Nonhyeon Korean BBQ with Duroc pork and angelica wraps: Daepae Market

I found the perfect spot for those late nights finishing up work around Nonhyeon-dong when you're starving, or when friends want a low-pressure meat-and-soju session. It's a pork belly specialist called Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch (대패마켙 강남논현점).

There are plenty of pork belly restaurants around, but finding one that's clean, good value, AND open long hours is oddly hard, right? Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch nails all three, so it's become my personal number-one pick for Korean BBQ in Nonhyeon these days.

Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch is open 24 hours

Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch is open a full 24 hours. Gangnam and Nonhyeon tend to stay lit late into the night anyway, but when you're actually trying to find a decent BBQ place at 3am or super late at night, the options get slim fast.

Being able to walk in without a second thought — after a late shift, for a second or third round of drinks, or even early on a weekend morning craving meat — is a huge advantage. 24-hour restaurants can sometimes be poorly kept or a little chaotic, but this place is genuinely clean and pleasant, putting you in a good mood the moment you walk in.

Cuts and thickness at Daepae Market, including Duroc thin-sliced pork

When you hear "daepae samgyeopsal" (thin-sliced pork belly), you probably picture super thin, tease-you-a-little slices. But Daepae Market actually has a huge variety of meat. Beyond the standard thin-sliced pork belly, there's Duroc pork belly, beef brisket (usamgyeop), beef brisket (chadolbagi), and thick-cut pork belly and pork shoulder.

The coolest part was being able to choose the meat thickness to your liking! Some people love thin slices grilled to a full crisp, others prefer a thicker, chewier bite. Here, you can adjust the thickness right when you order, so everyone gets to enjoy it their own way.

We started with the signature thin-sliced pork belly and the Duroc pork belly. The moment the meat hit the grill it sizzled and cooked so fast that the wait was barely anything. Waiting for meat to cook when you're starving is the worst, but here you flip it a few times and it's straight into your mouth. No gamey smell at all, just savory juices flooding your mouth — it was excellent.

What's on the self-serve bar: angelica, kale and banchan you grill in the pork fat

The meat is great, but the real draw of Daepae Market is the massive self-serve bar right in the center of the restaurant. The vegetable freshness is almost on the level of a dedicated wrap-rice place. Lettuce and perilla leaves are standard, but there's also a generous pile of fresh angelica and kale — total heaven if you love wrapping your meat.

On top of that, there's kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts, bracken fern, mushrooms, rice cake, and pickled radish — all fantastic grilled together in the meat fat. Pile kimchi, bean sprouts and bracken fern under the pork belly on the grill, let them soak up the savory fat dripping down, and let them turn golden. Wrap a perfectly cooked piece of pork belly with that fat-grilled bean sprouts and kimchi and take a big bite... it's a dangerously familiar flavor, exactly the kind that calls for soju. There's also a good range of sauces — teriyaki, wasabi, garlic — so you never get bored.

Side dishes at Daepae Market

After eating a decent amount of meat, you can't not order a side dish. The side menu lineup is also full of things that pair perfectly with the meat.

Final verdict: worth a return trip whenever pork belly cravings hit in Nonhyeon

In an era of high prices, a BBQ restaurant in the middle of Gangnam that keeps up this level of value and quality is genuinely precious. It's affordable enough for a company dinner, and more than good enough for a relaxed, filling meal with friends.

Clean interior, a diverse and fresh self-serve bar, meat thickness picked to your taste, and 24-hour hours you can rely on any time — if you're looking for a great pork belly spot or solid BBQ restaurant in Nonhyeon, don't overthink it, just visit Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch once. You'll definitely become a regular!