Seohae pork belly after work: pork neck at Sammi-jip, Cheongna

A hot-pot-lid kimchi pork belly specialist, Sammi-jip is a favorite pork belly restaurant in Cheongna.

On a day I worked especially hard, I found myself craving samsso (pork belly + soju) after work, so I went back to Sammi-jip, my go-to Cheongna pork belly spot. I'd been once before and loved it so much I decided to revisit.

Location and parking at Sammi-jip

📍Location: 18 Cheongnacanal-ro 233beon-gil, 1F, Seohae-gu, Incheon, South Korea / ⏰Hours: opens 10:30, closes 22:30, last order 21:30 / 🚗Parking: available in front of the restaurant⭕

It's located in the Cheongna 4-danji food alley, and if you're driving there's parking space right in front, so no need to worry about that.

Pork belly piled with kimchi, minari, and bean sprouts on a hot pot lid — I just can't resist this {{{(>_<)}}}

Friday night atmosphere at the restaurant

For a barbecue place, the interior is spotless, not a spot of grease anywhere. I visited on a Friday evening and there was a short wait, but a table opened up right away so I barely waited at all.

Last time I came baseball was on TV, and today it was on again.

Shredded green onion, kimchi, bean sprouts, onion, mushroom, minari — all the ingredients that go on top of the hot pot lid.

I loved that a cool dongchimi (radish water kimchi) came as a side dish.

Since it was Friday night, I started with a cool draft beer, then moved onto soju — the soju was ice cold too, with little slush crystals in it.

Menu and prices at Sammi-jip

The menu board at Sammi-jip, my favorite pork belly restaurant in Cheongna.

✔Kimchi pork belly ₩17,000 ✔Kimchi pork collar belly ₩18,000 ✔Kimchi whole pork belly ₩17,000 ✔Kimchi pork neck ₩18,000 ✔Hanwoo brisket point ₩19,000 ⭐(Lunch special) Hot pot lid kimchi jjigae ₩10,000 ⭐(Lunch special) Hot pot lid budae jjigae ₩11,000 ⭐(Lunch special) Hot pot lid duruchigi ₩11,000 ✔Minari pancake ₩9,000 ✔Potato cheese pancake ₩9,000 ✔Minari soy sauce egg rice ₩5,000 ✔Water cold noodles ₩8,000 ✔Spicy cold noodles ₩8,000 ✔Jjolmyeon ₩7,000 ✔Kimchi bibim noodles ₩7,000 ✔Spam and fried egg ₩8,000 ✔Fried rice ₩5,000 ✔Injeolmi ice cream ₩5,000

The lunch special menu and prices look great too, so I'd like to come back for lunch sometime :-)

Pork belly + pork neck, one serving each, on the hot pot lid

I ordered one serving each of pork belly and pork neck. The meat comes pre-seared, and the staff pile kimchi, bean sprouts, shredded green onion, minari, onion, and mushroom onto the hot pot lid, then add the meat on top.

The visuals are... seriously impressive... eating off a hot pot lid alone just doubles the flavor, doesn't it `(*>﹏<*)′ But Sammi-jip, my favorite pork belly restaurant in Cheongna, isn't just about looks — the taste is genuinely great too. There's a reason I came back this time!

That savory oil flavor coming off the thick-cut pork belly.

Pork neck over pork belly

The pork belly is delicious, but I recommend the pork neck even more! That slightly chewy texture and savory fat of the pork neck is genuinely amazing.

Wrapping up the kimchi and green onion salad, bean sprouts, and minari — all cooked in the pork fat — together in one bite is unreal; the kimchi here is genuinely delicious too. It's sour kimchi, which pairs so well with the meat.

Don't skip the kimchi jjigae

So I really want you to try the kimchi jjigae too. It has plenty of meat in it, so it's delicious.

The pork neck was so good I ordered an extra serving. I'm on a diet these days and meant to eat in moderation, but this pork neck was so good I couldn't stop. I wanted to order fried rice too, but I held myself back on that one. I ate so well at Sammi-jip, my favorite pork belly restaurant in Cheongna.