Lettuce-wrapped pork belly at a Jongno 3-ga BBQ alley spot: Chowon

These days the evenings are getting cool enough that it's perfect weather for grilling meat outside, so eating indoors on a night like this felt like it would be missing out. To enjoy both the Jongno outdoor grilling vibe and some pork belly, I headed to Chowon Restaurant Jongno 3-ga Branch~

What kind of place is Chowon Restaurant Jongno 3-ga Branch?

Chowon Restaurant Jongno 3-ga Branch is a Korean BBQ spot tucked in a Jongno alley where you can enjoy flash-frozen pork belly! Best of all, there's a row of outdoor tables lined up right in front of the restaurant, making it the perfect atmosphere for enjoying a Jongno outdoor grill (yajang) in this cool weather 😚

We also wanted to sit outside to enjoy the terrace vibe that day, but since it was a weekend at 6pm, the wait looked like it would be over an hour, so we ended up sitting indoors haha... Still, since our seat was right next to the outdoor tables, we got to grill meat while catching a cool breeze, which put us in a good mood from the start hahaha

Inside Chowon Restaurant: indoor seats next to the alley tables

Chowon Restaurant has seating available inside as well as the outdoor tables, but honestly the weather stole the show that day — the open view and atmosphere were genuinely great~ It gave off a bit of an old-school feeling that fit perfectly with the bustling energy of Jongno 👍

There was also a compartment under the chairs for storing bags, so we could tuck away our bags and coats comfortably while eating, without them taking up table space~

After looking over the menu, we ordered the flash-frozen pork belly as the main, along with kimchi jjigae and steamed egg. It's the kind of menu where one dish calls for another lol

The banchan table setting and lettuce for wraps

The basic side dishes come out set on a tray, just like this

They gave us napa cabbage kimchi, green onion kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts, along with garlic and chili peppers — all perfect pairings with the meat, so we ended up finishing every single one....haha

Even the wrap vegetables were super fresh — I usually find wrapping food a bit of a hassle and skip it, but that day the lettuce wraps were unusually sweet and delicious!!

Flash-frozen pork belly, 18,000 won: lettuce wraps are the answer

The flash-frozen pork belly is ₩18,000 per serving. That day it happened to be the only menu item available, but since that was actually what we came for, we were relieved and ordered two servings lol

They grilled the pork belly one piece at a time on the grill plate — since it's flash-frozen, the meat is thin and cooks quickly, so we didn't have to wait around hungry lol

The golden-brown grilled pork belly was savory and delicious even eaten plain, and with just a dab of ssamjang (dipping sauce) the seasoning was spot on ><. I was especially craving wraps that day, so I tried putting the pork belly on lettuce and wrapping it up!

Wow, eating it wrapped was so much better than eating it plain. Since the pork belly is thin, wrapping it doesn't feel heavy, and combined with the lettuce, the savory flavor of the meat came through even more — once I started wrapping, I couldn't stop haha. Especially with the cool breeze while grilling pork belly right there at the Jongno outdoor tables, it somehow felt tastier than the usual cold pork belly I eat 😆

Kimchi jjigae at 9,000 won and side dishes grilled in the leftover fat

The kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) is ₩9,000. It just feels wrong to eat pork belly without kimchi jjigae, so we ordered that too

Taking a sip of the hot broth in between bites of meat gets you ready to dive back into the pork belly lol. The pork belly and kimchi jjigae combo really never fails. Plus the broth was made with tangy kimchi, which suited our taste perfectly!

We grilled up the garlic, bean sprouts, and kimchi side dishes in the leftover pork belly fat, and grilling them in the fat added a savory richness that made even the side dishes incredibly delicious lol

A grill full of meat paired with golden-brown grilled garlic — isn't that a combo that's exciting just to look at! ><

The pork belly went so well with the green onion kimchi too!!!! Honestly, it was delicious no matter how we ate it haha

Steamed egg at 5,000 won: the best side combination

The steamed egg (gyeranjjim) is ₩5,000. Eating a bit of the steamed egg we ordered alongside the meat every so often was soft and savory — a great side to order.

A bite of pork belly, a sip of kimchi jjigae broth, a soft finish with steamed egg, then back to the meat again. Eating in this rotation, I just kept going haha

When is the best time to visit Chowon Restaurant Jongno 3-ga?

Personally, the food was great that day, but what stuck with me most was the outdoor grilling atmosphere in the Jongno alley with the cool breeze~ If you want to enjoy the Jongno outdoor grill vibe with friends over meat and drinks on a nice day, I recommend Chowon Restaurant Jongno 3-ga Branch, where you can properly wrap up that flash-frozen pork belly in lettuce!!