Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ, 5-layer black pork belly & dropwort: Cham

Today I'm introducing a pork belly place in Jongno 3-ga! It's called Cham Dwaejitgan (참돼짓간), a specialist in rice-husk-smoked, charcoal-grilled meat, where you can try Grade 1 domestic pork. To tell you the result up front... it was the best meat I've had lately, in both quality and taste, so I just couldn't not share it. Now let me walk you through every corner of Cham Dwaejitgan!

Where is Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch and when is it open?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is on the 1st floor of Picadilly CGV at 1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and it's open daily from 12:00 to 23:00. There's no parking, the restrooms are separated by gender, and they say high-oil-price relief support funds can be used here.

It's right there, just a short walk from Exit 2-1 of Jongno 3-ga Station. With a subway station so close, it was easy to get to. The black metal exterior with the red and gold sign catches your eye immediately. Menu boards and drink ads line up in front of the entrance, so I was already getting excited before going in, haha. The place also looked quite a bit bigger than I expected, which raised my hopes 🔥

Evening atmosphere and the 0-won services

We arrived in the evening and it was already bustling. So many people, right? The inside is spacious with lots of tables, so it looks like a good spot for a company dinner too!

This is the "0-won service!" sign that caught my eye as soon as we walked in! They offer a whole range of free extras: children's tableware, candy to freshen your mouth, disposable aprons, plastic bags for your clothes, Wi-Fi, floss and toothpicks, deodorizer, chargers (USB-C / 5-pin / 8-pin), and even hair ties. Such thoughtful touches made a great first impression 😊

Wow, this part really overwhelmed me ( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ ) There's a big glass-door fridge inside the restaurant, packed with thick cuts of meat under purple lighting. Seeing it with my own eyes gave me instant trust in the freshness. An open fridge like this really sets the mood for a meat restaurant!

Table setup and the 6 sauces

Each table at Cham Dwaejitgan comes set with a direct-fire grill, vegetables and 6 sauces. Fresh vegetables like dropwort (minari, a fragrant water herb) and perilla leaves were already placed over the grill, which has an eye-catching copper-colored round vent. Below that, six sauces and sides were laid out: ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), wasabi, braised mushrooms, salt, garlic and a spicy sauce. The lineup was really generous!

Here's a shot of the whole table! A variety of vegetables come out: lettuce, perilla leaves, dropwort, seasoned bean sprouts and seasoned scallion salad. Next to it is a tablet ordering system that supports Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). Foreign visitors should be able to use it comfortably, haha.

Also, the spoons and chopsticks come wrapped in kraft paper envelopes, which felt hygienic and nice.

Next to that was a "pork belly golden combo" card recommending a combination of spicy sauce, mushroom wasabi, 3 kinds of vegetables, potato slices, garlic stems and a lettuce wrap. Eating it this way is really delicious, so definitely give it a try 😋

What are the menu and prices at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch?

The menu at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is split into nokdon (green pork) and black pork, running from ₩16,000 to ₩19,000 per 150g. The menu on the wall lists the cuts and prices neatly.

• [Nokdon] Pork belly 150g — ₩16,000
• [Nokdon] Flower pork neck 150g — ₩16,000
• [Nokdon] Cheongyeopsal 150g — ₩19,000
• [Nokdon] Gabeuli-sal 150g — ₩19,000
• [Black pork] Pork belly 150g — ₩19,000
• [Black pork] Pork neck 150g — ₩18,000

I liked that it's divided into nokdon and black pork, so you can choose to your taste!

What we ordered that day: ₩67,000 in total

• Bowl of rice x1 — ₩1,000
• Cass beer x1 — ₩5,000
• Saero soju x1 — ₩5,000
• Black pork neck (150g) x1 — ₩18,000
• Black pork belly (150g) x2 — ₩38,000

The total came to ₩67,000. Considering the quality of the meat, I thought it was pretty good value!

The Cass beer came out first, and a Cham Dwaejitgan brand card was hanging from the bottle neck! Attached to it was milk thistle, a liver supplement, lol. This touch of handing it out before you drink was so cute and fun ჱ̒¯꒳¯) A detail that really shows they care about their customers!

While the meat grills, vegetables like kimchi, bean sprouts, dropwort and perilla leaves sit on the edge of the grill! They cook lightly in the meat fat and gain so much flavor, it was really delicious. The fun of wrapping these vegetables made the meat disappear in no time, haha.

Black pork belly and neck, grilled for you by the staff

At Cham Dwaejitgan, the black pork belly and neck come on a black slate plate with king oyster mushrooms, Cheongyang chili peppers and potato slices, and a staff member grills it for you. I couldn't help going "wow-" the moment it arrived, lol. Thickly sliced king oyster mushrooms and chili peppers came along with thinly sliced potato. The meat color was vivid and the marbling was beautiful, so my expectations were already at their peak before grilling 😍

And then the moment the meat goes on the grill! The staff member grilled it for us with a pro's touch, so it was easy and the meat came out even tastier. Just hearing the meat sizzle on the direct-fire grill made my mouth water 🤤 Maybe because it's rice-husk-smoked charcoal grilling, the aroma was clearly different from an ordinary pork belly place!

Potatoes and king oyster mushrooms grilling together at the edge! Grilling them after the meat is a seriously great combo 😍 The texture is chewy, and they soak up the meat fat for a richer flavor!

Properly grilling now..💕 Watching the color deepen every time the meat was flipped had me so excited (,, ´∀`,,)💕

The staff kept adjusting the angle of the meat as they grilled it carefully, and I thought, so that's why it isn't tough and is cooked just right. I think this kind of service is part of why it's famous as a Jongno pork belly spot!

Once the surface was cooked through, they cut it into good-sized pieces. Can you see the thickness..? The inside wasn't cooked yet, but my heart was already lunging at it..

Now the meat is perfectly done!! All that's left is to enjoy it (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)

On the plate beside the grill, vegetables like kimchi, bean sprouts and dropwort were piled up! They were lightly cooking as they soaked up the meat fat, and wrapping them together was a perfect combination. With everything piled on the grill, it felt abundant just to look at, haha.

How does the black pork belly taste?

The black pork belly at Cham Dwaejitgan was crispy outside, juicy inside, with a great smoky aroma. I tried the belly first, and after one bite I was in a total state of excitement, lol. The surface was grilled crisp while the inside kept its juices, and the smoked meat aroma was so good..

Grilled meat with scallion salad needs no explanation, right? It looks pretty, and in one bite the richness of the meat blends perfectly with the tang of the scallion salad. Eating it this way feels like the meat gets twice as delicious.. lol

I'm not someone who keeps this kind of thing to myself. Isn't it just so pretty..? (⸝⸝◜o◝⸝⸝) A Jongno 3-ga pork belly place I fully, completely approve of.

A combo you must try: potato slice and dropwort wraps

The combination I'd recommend at Cham Dwaejitgan is meat, kimchi, garlic, dropwort and ssamjang piled on a thin potato slice. Please try this one..⭐️ The aromas of potato and dropwort come together, and it tastes really upscale rather than like a simple meat wrap.. Who knew potato and dropwort would go this well together..?

This is a full-setup wrap my boyfriend made for me, lol. Grilled meat, kimchi, scallion salad and dropwort stuffed onto lettuce, and it was so big that getting it into my mouth in one bite was quite the challenge, lol. Meat, kimchi and vegetables came together inside and hit the absolute peak of flavor.

Finishing with fried rice on the grill

It would be a shame to end just because the meat is gone. The finishing-touch fairy, fried rice, is still to come 😆 Seasoned rice is stir-fried with dropwort and other greens on the grill that still carries the meat aroma, and the combination of the meat scent with the greens and seasoning was really delicious. The fried rice vanished in an instant too, haha.

Final verdict on Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch

Cham Dwaejitgan was satisfying in all three: meat quality, service and details! The Jirisan black pork belly had firm texture and rich flavor, so good that I'd rank it number one among the pork belly I've eaten lately. If you want a proper meat feast in Jongno, definitely visit Cham Dwaejitgan!!