Newly opened Ulsan BBQ restaurant with 10am weekday lunch: Daewol

I visited Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant. It's only just opened but word has already spread among meat lovers.

Where is Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, and where do you park?

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant, sits right next to Good Morning Hospital in Dal-dong. Park at Truparking next to the GS25 and you get 3 hours free. If you arrive a bit early, you can also find a spot in the surrounding alleys.

Opening hours and the pork: weekdays from 10am, Jirye pork from Gimcheon

Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant, runs different hours on weekdays and weekends. On Fridays and Saturdays it's open from 4pm to 10pm, while on weekdays (Monday through Thursday) it opens at 10am and runs until 10pm. It's closed every Sunday, so keep that in mind when planning a visit.

This is a barbecue restaurant that trims meat daily, sourced from Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang, and grills it over charcoal. The tasty domestic pork comes from Jirye, Gimcheon. There's also Korean beef saeng-galbi (unmarinated short rib) and chadolbagi (thinly sliced brisket). Special cuts can be reserved in advance.

Inside Daewol: weekday lunch service and well-spaced tables

Since lunch is served on weekdays, there's a big sign out front announcing lunch service. Even at the entrance, a faint charcoal aroma drifts out and gets your appetite going — this is Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant.

As you'd expect from a brand-new spot, the interior is clean and the tables are spaced generously apart, giving it a tidy atmosphere. The menu board, pasted up with an old-school touch, is a nice detail.

The menu at Daewol: pork, beef and the mixed grill order

The menu splits into pork and beef. There's black pork ogeopsal (pork belly) and neck meat, along with marinated ribs and galmaegisal (skirt meat). They also offer a mixed grill so you can taste a little of everything, so we ordered the mixed grill for our table. You can also try Korean beef galbisal (rib meat) and chadolbagi (brisket) here. This is Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant.

On the side, they've got all the barbecue restaurant staples — steamed egg, skewers, sul-bap (rice), ramen, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), naengmyeon (cold noodles), and more. The old-school menu board, casually taped up with masking tape, adds a fun interior touch. This is Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant.

What comes with the meat: wrap greens, scallion salad and meljeot with chili

We had a reservation, so our table was already set up when we arrived. Once seated, we were given wrap greens, scallion salad, pickles, and vegetables, making for a fresh, clean spread. It's a pretty ordinary setup for charcoal-grilled pork, so I was curious what would make it stand out.

There's a note telling you to dip the meat in meljeot (fermented anchovy sauce) with a bit of chili — apparently it's delicious that way.

The wrap greens were fresh, and they'd thoughtfully prepared a house-made sauce that brings out the flavor of the meat, along with salt, wasabi, garlic, and ssamjang (dipping paste). The myeongi namul (mountain leek greens) and scallion salad were also tasty.

Prices are easy enough to justify coming back every three days, and this is a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant you might just crave every three days. I liked the sign proudly stuck on the wall about it. And now, on to how the meat actually tastes.

How the meat tastes: fresh color and open charcoal flame

First off, the color of the meat is excellent. To get meat looking that good, the aging and storage conditions must be top notch. There's bound to be a fair amount of trim loss along the way, so it's impressive they can offer it at such a reasonable price.

Once it hits the grill, the color really pops. The skewers they served alongside, lined up cutely with vegetables, sausage, and mushrooms, were a nice touch. Grilled over strong charcoal heat, the outside turns golden while the inside stays juicy and tender.

While the meat was cooking, they brought out silkworm pupa soup. The salty broth brought back a nostalgic taste.

It was well seasoned with a nice spicy kick, and wrapping it up with the meat actually helped tenderize it, giving it an appealing character — that was the silkworm pupa soup. There's a running rule of thumb whenever eating barbecue.

The first bite goes with a light dip of salt, then after that you can mix and match with the scallion salad, garlic, wasabi, and ssamjang to your taste. You really feel the flavor of direct charcoal grilling here — good meat, quality domestic pork sourced from Jirye, Gimcheon.

Final verdict on Daewol Charcoal Barbecue: a spotless new room and real smoke

The facilities, tableware, and overall cleanliness show off the advantages of a freshly opened restaurant. I was very satisfied with the charcoal flavor and juiciness of the meat itself. Parking and accessibility were also good, making for an experience with nothing to complain about. Daewol Charcoal Barbecue, a Dal-dong, Ulsan BBQ restaurant, felt like the textbook definition of good Korean BBQ.