the stew was a little disappointing..

The pork belly was so good that we added one more serving haha. They changed the grill plate without us asking and grilled it deliciously again. Oh, and the pork jowl was seriously good too, so I ate it all haha.

Fried rice is essential with cauldron-lid pork belly, but we were way too full..ㅠㅠ We promised ourselves we would come back and definitely have it next time.

It was sooooo good that my boyfriend lamented that he used to live around here and asked why this place did not exist then. If we lived nearby, I think we would come here every time we wanted pork belly. It is also quite close to the Han River (a 15–20 minute walk?), so I recommend taking a little outing to the Han River to walk off your meal!!