Songpa Korean restaurant for generous bossam: Narae Jokbal

Narae Jokbal Songpa Direct Branch 📍18 Baekjegobun-ro 45-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea 🕖 Daily 11:00–2:00

Narae Jokbal Songpa Direct Branch near Songpanaru Station

It was very close to Songpanaru Station on Line 9, and not too far to walk from Jamsil Station on Lines 2 and 8 while looking around, so the access was really great.

There is no parking, so it seems best to visit by subway! Public transit is convenient, making it a great place to set up a meet-up, haha. The exterior was neat from the start, and the sign was easy to spot, so I could find the restaurant easily even from afar.

A spacious interior with a café-like atmosphere

The restaurant was spacious overall, and I absolutely loved how trendy and comfortable it felt, with an interior like a nicely decorated café. It specializes in jokbal (braised pig’s trotters) and bossam (boiled pork wraps), but the lighting was lovely and the décor was pretty too, so I would recommend it for a blind date or a date 🫢

It also seems like a comfortable place for a family meal. Jokbal and bossam are dishes people share, so cramped tables can be inconvenient, but these tables were generously sized and made for an easy, unconfined meal.

What comes with a bossam order

They mainly serve jokbal and bossam, with set menus in a range of combinations, so there are plenty of choices even when visiting in a group, haha. I went back and forth endlessly between jokbal and bossam, lol, then ordered the medium bossam because I was just a little more drawn to it.

One great thing about Narae Jokbal Songpa Direct Branch is that when you order its main jokbal or bossam, you can enjoy a substantial spread that includes sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew), makguksu (cold buckwheat noodles), and dessert bingsu (shaved ice) as well. I thought I had to choose one of the three, but they said they all came with it, which was so nice, haha. (I was too full to eat the bingsu.)

They set out the basic side dishes first. Even the bowls had a coordinated, very neat look—approved! There were sauces that paired well with bossam, along with kimchi and wrap vegetables.

A generous, clean-tasting medium bossam set

The medium bossam spread came out quickly. It looked very generous at a glance, and the neatly arranged pork looked so appetizing ✨

Even though it was a medium, there was enough pork for three or four people, I think! It was delicious with the sauces and wraps, but the bossam pork was so clean-tasting on its own that I kept reaching for more.

The bossam had been boiled beautifully moist, with a good balance of lean meat and fat, so its texture and flavor were wonderfully tender 👍🏻

The thing I care about most with boiled meats like bossam and jokbal is any gamey smell, and the bossam at Narae Jokbal Songpa Direct Branch tasted clean without one. It really lived up to its reputation as a great bossam spot in Jamsil, haha.

Sundubu-jjigae and makguksu that paired beautifully with bossam

These are the side dishes that come with a bossam order. Narae Jokbal's spread was so satisfying because it lets you enjoy such a generous full table!! I had assumed the sides might be just okay, but after seeing Narae Jokbal's sides, that thought disappeared completely..!

Sundubu-jjigae is a stew I already love, but it paired far better with bossam than I expected. It was full of ingredients, and sipping the spicy broth between bites of bossam cut through the richness and really refreshed my appetite, haha.

Makguksu is indispensable with bossam. What more is there to say about the bossam-and-makguksu combination? Narae Jokbal's sweet-and-tangy makguksu went so well with the clean-tasting bossam—I just kept eating it endlessly~ lol.