Jeungsan Station Korean BBQ: 200g frozen pork belly, Mapo Gui Madang

But this is my own space, so no lies here.

Of course, this includes stuff I paid for myself~

Turns out Mapo Gui Madang, a Bukgajwa-dong favorite, has branches in DMC and near Hongdae too — a small chain of BBQ spots in this area? They sell frozen pork belly and whole pork belly at pretty good prices, and the quality was solid enough that I left pretty satisfied. Here's my recommendation review for this Jeungsan Station spot~

Where is Mapo Gui Madang Bukgajwa and when is it open?

• 🕖 Closed every Monday
• 🕠 Tue–Sun / 16:00–22:30
• ❗️Last order at 22:00

Head into the alley by All That Coffee near Jeungsan Station and walk a bit toward the Bukgajwa five-way intersection — you'll find it there. It's tucked between houses but the space itself is quite spacious.

Everything is set up as single tables, and there look to be 15+ tables!!!

Menu prices and what we ordered at Mapo Gui Madang

The meat menu is regular pork belly / pork shoulder, plus frozen pork belly, makchang (grilled intestines), and spicy octopus~ Most people seem to order whole pork belly, frozen pork belly, or makchang. Sides include fried rice, jjagyeochi (ramyeon with cheese), naengmyeon, and more,

Beyond what's on the actual menu board, they've taped up more menu options all around the restaurant? Yeolla-myeon, jjolmyeon, and quite a variety — worth looking around before you order hahahahahahahahaha

• 📌Frozen pork belly - ₩9,900 × 4
• 📌Whole pork belly - ₩13,900
• 📌Water naengmyeon - ₩9,000
• 📌Soju - ₩5,000
• 📌Beer - ₩5,000 × 2

The water is bottled water~~ At first they give you a fresh sealed bottle, and if you ask for more, they refill it with filtered water — way better than not knowing how the bottles are managed!

Three kinds of kimchi: the best side dish here

Mapo Gui Madang near Jeungsan Station is a place where the kimchi is the real hook. Garlic, ssamjang (dipping sauce), lettuce, and three kinds of kimchi come out — the green onion kimchi and napa cabbage kimchi are unbelievably good.... The white kimchi is basically just rinsed-off red napa kimchi(?) so it tastes similar~ Kimchi grilled in meat fat can't help but taste good, but this kimchi is so good you can eat it raw, ungrilled, and it's still amazing T.T

This photo is the frozen pork belly for two, and since one serving is a solid 200g, you don't get the suspicion of 'wait, did they shortchange me?' — it's already generous!!!

The house soybean-powder dipping sauce, one per person

And at Mapo Gui Madang in Bukgajwa-dong, they give each person their own portion of this thick, doenjang-like sauce — it's not quite ssamjang, not quite makjang, closest to a makchang dipping sauce! I thought this sauce only went well with makchang, but it's also seriously delicious with frozen pork belly T.T It's got soybean powder mixed in so it's nutty, cheongyang chili gives it a kick, and the seasoning itself isn't too salty — it really elevated the meat.

If I can eat this pork belly-soju-beer combo after a run, I could run every single day.

Do the staff grill for you? Tips for cooking frozen pork belly

At Mapo Gui Madang Bukgajwa you basically grill it yourself, but the staff — both the ajummas and part-timers — keep checking in constantly hahahahahahahahaha They'll tell you exactly when to put the meat on~ and they'll toss the kimchi on the grill and cut it up for you too~

And when you sprinkle pepper on the frozen pork belly, don't sprinkle it directly onto the meat while it's on the grill — it'll all burn. Instead, season the meat with pepper before it goes on. Genius tip, honestly, that they passed along T.T

How does the 9,900-won frozen pork belly taste?

Honestly, I eat fresh pork belly way more often than frozen, so I figured frozen pork belly would be a bit dry and lacking in moisture — but nope, not at all, it was so unbelievably tender T.T T.T It also cooks fast, just a quick sizzle and done, which I also liked!! And paired with that special sauce, it's out of this world, I'm literally tearing up...

Honestly it wouldn't be an overstatement to say the napa cabbage kimchi at this Jeungsan Station spot is on another level — I'm still thinking about it. If I had to compare this kimchi to a kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), it wouldn't be the deep, fiery kind but more like a stew made with well-fermented kimchi that has a subtle sweetness to it? Truly sweet-and-sour and refreshingly tangy — it might be the best napa cabbage kimchi I've had at any BBQ restaurant.

I usually prefer napa cabbage kimchi over green onion kimchi, so maybe I'm biased toward it? The green onion kimchi was quite good too, but for my taste the napa cabbage kimchi won out~ You know frozen pork belly is best eaten wrapped in lettuce, right, haha — the combo of tender pork belly and all the side dishes in one bite is just so good!!!!

Whole pork belly: one serving, pre-seared at the table

Whole pork belly, one serving

They cleaned off the grill once before we started cooking~

The whole pork belly comes pre-seared, so it cooks quickly, and a staff member cut the meat for us directly — really convenient!

Great ratio of lean meat to fat~ and pre-seared meat just looks more appetizing on top of tasting good, I feel like hahahahahahahahahahaha

Frozen pork belly vs whole pork belly: which is better?

Dipped in the special sauce, it's delicious as expected, but... the frozen pork belly felt way tastier?!!!!!! The frozen pork belly was just uniformly tender, while the whole pork belly, probably because it's thicker, had a slightly drier feel in places. Funny thing is, almost every other table besides ours was eating whole pork belly instead of frozen... ^^ Guess it really comes down to personal taste~?

Is the 9,000-won water naengmyeon worth it?

I couldn't believe the water naengmyeon was actually ₩9,000, I nearly fell over.

The radish, cucumber, and egg toppings were on point, and the icy slush was on point too~ The portion was exactly one serving of naengmyeon,

The broth was sweet and tangy and delicious, and the noodles were thin, just how I like them, so flavor-wise it was a flawless naengmyeon — but I do think ₩9,000 is a bit steep... ^^ I feel like ₩7,000 would've been the sweet spot!!!!! That said, the taste itself was outstanding.

Final verdict on Mapo Gui Madang Bukgajwa

To anyone looking for a Korean BBQ restaurant in Bukgajwa-dong, I'd say go order a ton of the frozen pork belly at Mapo Gui Madang. It had been a while since I'd had frozen pork belly, and how tender it was really moved me T.T T.T T.T Also, aside from the part-timers, everyone working there was an ajumma, and after tasting the naengmyeon I get why the other sides are good too — their cooking skills are no joke... That wraps up my review of Mapo Gui Madang Bukgajwa Direct Branch, a Seodaemun-gu Korean BBQ spot famous for its frozen pork belly. Done!