Korean BBQ near Jangji Station in Seoul: pork belly at Insaengdwaeji

My husband, usually gentle as a bunny, is on strike these days. A dinner strike!!

He used to get off work an hour before me and sweetly cook dinner every night, but ever since we moved to Songpa with all its infrastructure, he says he just doesn't feel like cooking anymore! Haha.

And he's been begging me to go check out restaurants around the neighborhood, so today I said okay right away — today's restaurant! I'd been to another branch before, but this one is apparently the flagship in Songpa? Couldn't resist that, so right after work we headed straight to this Songpa pork belly spot… here's my honest review of Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch (인생돼지 송파본점)!

How to find Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch from Jangji Station, plus parking and weeknight booking

Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch is about a 10-minute walk from Jangji Station Exit 4! It's on the basement floor of Songpa Prugio City, and they even offer 3 hours of free parking!!

We came on a weeknight at 7:30pm, and the place was already packed… good thing I'd booked ahead through Naver Reservations, because ours was the only table left!! I heard this is considered one of Seoul's top three BBQ spots… seeing all those autographs on the wall, I could tell right away this pork belly place in Songpa was the real deal, haha.

Hours, reservations and parking at a glance

• Open daily 16:00–23:00
• 3 hours of free parking in the building's basement!
• Reservations available via Naver and Catch Table
• Group reservations possible
• Free bonus steamed egg dish (gyeranjjim) with a receipt review!

Side dishes, what we ordered and what it cost

Our table was already neatly set since we'd booked ahead!!

For banchan (side dishes) they gave us kimchi, garlic, bean sprouts, seasoned onion, shredded scallions, pickled radish, and a whole plate of lettuce wraps! Each one was crisp and fresh — really good!!

The menu at Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch!! Just looking at the tables around us — front and side — the meat looked so good my mouth was already watering… Since it's famous as a pork belly place in Songpa, I agonized a bit before deciding to try something more special, so we ordered ogyeopsal (five-layer pork belly) and tongmokssal (whole pork neck)!

Here's what we ordered: two servings of ogyeopsal at ₩17,000 each / one serving of tongmokssal at ₩17,000 / doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) with rice for ₩5,000 / one bottle of beer for ₩5,000

After a short wait, they set us up with charcoal and thick cuts of meat!! Even looking back at the photos now — that color… it looked so fresh, and the thickness alone promised it'd be delicious. I was seriously starving by this point, haha.

Meat calls for beer, right? We ordered a bottle of Terra and toasted with my husband! Cheers! I've been craving beer so much lately, it's a problem, haha.

I always eat my meat with shredded scallions and onions, and the scallions were tangy and sweet — really woke up my appetite, haha.

Tongmoksal grilled by the staff: how thick is the pork neck?

One of the best things about Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch!! The staff grill all the meat for you!! With serious pro energy, they started grilling the pork neck to perfection first!!

Flipping it over and over with quick, precise moves, the color turned mouthwatering in no time!! They handed us one piece to eat right away… that thickness, that almost caramelized surface… amazing!!!! T_T Dipped it fully in the house sauce and took a big bite… wow, this meat was seriously so good!? With a cut that thick you'd expect it to be a bit dry or tough, but the juices were locked right in — chewy texture, savoriness and tenderness that kept building the more we chewed 😭 We both just stared wide-eyed and inhaled it, haha.

Leave a receipt review, get a free bomb-sized steamed egg

While we were busy scarfing everything down, the owner brought us a bonus gyeranjjim (steamed egg) as a service!! Soft and fluffy, with what almost felt like a cheese-like coating on the outside, a rich egg yolk flavor, and a moist broth — this was a real treat too!! It arrived steaming hot, so we blew on it and ate it up happily! If you come to Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch, you basically have to leave a receipt review — no question.

How does the ogyeopsal taste? Crisp outside, juicy inside, never greasy

While we were eating the egg dish, the staff member professionally grilled and cut the ogyeopsal (pork belly) for us too, haha. Honestly, I love pork belly, but it's usually just expensive without being that tasty, so I ordered it with a mix of worry and hope! But after being blown away by the pork neck, my trust shot up and I was practically drooling waiting for it to finish grilling, haha.

Can you see it? That pro-level handwork. In person, the pork belly and pork neck looked even more delicious!! I think it's true what they say — once you come here, you keep thinking about it.

They gave us a well-grilled piece of pork belly — I tried one bite dipped only in salt to taste the pure flavor! And another wrapped with my favorite combo, onion and shredded scallion. Haha, wow, seriously, the pork belly here is insane. Crisp outside, tender inside, exactly as it should be. The outside was crispy, the meat itself was chewy yet tender with juices flowing out!!! And the fatty part of the pork belly wasn't greasy at all — just a springy texture that stayed — so both the flavor and texture of the meat exceeded what I expected. Genuinely…

By then they'd finished grilling everything and set it neatly off to the side! They also threw kimchi and garlic onto the grill at the same time, and eating them together with the meat on top gave a whole different appeal — like it reset your palate completely, haha. We could've eaten several more plates!!!

Ah, seriously so good. We couldn't help ourselves and ordered one more serving of ogyeopsal!! Seriously so delicious, phew. There were already a lot of customers, but I wished even more people knew about this place… The service was great and the owner was so kind, I found myself saying I hope the place keeps thriving, haha.

Ending the meal with doenjang jjigae and a bowl of rice

Dessert has to be doenjang jjigae, right? We ordered doenjang jjigae with rice to close things out. The stew was packed with tofu, and it had exactly the classic soybean-paste-stew flavor you'd want at a Korean BBQ place! Eating it alongside a piece of meat was such a great combo.

And here's the second round, all set up looking delicious~!

Since I'm supposed to be dieting, I gave my husband more rice and only had a little myself, haha. A spoonful with a piece of meat, scallions, sauce, and rice all piled on together — pure heaven!! We kept going 'wow, wow' together saying how good it was, and we scraped every last bit of our dinner tonight…!

Among all the Munjeong, Jangji, and Songpa restaurants we've been exploring as a couple, the quality and taste of the meat here was easily the best! Thanks to the kind owner, our whole dinner date felt great from start to finish! That was my honest and very satisfied review of Insaengdwaeji Songpa Branch!

The owner was so kind, and the freshness and thickness of the meat plus the tableside grilling service were all excellent! Officially recognized as a top Korean BBQ restaurant in Songpa.