Sejong BBQ with self-serve veggie bar: Yachae Hanssam Daepae

Thick, juicy meat is great, but personally I prefer thin cuts that aren't too heavy and cook fast 😌 I was craving daepae samgyeopsal (thin-cut pork belly) again after a while, so I visited a Sejong Sanul-dong favorite: Yachae Hanssam Daepae.

Daepae samgyeopsal is thin, so it cooks fast and you can grill it up right when you want to eat. This time I went to Yachae Hanssam Daepae, known for letting you pair the meat with all kinds of vegetables and wraps.

Finding Yachae Hanssam Daepae: location and parking

Yachae Hanssam Daepae is located at 1st floor, G-103, Geunsaeng G Building, 11 Sanul 7-ro, Sejong. But… even the parking lot was a bit confusing. After parking, I had trouble finding the actual storefront since it was my first visit 🥲 The commercial building was split into more sections than I expected, so I wandered around for a bit before finally finding my way in. If you're visiting for the first time, I'd definitely recommend checking the exact location beforehand.

Daepae samgyeopsal with all kinds of vegetables

True to its name, Yachae Hanssam Daepae is a place where you can enjoy daepae samgyeopsal with a wide variety of vegetables and wraps.

Once we sat down, there was a kiosk right at the table, so we could order comfortably from our seats. We started by ordering three servings of daepae samgyeopsal.

One interesting thing: even though we ordered daepae samgyeopsal, it doesn't come as just pork belly — it arrives as a mix of three cuts (pork belly, pork neck, and pork jowl). It was nice being able to try several different cuts at once.

Grab a steel basket at the self-serve veggie bar

After ordering, they brought over the basic side dishes along with a steel basket. The system was: take this basket to the self-serve bar and fill it up with whatever vegetables you want.

The self-serve bar had way more variety than I expected.

There were all kinds of wrap vegetables, plus mushrooms, sweet pumpkin, bean sprouts, bracken fern, kimchi, garlic, garlic scapes, and water dropwort. It was nice being able to take as much as I wanted, and you could also grab extra sauce from the bar yourself. Eating a variety of vegetables alongside the meat definitely made it feel less greasy.

There was also a chef's soup of the day, which happened to be doenjang soup (soybean paste soup) that day. We were planning to order doenjang jjigae separately, so we skipped the soup.

Even steamed egg comes free

After gathering vegetables from the self-serve bar and heading back to our table, there was already steamed egg waiting for us.

Free steamed egg, no less,,! Loved it 🥹

There were about six basic side dishes too, and every single one looked appetizing, pairing well with the meat.

Digging into the daepae samgyeopsal

Our three servings of daepae samgyeopsal arrived, so it was time to actually start grilling.

Maybe because it had been a while since I'd had meat, I was oddly excited from the moment I started grilling.

Daepae samgyeopsal is great because it cooks so fast. Thick cuts need a bit of grilling time, but with daepae, you can eat it just moments after putting it on the grill.

I picked up a freshly cooked piece of daepae and loaded it onto a wrap vegetable with various toppings. The meat was fairly fresh, and I liked being able to pick from a variety of vegetables to wrap it with.

We also grilled bean sprouts and kimchi on one side of the grill pan, and honestly, do I even need to say it — delicious. I always like to grill mushrooms when I'm eating meat, and since the self-serve bar had mushrooms, I grilled those too.

Instead of just eating meat nonstop, mixing in mushrooms, bean sprouts, and kimchi let us enjoy the meal in a lot more ways.

Doenjang jjigae and rice are a must

After eating meat for a while, I started craving rice, so we ordered doenjang jjigae and a bowl of steamed rice.

The doenjang jjigae was ₩3,000 and came packed with a good amount of ingredients.

The broth was fairly rich too, so one spoonful and I was immediately craving rice. When you're eating meat, it can get a little greasy at times, and that's exactly when a spoonful of doenjang jjigae with rice hits the spot.

With meat, doenjang jjigae, and rice all together, it finally felt like a proper meal.

Finishing it off with fried rice

But it would've been a shame to stop there. They chopped up the last few pieces of meat along with the grilled kimchi and vegetables into small pieces.

Then they added the steamed rice and fried it all together with the leftover meat and vegetables. I tasted it and felt it needed a little something, so I added a bit of ssamjang (dipping sauce), and the seasoning came out just right.

Finishing off the meat with fried rice made for a very satisfying end to the meal. A meat restaurant just isn't complete without fried rice!

Final thoughts on Yachae Hanssam Daepae in Sejong's Sanul-dong

I visited craving daepae samgyeopsal after a while, and I was happy to find more ways to enjoy the meat than I expected. I liked that the daepae samgyeopsal came mixed with pork belly, pork neck, and pork jowl, and I really appreciated being able to grab a variety of vegetables and wraps from the self-serve bar.

Beyond wrap vegetables, there were bean sprouts, bracken fern, water dropwort, mushrooms, sweet pumpkin, and kimchi, so it was fun grilling different things alongside the meat. Eating meat nonstop can get a bit greasy, but having vegetables alongside made the whole meal much easier to enjoy.

If you're like me and prefer thin, fast-cooking daepae samgyeopsal over thick cuts, I think you'll really like this place.

I'd especially recommend it to anyone who wants to eat daepae samgyeopsal with a variety of wraps and vegetables, or anyone who enjoys pairing meat with all kinds of sides.

We finished everything neatly from daepae samgyeopsal to doenjang jjigae, rice, and even fried rice at the end.

That was my review of Yachae Hanssam Daepae, a Sejong Sanul-dong favorite, made even more delicious by how long it had been since my last daepae samgyeopsal ☺️