Songpa Seoul Korean BBQ with regional sauces: Muhan Paldo Daepae

The day I went for thin-sliced pork belly in Jamsilsaenae

I went to Muhan Paldo Daepae Jamsilsaenae Branch (무한팔도대패 잠실새내점) because I was craving thin-sliced pork belly. At first I thought it was simply an all-you-can-eat thin-sliced pork place, but once I stepped inside, it turned out to be more fun than I expected.

It is open from 11:00 to 24:00, and paid parking is available.

All-you-can-eat thin-sliced meat and the self bar

As the name suggests, Muhan Paldo Daepae's biggest feature is that you can enjoy as much thin-sliced meat as you like.

There were several kinds of meat to choose from, including premium thin-sliced beef belly and premium frozen pork belly.

The vegetables at the self bar were quite varied, too. Along with lettuce and perilla leaves, there were kimchi, bean sprouts, mushrooms, onions, and other ingredients that are great grilled alongside the meat.

Regional sauces from across Korea that change the flavor of the meat

But the most interesting thing here for me was the “signature sauces from Korea's eight provinces.”

• Seoul-style soy sauce
• Chungcheong-do-style cheonggukjang (fermented soybean) sauce
• Gangwon-do-style perilla oil soy sauce
• Gyeongsang-do-style makchang sauce
• Jeolla-do-style salted shrimp sauce
• Gyeongsangbuk-do-style mustard sauce
• Jeju-style meljeot (fermented anchovy) sauce

Even with one kind of meat, it was fun to switch up the sauce as I ate. And there is a finishing course that you simply cannot leave out at a thin-sliced meat restaurant.

From meat-fat fried rice to ramen and doenjang jjigae

Once you have eaten a fair amount of meat, you can make fried rice. At Muhan Paldo Daepae, there are instructions for making it by adding ingredients to the rendered meat fat and stir-frying everything together. Add snow cheese on top, and it looked like a pretty good finishing dish.

You cannot leave out ramen either. Having ramen with the hot broth made it the perfect way to finish after the meat.

Adding doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) as well made the meal much more filling than eating meat continuously. Personally, Muhan Paldo Daepae felt less like a place you go just to eat lots of meat and more like a place where the fun is in combining meat → vegetables → sauces → fried rice → ramen in all kinds of ways.

My take on combining thin-sliced meat however you like

The reason I love thin-sliced pork belly is, of course, that it cooks quickly because it is sliced so thin. Unlike thick pork belly, you do not have to wait around for ages; put it on the grill and it is ready in no time, which is great when you are hungry.

I think thin-sliced pork belly tastes much better grilled with ingredients like kimchi, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and onions than when you eat only the meat. Muhan Paldo Daepae had vegetables and many other ingredients to have with the meat, so I could make combinations to my taste.

I usually dip thin-sliced pork belly only in salt or ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), but this time I tried Muhan Paldo Daepae's sauces one by one, switching them as I went. It was the same meat, yet it tasted quite different. The sauces clung well to the thin slices: soy-based ones felt clean and mild, spicy sauces were a little more punchy, and the meljeot and salted-shrimp sauces seemed to bring out the meat's own flavor.

And with thin-sliced pork belly, you cannot skip stir-frying kimchi and bean sprouts in the fat that comes from the meat. After eating plenty of meat, add kimchi, bean sprouts, and rice to the remaining fat and stir-fry it—then another whole meal begins.

Personally, I think the meat itself matters at a thin-sliced pork restaurant, but so do the accompanying ingredients and finishing dishes. In that respect, Muhan Paldo Daepae felt like a place for enjoying many combinations rather than a simple all-you-can-eat spot for thin-sliced meat alone.

If you love thin-sliced pork belly, or want to go with a group and eat your fill according to everyone's preferences, I think it is worth a visit.

I especially found it quietly fun to try the sauces from each province one by one. After the meat and fried rice, I was completely stuffed in the end 😂