Hapjeong pork ribs for somaek at Champpoppo Jjokgalbi

When I have dinner plans around Hapjeong or Sangsu, there are so many good places to eat that searching gets exhausting. I always end up wondering what to have. Pork belly and beef are great, of course, but that day I wanted something a little different.

It was a night to have dinner and a drink with friends, so while looking for something that would work well as anju (food to have with alcohol), I found the newly opened Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong Branch. A glass of somaek (soju-and-beer mix) with pork ribs sounded like a fine dinner, so we came here this time.

A pork rib restaurant in Hapjeong

Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong Branch is on the Hongdae Solnae-gil side street between Hapjeong and Sangsu stations. It sits farther into an alley, so I looked around at first wondering exactly where it was, but getting there was not particularly difficult.

Inside, it was neat and clean, as you would expect from a newly opened place, and the dinner-time atmosphere was quite lively. There was more space toward the back than I expected, so it seemed like a good spot to sit with friends, chat over dinner, and have a drink.

First visit, so I ordered the Tear Gas Set

Since it was my first visit, I spent quite a while looking over the menu and deciding what to order.

I could have picked individual dishes, but I wanted to try several things that day. The basic sauces for Poppo Jjokgalbi.

Then the Tear Gas Set caught my eye. It included two servings of soy-sauce ribs, one serving of spicy marinated ribs, and steamed egg.

For a first-timer, it seemed more convenient than ordering everything separately.

So we ordered the Tear Gas Set without overthinking it. The spicy marinated ribs were good, so we decided to order more later.

What we ate that day

• Tear Gas Set: 2 servings soy-sauce ribs, 1 serving spicy marinated ribs, and steamed egg
• Extra spicy marinated ribs
• Honeycomb pork skin
• Somaek

If it is your first visit and you want to try several menu items, this is a decent combination to start with.

Soy-sauce ribs with big pieces of meat

After a short wait, the par-cooked ribs arrived. Once they were in front of me, the pieces of meat were bigger than I had expected. There was a fair amount of meat attached to the bones too, so rather than eating them with chopsticks, I thought it would be fun to pick them up and tear into them with my hands. I started with the soy-sauce ribs.

They were seasoned through with a sweet soy sauce, making them a familiar, easy-to-eat flavor.

If you do not prefer spicy seasoning, starting with the soy-sauce ribs would be a good choice.

The spicy marinated ribs suited me better

Then I moved straight on to the spicy marinated ribs. They definitely felt different from the soy-sauce version. The spicy seasoning plus the charcoal smoke made the flavor come through more strongly. Personally, the spicy marinated ribs suited having with a drink better than simply eating as a meal.

Maybe because I had the soy-sauce ribs first, the spicy seasoning actually woke up my appetite.

In the end, I had not planned to add anything at first, but I ordered another serving of spicy marinated ribs. Of everything I ate that day, these stayed with me most.

Steamed egg and honeycomb pork skin with the spice

As I kept eating the spicy marinated ribs, I naturally reached for the steamed egg too. It was soft and fluffy, and a spoonful after the spicy seasoning felt like it reset my palate. I could see why people order steamed egg alongside seasoned dishes like ribs. At first I thought of it as simply part of the set, but it actually paired very well.

After eating a fair amount of ribs, I got curious about the honeycomb pork skin, so we ordered one as a side. It was thicker than ordinary pork skin, and it looked quite appetizing grilling on the rack. Once cooked well, it was crisp outside and still chewy within. It was nice to pick at one piece at a time as anju after we had eaten some ribs.

Dinner continued with ribs and somaek

At this point, somaek could not be left out, right? A sweet soy-sauce rib, then a spicy marinated rib, a spoonful of steamed egg in between, and finally honeycomb pork skin.

As we alternated bites like that, what began as dinner gradually became a proper drinking session. Ribs really seem to work better with a drink in this kind of setting than as just a rice meal.

Why I ended up ordering more spicy ribs

To sum up what we ate, we started with the Tear Gas Set.

We tried two servings of soy-sauce ribs, one serving of spicy marinated ribs, and steamed egg, then added more spicy ribs and honeycomb pork skin. We did not order a huge amount from the beginning, but as we ate, we kept adding the dishes that suited us. The spicy marinated ribs suited me much more than the soy-sauce ones in particular. Alternating between the sweet soy-sauce ribs and the spicy marinated ribs also kept me from getting tired of one flavor.

For a first visit, compare the flavors with a set

If it is your first visit, I recommend ordering a set. You can try both the soy-sauce and spicy versions, making it easy to compare which flavor suits you better.

After trying them, I liked the spicy marinated ribs far more than the soy-sauce ones. With the spicy seasoning and charcoal aroma, they also made better somaek anju.

I ended up adding another serving of spicy marinated ribs as I ate. By the time we were leaving, though, the restaurant was full of customers. There was even a wait outside, so the mood was completely different from when we first came in. Seeing that on the way out made me realize more people come here than I expected. If I return, I am going straight for the spicy marinated ribs without hesitation.

Champpoppo Jjokgalbi information

Owner friendliness ★★★★★

• Address: 77 Yanghwa-ro 6-gil, 1F, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 마포구 양화로6길 77 1층)
• About 439 m from Hapjeong Station Exit 6
• Last order: midnight
• Groups welcome and Wi-Fi available
• Reservations are available, so it is worth checking before your visit.
• Be aware that there may be a wait.