Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ date, burnt pork belly swapped for fresh: Cham

My partner and I were looking for a proper meat restaurant in Jongno, and we ended up at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점)! Honestly,, this place is a real,, real,, real,, hit,,!!! The meat quality is great, and they use a handmade grill that doesn't splatter oil, and the staff grill all the meat for you, so we ate comfortably and happily!!

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch: basic info

• Name: Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점)
• Address: 1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea (CGV Piccadilly building, 1st floor, Unit 1-89)
• Hours: Mon–Sat 12:00–23:30, Sun 12:00–22:30
• Closed: Open every day
• Parking: Not available
• Restroom: Unisex, inside the restaurant

Which Jongno 3-ga Station exit is closest to Cham Dwaejitgan?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is a 1–2 minute walk from Jongno 3-ga Station (Lines 1 and 3) Exit 2-1, on the first floor of the CGV building. When you come out of Exit 2-1, you can see the CGV building, right~?! It only takes about 1–2 minutes on foot from the exit~!

Don't go into the CGV building. Follow the red arrow on the left side of the CGV building and you'll see the Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch restaurant!

The sign is big, so it shouldn't be hard to find!

What is the weekend evening atmosphere at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch?

We visited around 7 PM on a weekend and it was really busy~! Maybe because it's Jongno, we saw lots of foreign tourists too! As soon as you walk in, you can see the meat that's being aged!!!

The restaurant has a "Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Promise to Our Customers" on the wall, and here's what it says.

• We use only top-grade natural charcoal.
• We use domestic dropwort and rice husks.
• We use top-grade Jirisan black pork and Boseong Nokdon pork.
• All side dishes and ingredients are cooked and prepared the same day (vegetable sides are unlimited refills, except dropwort).
• We use a special handmade grill that doesn't splatter oil.

Restroom and table extras

There's a restroom inside, so it's convenient~! It's unisex, but the lock works well so I felt at ease, and they even have hand soap, paper towels and hand cream~ so thoughtful! haha

I also loved the utensils in the table's built-in utensil box, wrapped in hygienic sleeves~! Kids' tableware, plastic bags for your clothes, after-meal candy, deodorizer, phone charging, dental floss, toothpicks, mouthwash and even hair ties, all ready! You can really feel how much they think about their guests!

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch menu and prices

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is a Jongno meat restaurant specializing in Jirisan black pork and Boseong Nokdon pork. All meat is priced per 150g, and Boseong Nokdon pork belly is the cheapest at ₩16,000.

Jirisan black pork

• Black pork 5-layer belly (150g) — ₩19,000
• Black pork neck (150g) — ₩18,000

Boseong Nokdon pork

• Boseong Nokdon pork belly (150g) — ₩16,000
• Boseong Nokdon flower neck (150g) — ₩16,000
• Boseong Nokdon cheonggyeopsal (pork jowl) (150g) — ₩19,000
• Boseong Nokdon gabrisal (pork rib cap) (150g) — ₩19,000

Sides, noodles and extras

• Kimchi stew — ₩8,000
• Doenjang (soybean paste) stew — ₩7,000
• Fried rice — ₩3,000
• Soy sauce egg rice — ₩3,900
• Steamed egg — ₩5,000
• Steamed rice — ₩1,000
• Jirisan kudzu cold noodles (mul-naengmyeon) — ₩8,000
• Jirisan kudzu spicy cold noodles (bibim-naengmyeon) — ₩7,000
• Dropwort — ₩5,000
• Potato slices — ₩2,000
• King oyster mushrooms — ₩2,000

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch table setup and sauces

The basic table setup at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch includes cabbage salad, garlic stems, lettuce, perilla leaves, scallion salad, kimchi, bean sprouts and dropwort! If you run out, you can grab more from the self-service bar (except dropwort). The self-service bar was kept really clean too~

The sauces were mushroom wasabi, fresh wasabi, spicy sauce, ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) and salt! I especially loved the mushroom wasabi~!

Boseong Nokdon pork belly for 2, grilled by staff: how was it?

The two of us ordered 2 servings of Boseong Nokdon pork belly (150g each). Once the meat arrives, the staff grill it all for you from the start!

Maybe because they use the special handmade no-splatter grill, there really wasn't much oil splatter! They say the meat is smoked with rice husks for extra flavor, and sure enough, unlike ordinary grilled meat, a light smoky aroma spreads in your mouth!

The charcoal aroma plus the smoky aroma really lifted the flavor of the meat 🔥

The meat itself is so good that it was delicious just dipped in salt! Crispy outside, moist inside, and the juices were still there~ And of course I wrapped it up in a lettuce wrap and ate it happily~(っ˘ڡ˘ς)

Cham Dwaejitgan's signature kick: the potato wrap

The signature kick of Cham Dwaejitgan!!! It's the potato wrap~! When you order meat, you get potato slices by default. Eat them with the meat + pickled garlic stem + shiitake wasabi,, and it's so nutty and delicious~!~!~! I really recommend trying it once!!

How were the Jirisan kudzu cold noodles and kimchi stew?

The Jirisan kudzu cold noodles (mul-naengmyeon, ₩8,000) had a refreshing broth and chewy noodles. I love cold noodles so much that I a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y order them at a meat restaurant, and the broth was so cold and the noodles so chewy that I gulped it down! hahaha

Eat meat, then cold noodles for a cool refresh, then back to the meat again!

The kimchi stew (₩8,000) I ordered to finish had well-fermented kimchi, so the broth tasted really deep and rich~~!!

The tofu is in really big chunks, and the other ingredients are generously packed in too, see~?~?? Even the finishing kimchi stew made the meal perfect!!

They also run a Naver receipt review event: write a review and you get either 1 can of a drink or fried rice as a freebie~!

Staff service at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch: the burnt meat swap

With so many customers, there are also plenty of staff, so service is quick, and best of all they grill the meat for you from start to finish, which I loved~!

There's one episode,,, We ordered 1 extra serving and the staff put the meat on the grill, but my partner and I were chatting so much that we weren't watching the meat. One side got a little burnt ㅠㅠ,,,! Right away, a staff member swapped it for fresh meat and grilled it even more deliciously,,!!

We should have watched the meat ourselves, so we felt a bit sorry 🥺 and we were so, so grateful for how quickly the staff swapped it! 🥹 From small things like this, I could feel their sense of responsibility and pride in serving customers the tastiest meat!

Ratings

• Taste: ★★★★★
• Freshness: ★★★★★
• Friendliness: ★★★★★
• Atmosphere: ★★★★☆
• Value for money: ★★★☆☆
• Would revisit: ★★★★★

Verdict: would I go back to Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch was a Jongno meat hotspot where I could really enjoy the flavor of the meat. Maybe because they use Jirisan black pork and Boseong Nokdon pork, the meat quality itself was great, and the charcoal under the grill and the rice husk smoke added a subtle charcoal aroma that made the meat taste deeper!!

The staff grilled for us so we could eat comfortably, and the sides like cold noodles and kimchi stew were good quality too, so we enjoyed the meal to the very end. Next time I want to try the fried rice! The table next to us was eating it and it looked so good~ haha

I think it would suit a Jonggak Station company dinner, a Jongno date course or a group gathering too. It was so delicious that I want to tell everyone around me about this Jongno 3-ga Station pork belly hotspot~!