Hapjeong pork rib restaurant with cream pasta: Champpoppo

A spot for pork ribs and pasta in Hapjeong

Today I visited Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong Branch in Hapjeong. Shops between Hapjeong and Sangsu tend to change pretty often, and this one seemed fairly newly opened too.

Inside, there are about 10 four-person tables, with round tables fitted with overhead exhaust hoods.

The pasta set and banchan

The menu unusually has pasta, and since we were hungry, we ordered the pasta set. The jjokgalbi (pork ribs) are relatively affordable, but your first order has to be at least three servings; the set looked like a good combination.

Once you order, they set out all these banchan (Korean side dishes) like this.

There were three sauces: a spicy sauce, garlic sauce, and curry powder.

They also brought out corn cheese with the charcoal.

They said the ribs are par-cooked as soon as they are ordered, so it would take a little time to bring them out. In the meantime, they gave us pork skin and potatoes to snack on. It is a small thing, but I really like touches this thoughtful. It was nice to have a drink while waiting too.

And there was chicken porridge too..! They really give you quite a lot of different things as basic sides.

I immediately knocked back a drink. The chicken porridge was nicely seasoned and tasty too.

Meanwhile, the pork skin turned beautifully golden, and the potatoes got a little charred,, I tend to prefer them cooked about that much.

A great tip: wrap pork ribs with cream pasta

Our three servings of pork ribs arrived. Think about four to five bones per serving? A staff member came over and explained that we should grill them with the bones facing down.

We grilled them up deliciously right away, and Sojjang and I happily gnawed away at them together.

As we were eating, the cream pasta arrived. Pasta at a pork rib place was a combination I had literally never seen before, but I was surprised by how good the quality was.

This was Sojjang's great tip: cut the pork ribs with scissors, then wrap them up with the cream pasta like this. Apparently it is delicious.

As we were getting close to finishing, Sujjang gave the cream pasta a little charcoal aroma and mixed it with the corn cheese. Bread grilled over the charcoal is seriously delicious too. I recommend it.

Finishing with honeycomb pork skin and yeolmu kimchi noodles

You cannot skip pork skin, basically the dessert course at a Korean barbecue restaurant, right? The pork skin they gave us to eat while waiting at the start was tasty, so we ordered another portion.

We also ordered kimchi-mari-guksu (cold noodle soup with kimchi) to settle our stomachs as things started to feel a little rich. A cool broth really does make for a clean finish.

These days, I guess it is becoming a trend for review events to provide items according to the number of people, in this kind of format.

Good-value pork ribs in Hapjeong

This was a good-value pork rib restaurant in Hapjeong. The Hapjeong, Sangsu, and Hongdae triangle is hugely popular with both foreigners and young people, so places there tend to be expensive with small portions. But Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong Branch gives you lots of basic snacks, including chicken porridge, corn cheese, and a taster of pork skin, which feels nice; at ₩14,000 per serving, it is easy to enjoy without feeling burdened.

That said, the marinade is not very spicy, so for the cream pasta set, I think ordering the Buldak-style flavor could be good too. Around Hapjeong, I recommend this good-value pork rib place for dinner and drinks as a first stop for two, or as a perfect second or third stop for three to four people!