# Seoul Korean BBQ restaurant with window seats: Chowon Salt Grill - By Narae Cho (https://superchart.com/en/@seochon-warm-jangban/) - Written Sep 16, 2026 - Local places › Restaurants › Songpa, Seoul - Sponsored: This post was written based on a sponsored store visit. - English edition: https://superchart.com/en/@seochon-warm-jangban/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/ - Also in: [한국어](https://superchart.com/ko/@seochon-warm-jangban/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/index.md) ## In short Chowon Salt Grill (초원소금구이) is an outdoor-grill beef BBQ restaurant in a side alley of the Bangi-dong restaurant street in Songpa, Seoul. Arriving at 6:20pm on a weekday meant 3 groups already waiting, so putting your name down in advance on Catch Table helps; a lucky window seat came with a beef brisket and scallop samhap (three-way grilled combo), brisket doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) and kimchi fried rice. The meat and seafood at Chowon Salt Grill were good, but the cool, fully ripened kimchi was the most memorable part. ## Good to know - **Location**: 37 Olympic-ro 32-gil, 1st floor, Songpa-gu, Seoul - **Hours**: Fri–Sat 16:00–01:00, all other days 16:00–24:00 - **Parking**: No parking available - **Reservations and waiting**: Reservations and advance waitlist via Catch Table - **Wait on arrival**: 3 groups waiting at 6:20pm on a weekday - **Ordered**: Samhap combo, doenjang jjigae (includes 1 rice), fried rice *as written by the visitor on Sep 16, 2026* ## Where is Chowon Salt Grill, and what are the hours? Chowon Salt Grill is an outdoor-grill beef BBQ restaurant on the 1st floor of 37 Olympic-ro 32-gil, in Bangi-dong's restaurant alley, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It's open Friday and Saturday 16:00–01:00, and other days 16:00–24:00. No parking available. Chowon Salt Grill 📍 Location: 1st floor, 37 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu 🕐 Hours Fri, Sat 16:00 - 01:00 Other days 16:00 - 24:00 🚙 Parking: Not available ![Exterior of Chowon Salt Grill in Bangi-dong's restaurant alley](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-01-jdfw0-900.webp) ![Entrance to Chowon Salt Grill seen from the alley](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-02-1jcds-m-900.webp) Really... first of all........... highly recommend........ Turn slightly left off Bangi-dong's main alley and Chowon Salt Grill appears right away. I honestly didn't have huge expectations, but even arriving at 6:30pm on a weekday there was already a wait, so I figured it had built up quite a reputation! ## What the outdoor seating feels like on a weekday evening Chowon Salt Grill keeps its whole hall open and runs like an outdoor barbecue spot, so on a nice weekday evening, tables kept filling up with a mix of people fresh off work and couples on dates. The weather's been so nice lately that they had the whole hall open, and it really felt like an outdoor barbecue night! Grilling meat and eating outside in weather like this — how good does that feel? Since it was a weekday, there were lots of people who came straight from work and lots of couples on dates too, and honestly the waiting line just kept getting longer and longer. ![Outdoor-grill atmosphere with the hall fully open at Chowon Salt Grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-03-1rwbl-m-900.webp) ![Outdoor tables filled with weekday evening customers](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-04-1daaa-m-900.webp) This right here is outdoor-grill romance! ![Evening view of the outdoor-grill scene in Bangi-dong's restaurant alley](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-05-9qkez-900.webp) ![View of the open hall and grill tables](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-06-t4ctt-900.webp) ![Full view of the outdoor seating at Chowon Salt Grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-07-goik7-m-900.webp) ### How long is the wait, and how to book on Catch Table We got there around 6:20pm, and there were already 3 groups waiting! You can reserve through Catch Table, so I'd recommend checking the wait beforehand and joining the pre-waitlist before you go ♥ ![Storefront view while waiting for a table](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-08-1simk-900.webp) Yesss, great seat too! Right by the window! ![Window seat at Chowon Salt Grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-09-14xad-900.webp) ![View of the alley from the window seat](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-10-ym31q-m-900.webp) ## Ordering the samhap combo and brisket doenjang jjigae We ordered Chowon Salt Grill's famous samhap (three-way combo) and added a doenjang soup (soybean paste stew). The soup comes with one bowl of rice. Since the samhap is the famous item, of course we ordered that. And added a doenjang stew! ![Menu board at Chowon Salt Grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-11-vtqvb-900.webp) ![Menu listing the samhap combo and doenjang soup](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-12-vguyx-900.webp) The owner is dead serious about eating things the right way hahahahahaha — there were notes all over the tables and walls explaining how to eat it properly (but honestly, eating it that way really is the tastiest). ![Instructions on the table for how to eat the food properly](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-13-kldet-m-900.webp) ![Wall instructions on the order for eating the samhap combo](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-14-1yyz2-900.webp) ![Simple side dishes served at the table](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-15-136qp-900.webp) The side dishes are kept simple. The main dish is what matters. The doenjang soup comes with a bowl of rice! Brisket doenjang stews often skimp on the actual brisket, but this one was packed full, and these days portions of rice tend to be small too...(?)... but they gave a huge scoop, like at your grandma's house! ### How good are the beef and scallops in the samhap? The samhap arrives. Honestly, combo-style menu items usually drop in quality compared to ordering things separately, but the meat quality here was still excellent. I was a bit worried about the seafood too since it's summer, but it was so fresh. ![Samhap platter with brisket and scallops](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-16-datj4-900.webp) ![Seafood served alongside the samhap](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-17-1npk3-900.webp) Ah, I want to eat it again already............. ![Brisket on the grill](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-18-pkseo-1200.webp) Isn't the meat quality great? (How can you tell from just a photo, you ask) ## The kimchi at Chowon Salt Grill stole the meal And honestly, the kimchi here is insane. They could run a business just selling kimchi. Actually, just sell it to me directly. It's so vivid and sour — should I call it sour kimchi?... it's really tangy. You'd think well-aged kimchi (mukeunji) would get a bit mushy when it's really aged, but this stayed so fresh. Like this, one bite of the samhap, ahh! Keep grilling, keep eating ![Continuing to grill meat alongside kimchi](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-19-nueme-m-900.webp) So much outdoor-grill vibe~ feeling good~ weather's so good~ ![Evening barbecue scene from the outdoor seating](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-20-1kiba-900.webp) ### Best way to eat the brisket and specialty cuts All the beef besides the brisket was great too! It was just labeled 'specialty cut' so I don't know the exact cut, but everything melted in the mouth. When eating it in the samhap style, brisket is the tastiest option, and for the other cuts I'd recommend dipping them in the salt sauce. ![Specialty cut beef dipped in salt sauce](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-21-vmpgg-900.webp) ![Close-up of the grilled specialty cut](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-22-8o7jb-900.webp) ## Finishing with kimchi fried rice We finished with fried rice! We were genuinely full, but the reason we still ordered fried rice was, again, the kimchi. It was so good that we were 100% sure the fried rice made with it would be delicious too, and sure enough... insanely good.... ![Kimchi fried rice ordered to finish the meal](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-23-19uj6-m-900.webp) And on top of that, we piled on more kimchi too ㅠ Seriously, just sell me the kimchi. ![Completely emptied bowl of fried rice](https://img.superchart.com/images/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting-24-a0nrw-900.webp) We finished with a completely empty bowl,... and today, once again, I became a chubby little pig... ## Where it is - Chowon Salt Grill (초원소금구이) - 37 Olympic-ro 32-gil, 1st floor, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea - 서울특별시 송파구 올림픽로32길 37 1층 - 37.5130703, 127.1105328 - Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/search/%EC%B4%88%EC%9B%90%EC%86%8C%EA%B8%88%EA%B5%AC%EC%9D%B4/@37.5130703,127.1105328,17z --- Superchart · https://superchart.com/en/@seochon-warm-jangban/chowon-sogeumgui-bangi-yajang-waiting/ · https://superchart.com/llms.txt