Hongdae Korean BBQ: flower pork neck beats pork belly at Gogi Salon

The last stop of our Hongdae day: dinner at Gogi Salon

Gogi Salon (고기살롱) is a Korean BBQ restaurant near Hongik Univ. Station. We'd wandered around Hongdae all day, and this was our final dinner stop. The last item on today's schedule: dinner!

It was also the last sponsored visit of the day. Hahaha. We'd just come from a comic book café where we'd even eaten ramyeon, so we weren't actually that hungry, but dinner is dinner! We decided to finish the day with a good meal.

The big Gogi Salon sign caught our eye from outside. The black exterior with yellow lighting really stood out at night. If you're looking for a BBQ place near Hongik Univ. Station, keep the location in mind.

Is the inside of Gogi Salon spacious?

The space was roomier than I expected. The interior mixes black and wood tones, every table has its own ventilation, and the whole place felt clean.

There were plenty of tables too, so it looked fine for a meal with friends or a bigger group.

The signature dish is flower pork neck

Opening the menu, the first thing I noticed was the flower pork neck (kkotmoksal, 꽃목살). It's included in the set menus too.

Flower pork neck must be the signature dish here. But my husband is a die-hard pork belly guy. Hahaha. Since we'd come all this way, I wanted to try the signature dish, while he wanted his usual pork belly.

It looks like the flower pork neck is the main dish here. Shouldn't we try it?

That's what I told him, but he had no intention of giving up pork belly. Hahaha. So in the end we compromised.

2 servings of flower pork neck + 1 of pork belly: ₩48,000

According to the menu, flower pork neck at Gogi Salon is ₩16,000 for 160g, and pork belly is also ₩16,000 for 160g. Our three servings of meat came to ₩48,000 in total.

There were also sets where you can choose janchi guksu (banquet noodles) or bibim guksu (spicy mixed noodles). Normally we'd have ordered a set... but we'd just eaten ramyeon at the comic book café. Hahaha. Seriously, if we hadn't eaten all that ramyeon, we'd have had the noodles too! Sadly, we skipped the set menu that day.

Salt, wasabi and whole-grain mustard too!

The table had salt, wasabi and whole-grain mustard (ssigyeoja). I love this kind of thing, because everyone can take as much as they want.

I like both salt and wasabi with meat, and with mustard too, I figured mixing and matching would be fun. I actually portioned out what I needed ahead of time. I prefer this to dipping meat in just one sauce. Hahaha.

What does the flower pork neck look like?

The flower pork neck and pork belly came together on one big plate, along with potatoes and mushrooms. I was already happy about the potatoes. I really love it when a BBQ place grills potatoes too. Hahaha.

And true to its name, the flower pork neck was spread out like a flower. Is that why it's called that? I don't know the exact origin of the name, but it looked pretty appetizing. The pork neck was thick, and the pork belly came as one big chunk. Seeing the meat, it finally felt like a proper dinner. Hahaha.

Do the staff grill the meat at Gogi Salon?

Yes, at Gogi Salon the staff grilled the meat for us from start to finish. Once the grill heated up, they carefully wiped it down with a piece of pork fat first.

Then they put the meat on and grilled it for us the whole time. This is so nice. Hahaha. At a BBQ place, someone usually has to keep flipping and cutting the meat, but at Gogi Salon we could just sit back while it was being grilled.

Watching the thick meat cook on the grill made me want to dig in right away. The potatoes were cooking alongside. Why am I as happy about potatoes as I am about the meat? Hahaha.

The meat slowly turned golden and appetizing. Meat really is fun from the grilling stage. And not having to grill it ourselves made it even better. Hahaha.

Even my pork belly–loving husband admitted the flower pork neck was better

We ate the grilled flower pork neck and pork belly dipped in salt, topped with wasabi, and with whole-grain mustard. The meat itself was tasty, but switching up the sauce combinations was fun too.

And now, the important part! My husband, who hadn't wanted to order the flower pork neck at first, said something after finishing the meat.

The pork neck really is good here.

Hahahaha. He even said the pork neck was better than the pork belly. He said it might be the first time he's ever enjoyed pork neck more than pork belly at a BBQ place. Wait, who was it that said they didn't want the flower pork neck earlier? Hahaha.

Of course, the pork belly was good too, but the flower pork neck was what stayed with us that day. There must be a reason it stood out on the menu. Hahaha.

Side dishes at Gogi Salon: fresh lettuce and spicy marinated crab

At Gogi Salon, lettuce, salad, spicy marinated crab (yangnyeom gejang), chili peppers and seasoned side dishes came with the meal. The lettuce was clean, which I liked. The condition of the wraps vegetables is something I quietly care about when eating meat, and this lettuce was fresh and tidy. The salad was a nice thing to have between bites of meat too.

And they give you crab! Marinated crab! Hahaha. Spicy marinated crab as a side dish at a BBQ place? As someone who loves marinated crab, I was just delighted. Hahaha.

Chili peppers and seasoned side dishes were there too. Alternating between salt, wasabi and mustard, then making lettuce wraps, gave me lots of combinations. I prefer eating with lots of add-ons like this rather than just one way. Hahaha.

So much tofu in the doenjang stew?

The doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) at Gogi Salon had a huge amount of tofu. A BBQ meal feels incomplete without doenjang jjigae. Hahaha. But I was a little surprised after one spoonful here.

I don't think I've ever seen a place put this much tofu in doenjang jjigae! Hahaha. Every time I scooped, more tofu came up. I like tofu in my doenjang jjigae, so I liked it even more. A spoonful of warm stew in between bites of meat was just right.

Another successful last meal in Hongdae!

Apart from missing out on the noodle set, dinner at Gogi Salon was plenty satisfying with just the flower pork neck and pork belly. We'd eaten ramyeon earlier in the day and weren't very hungry, so not getting the set with noodles was a little disappointing, but the two kinds of meat alone made for a satisfying dinner.

Above all, it was comfortable having the staff grill the meat from start to finish, and I liked getting potatoes and mushrooms too. The marinated crab side dish was a welcome surprise, and the generous tofu in the doenjang jjigae stuck with me as well.

And the fact that my pork belly–loving husband admitted the flower pork neck was good! Hahahaha. That was probably the most memorable moment of the day at Gogi Salon. If you're looking for a good BBQ place near Hongik Univ. Station, try the flower pork neck at Gogi Salon. It's the dish that changed the mind of the pork belly fan in our house. Hahaha.