Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ brunch, raw egg fried rice: Cham Dwaejitgan

When you crave good pork: Jongno 3-ga Station's Korean BBQ favorite, "Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch"

I finally set up a pork belly brunch with a friend. We were meeting around Jongno, and while hunting for a good Korean BBQ place I found Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점) near Jongno 3-ga Station. The staff were friendly and they grill all the meat for you, so I was very happy with it. Here's my review!

Where is Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, and what are its hours?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is just one alley turn from Exit 2 of Jongno 3-ga Station, and it is open daily from 12:00 to 23:00.

It's very close to Jongno 3-ga Station. You come out of Exit 2, turn into the alley and you're there, so access is great.

When I opened the door, the entrance was packed with super fresh-looking Korean pork and black pork..🥩 The place is quite spacious. The tables are big and everything feels pleasant, so I was in a good mood even before the meal really started~~

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch menu and prices: what did we order?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch serves only Boseong Nokdon (Boseong green-feed pork) and black pork. That day we had 2 servings of pork belly (150g, ₩16,000), 1 serving of gabrisal (pork neck, 150g, ₩19,000) and 1 serving of fried rice (₩3,000).

Since they only use Boseong Nokdon and black pork, I trusted the meat quality even more!

• Pork belly (chamsamgyeopsal), 150g per serving, ₩16,000 × 2 servings
• Gabrisal (pork neck), 150g per serving, ₩19,000 × 1 extra serving
• Fried rice, 1 serving, ₩3,000

I agonized over the menu, but since it was our first visit we went with the pork belly, which seemed to be the signature dish. Let's goooo

Every table has a utensil box with neatly wrapped spoon-and-chopstick sets, so it feels very clean.

Do they grill the meat for you at Cham Dwaejitgan?

Yes. At Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, once you order, the staff do everything from putting the minari (water dropwort), kimchi and bean sprouts on the grill to cooking the meat. You just sit there ㅠㅠ so easy.

They bring sauces in varieties matched to the number of people, and the basic side dishes are very generous too!

Here comes the Boseong Nokdon pork belly *_* It comes with vegetables for grilling, and especially the sliced giant potato: once cooked, you eat it as a potato wrap with the meat. I'd never seen a potato wrap before, so it was fascinating haha.

The meat looked so good that my expectations soared before I even tasted it.

Then they started grilling, and the heat was strong so the meat cooked in no time!

When I go to a BBQ place with friends, I often can't focus on the conversation because I'm busy grilling. Here they grill every piece, so it was really so comfortable..♥ The atmosphere is clean and they grill for you, so it would be a good place to bring your parents too!

Once the meat is cooked to a degree, they move it to the side grill like this. They also roast the potato wrap once in the meat fat.

How the pork belly tastes and the best ways to eat it

At Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, the Boseong Nokdon pork belly was best dipped in grilled kimchi or salt, or with wasabi on top of the salt, which brought out the real flavor of pork belly. The potato wrap with shiitake wasabi and pickles was a treat too.

A well-grilled piece of pork belly dipped in grilled kimchi or salt ㅠㅠㅠㅠ is seriously delicious... Put wasabi on the salt like this and you get the full, original taste of pork belly.

It was so juicy and delicious ㅠㅠ and it's a perfect match with grilled kimchi too.

With the side scallion salad and lettuce wraps, it just went down so easily.

Wrapping the meat in grilled potato was a huge treat too!!! I never expected grilled potato and pork to go so well together haha. Eating it with the shiitake wasabi and pickles as the guide suggests made it even better.

Extra gabrisal: how is it different from pork belly?

After 2 servings of pork belly, I was curious about another cut and added 1 serving of gabrisal (₩19,000). It's thick, and the gabrisal at Cham Dwaejitgan had a different charm from the pork belly.

Honestly we were already getting full by then haha, but it was so good that we ordered one more serving of meat. While eating the pork belly I got curious about other cuts, so one extra serving of gabrisal, let's go!

The staff grill and cut the gabrisal too, and it's thick, with a different charm from pork belly ㅠㅠ I enjoyed this one with the potato wrap as well.

The finishing fried rice is made with a raw egg

The fried rice at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is ₩3,000 per serving, and even one serving was enough for two people to share and get full. The staff stir-fry the rice, make a space in the middle and crack in a raw egg.

After finishing the meat comes the last must-have course, none other than fried rice. One serving was quite big, enough for the two of us to share and get full!

After frying the rice, they make a space at the end and crack a raw egg in like this. What a thoughtful touch haha!

They told us it's even better mixed with the leftover kimchi and bean sprouts, so we chopped it all up and mixed it in!

Once the egg was partly cooked, I scrambled it and fried it with the rice, and it was truly fantastic... It's real BBQ-restaurant fried rice, cooked on the iron plate in meat fat, so I really recommend getting it ㅠㅠ

Self-serve bar and events

You can help yourself to extra side dishes at the self-serve bar. The sides were all tasty, so I went back for a refill once haha.

They also run a Naver receipt review event, and a Memorial Day event was on right then, so if you have friends in the military, don't miss it and drop by!!!

Who should go to Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch?

Staff grill all the meat and the place is spacious and pleasant, so Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch works for dates, family meals, group gatherings and more! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for good Korean BBQ near Jongno 3-ga Station ♥