Early-dinner Korean BBQ in Moran: seaweed soup side, Mat Chandeul

I visit pork belly restaurants a lot, probably 2 to 4 times a month. Pork belly is easy to find and you never really get tired of it, right? I recently went to Moran and found a place I want to go back to. If you want delicious pork belly in Moran, or a comfortable Moran Station restaurant, please read this post closely!

Mat Chandeul Wang Sogeum Gui Moran Branch (맛찬들왕소금구이 모란점) is a Korean BBQ restaurant serving aged pork belly. A staff member grills the meat for you, so the meal is relaxed, and the side dishes that go with pork belly made me very happy.

Looking around, I saw not only company dinner groups but also families and friends.

It's a Moran pork belly spot that fills up on weekdays and weekends alike, so it even has a waiting area.

Today I'll go through the A Set and cauldron rice I ordered, plus the pork belly combo I couldn't stop eating! This is my post about Mat Chandeul Wang Sogeum Gui Moran Branch, which I visited with my husband.

Mat Chandeul Wang Sogeum Gui Moran Branch: location, menu, hours

The restaurant is in Seongdong, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, near Moran Station, and is open daily from 12:00 to 23:00. For parking, use the nearby public parking lot.

• Menu: aged pork belly, pork jowl, pork skirt, pork hanger steak (galmaegisal), pork neck
• A Set: 400g meat (pork belly or pork neck) + stew (doenjang or kimchi)
• B Set: 650g meat (pork belly or pork neck) + stew (doenjang or kimchi)
• Hours: daily 12:00 - 23:00
• Parking: nearby public parking lot

Is it a good Moran Station spot for a company dinner?

It's comfortable for two and has room for bigger groups, so it works for company dinners and family gatherings. There are so many good restaurants around Moran Station that it's hard to choose! When I eat out, I look at the atmosphere and how comfortable it is to eat together, not just the food, you know?

It was comfortable for just my husband and me, but it's also a space where many people can come together. Seeing guests come for company dinners, family meals and friend gatherings, I thought, okay, this is a real good restaurant.

Pork belly is a great menu for groups, but in a group someone has to grill and someone has to eat, and that division of labor can be a bother for some people. I liked that the staff grill the meat, so you can focus on eating.

If you're looking for a Korean BBQ place for a company dinner around Moran or Moran Station, keep it in mind. It's often full, so I recommend booking ahead!

Why we ordered the 400g A Set pork belly for two

For the two of us, we ordered the A Set: 400g of meat plus doenjang or kimchi stew. We'd slept in and had a so-so brunch, so this was an early dinner. We were shown to a seat toward the back, where we could look at the menu comfortably. The menu is posted at the seats and also large on the wall, so there's no flustered searching, which I liked.

There were single meat dishes, set menus and meal dishes. We wanted meat and a meal together, so we chose the A Set. When we eat 2 servings of meat we sometimes feel it's a little short, so a set with about 100g extra was satisfying!

You can pick pork belly or pork neck for the meat. We prefer belly to neck, so we chose pork belly and doenjang stew. We'll try the kimchi stew next time! It suited us, since we like warm rice and stew along with the meat (carb addicts..). If you care about the meal setup and not just the meat when choosing a Moran pork belly restaurant, do look at these sets!

A Moran BBQ restaurant that serves seaweed soup as a basic side

Once you order, Mat Chandeul brings out hot seaweed soup (miyeok-guk) as a basic side. After we ordered, the staff started setting down side dishes one by one. What surprised me was that they gave us soup without us ordering it...?

Hot seaweed soup. As a basic side. On these cold days, perfect, right? It's great as a hangover-soup substitute if you're already drinking, and just as delicious on its own! It would also be perfect to come with a birthday person. (I did think about coming back on my birthday..)

Pickled wild garlic leaves (myeongi-namul), pickled chili (gochu-ji), pickled onion, yellow radish salad, white kimchi. Remember the pickled chili. That crazy-good side dish..

Bean sprout and vegetable salad. This was a real kicker too. I bet it would be good mixed into rice, so I'll try that on my next visit.

Perilla leaves, lettuce, ssamjang (dipping paste), plenty of garlic, meljeot (salted anchovy sauce) and wasabi came too. Basic sides with everything you could want, I just love it.

How does the aged meat come out?

When an order comes in, Mat Chandeul takes aged meat straight from the fridge, slices it, and shows you the weight when it's served. Did you know? They only sell good-quality meat, and the brand handles production, processing and distribution all itself, so you end up eating fresh meat.

When the order comes in, they take the aged meat from the fridge, slice it 3cm or thicker, and bring it to the table. They say they work to keep the best domestic meat quality, thickness and taste!

They portion the weight honestly, and they show you the grams when they bring it to the table. Sometimes you wonder at other places whether the amount is right, but it's awkward to ask, so you just trust it, right? Here you don't need to worry! They also say they choose meat by looking at whether it browns to a golden color, whether it holds its juices, and the marbling. A place where you can trust the weight and quality!

Aged pork belly grilled by the staff

The aged pork belly at Mat Chandeul is grilled by the staff from start to finish. The aged pork belly brought to the table! They use only high-grade domestic aged fresh pork belly, which sounds hard to maintain, but they manage it carefully.

From the thick cut to the pretty pink marbling. You know pork belly with cartilage (odolppyeo) is the tasty kind, right? Delicious meat without any gamey smell!

After bringing the meat, the staff put down a stone that stops the meat from burning once it cooks, and brought meljeot. Saying they'd put the meat on once the meljeot heated up, they set out two kinds of salt on a small plate. You can feel the care. True to the name Wang Sogeum Gui (coarse salt grill), they topped the meat with coarse salt too.

And how does a finished batch look? The golden meat looks so appetizing. That's the staff's skill. hahahaha I burn meat the moment I look away, so people who grill well feel like experts to me.

While the staff were grilling, I made a fuss asking if they should be on a TV show of masters of everyday skills.. I'd only gone to places with cauldron-lid grills, so I was amazed you can grill like this on a regular plate.. I just wish I could send you the smell.. And even with the smell of meat while grilling, the ventilation seemed good, so even when the place was full the inside was pleasant, which I liked too.

A meal where you focus on talking, not grilling

At a BBQ restaurant, grilling is quietly something you worry about. You fear overcooking and drying it out, and when you get absorbed in talking you miss the timing.

At Mat Chandeul the staff grill the meat, so we could eat comfortably. When my husband and I go for meat I sometimes grill, but usually he does all of it. This time we could chat and enjoy the meal without worrying about grilling. If you're looking for a Moran pork belly restaurant where you don't have to grill, I think this is a real plus.

Especially for a Moran company dinner, when many people eat together, sometimes only the person grilling gets busy. Since the staff grill, everyone can eat comfortably, which I liked.

Grilled white kimchi, pickled chili and the staff-recommended pork belly combo

What I remembered most that day was the staff-recommended combo: pork belly on grilled white kimchi, topped with pickled chili and wasabi. Once the meat was golden, they cut it to cook the inside. Laid out side by side, it looked like pretty flowers..

Once it's all cooked, the look is amazing.. juicy Moran pork belly! When the meat is done, they place it on the stone so it doesn't overcook, so not a single piece falls. Master of meat, confirmed..

After grilling, they suddenly dropped kimchi on the grill? Huh, what..? Then they put pork belly on the cooked white kimchi and pickled chili on top..

It was the combo the Mat Chandeul staff recommend! It was so much better than I expected that we kept making it all meal long.

• First, grill the white kimchi on the plate.
• Put well-grilled pork belly on the grilled white kimchi.
• Put pickled chili on the pork belly.
• Add a little wasabi and eat it all together.

The tangy grilled white kimchi adds to the rich pork belly, and with the pickled chili the savory flavor comes alive. I'm craving it even while writing this post.. The recommended combo had a different charm from eating plain pork belly. Meat alone can feel a little greasy, but the white kimchi and pickled chili balanced it, and enjoying different flavors made me happy.

Please feast your eyes.. I usually eat pork belly with wraps or kimchi, but that day I especially loved this combo. After one bite I kept making it, and my husband and I both said how good it was.

You know samsso (pork belly with soju), right? A drink while eating the recommended combo. Of course mine was soda hahahaha If you plan to visit a Moran pork belly spot, try enjoying it differently with sides like this instead of just the meat!

Other ways to enjoy the aged pork belly

Besides the recommended combo, there are several ways to pair the aged pork belly with the basic sides. Pork belly is good plain, but it's even better enjoyed in different ways.

• Wrap it in lettuce with the bean sprout and scallion salad
• Pile pickled wild garlic leaves with ssamjang
• Dip it in meljeot

Aged pork belly is just love! For a Moran pork belly restaurant, Mat Chandeul Moran Branch settles it!

Beef doenjang stew, cauldron rice and scorched rice

The doenjang stew in the A Set was a beef brisket (chadol) doenjang stew, and the cauldron rice pot (gamasot-bap) I added serves 2 people. Eating meat made me crave rice again.. diet crisis.. but I can't resist cauldron rice.. this dieter was bold and added it anyway.

We enjoyed the meal dishes that would be a shame to skip with meat: the doenjang stew from the A Set and the cauldron rice we added. Between pork belly bites, a spoonful of warm rice with doenjang stew makes a filling meal!

And the doenjang stew is.. beef brisket doenjang stew.. Moran Mat Chandeul is a BBQ place you can't help loving.. The next table took a sip and said, wow, clean and tasty.. (nod nod..)

I chose it because I wanted rice and stew too instead of ending with just meat, and the amount was generous even for the two of us. The moment my husband scooped rice, he heaped on the beef doenjang stew and mixed it.. so delicious, please do order it. This combo is a must..

We ordered one cauldron rice pot for two, which was good for pairing meat with a meal, and finishing with hot scorched rice made me happy. My scorched-rice-loving husband kept giving thumbs up hahaha As a Korean I can't resist freshly made stone-pot rice, so after finishing it I also tried the scorched rice with the salted squid (ojingeo-jeotgal) that came with it.

If you want a Moran Station restaurant where you can finish meat and a meal in one go, check out this menu setup too.

Is it good for a Moran company dinner or family gathering?

Mat Chandeul has room-style floor seating and tables, so it's a good pick for company dinners and family gatherings. I visited with my husband this time! You can eat comfortably without grilling yourself, and there are side dishes that pair well with pork belly, so I was happy. I saw not only company dinner groups but also families and friends.

Pork belly is great for groups, so it's a good choice for a gathering. For a Moran company dinner, being comfortable to eat together matters as much as the meat. The seats were comfortable even after sitting a long time, and with both room-style floor seating and tables, pick the setup you like!

Since the staff grill the meat, even a big group can eat comfortably at Mat Chandeul! Above all, the pork belly with grilled white kimchi and pickled chili is what I remember most. I'm going again.. On a day you crave pork belly in Moran, enjoy a hearty meat and meal at Mat Chandeul Moran Branch!