Samgyeopsal restaurant on Nahyeseok-gil, Suwon: 25mm pork belly at

Where is Jipbul Taebaek Suwon Ingye Branch on Nahyeseok-gil?

Jipbul Taebaek is a new barbecue restaurant right in the middle of Nahyeseok-gil in Ingye-dong. It's a proper straw-fire spot — the pork belly is pre-seared over rice straw and charcoal, so it carries a subtle straw aroma.

• Hours: daily (weekdays and weekends) 11:30–01:00
• Location: 27 Gwongwang-ro 196beon-gil, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do
• Parking: not available (use street parking or a paid lot nearby)

Jipbul Taebaek sits right in the center of Nahyeseok-gil in Ingye-dong. The sign is visible from far away, so it's easy to find.

It's a 10-minute walk from Exit 9 of Suwon City Hall Station. If you drive, given how Nahyeseok-gil is, you'll need to use street parking or a paid lot.

You can see the restaurant's signature menu from outside. The signature dish is the straw-fired boneless prime rib. The best dish, with unbeatable smoky aroma, is the straw-fired whole pork belly!

Weekday lunch: straw-fired set meal for 14,000 won

There's also a limited weekday lunch menu (11:30–15:00), the straw-fired set meal. It comes with straw-fired meat, grilled fish, doenjang (soybean paste) stew, 9 side dishes, and soup. At ₩14,000, it's as filling as a dinner. Haha.

Taebaek coal-mine interior and the open pre-searing station

Jipbul Taebaek has a distinctive interior and atmosphere. It's built around a concept of Taebaek's coal mines in Gangwon-do, giving it a retro mine-workshop feel. The Suwon Ingye branch is spacious, with tons of seating.

Since it just opened, the tables and chairs are all spotless. Even the grill and stone walls carry the mining vibe, which is fun. Felt like eating pork belly after a shift down in the mine. Hahaha.

There are clean men's and women's restrooms inside too. If you're drinking in Ingye-dong, a decent restroom matters. Going outside to find one is a hassle and usually gross.

When you order meat, there's a space where they do the pre-searing. It's openly visible through glass, so watching is half the fun.

You can watch the meat being pre-seared over charcoal. My pork belly order was in there too. At Jipbul Taebaek they say pre-searing over charcoal and rice straw maximizes the flavor and aroma of the meat.

The meat at Jipbul Taebaek is great, but honestly looking around the interior was just as fun. The retro artwork is really cool.

Being a well-known spot on Nahyeseok-gil, there are lots of signed autographs too. The one for 'meat king' caught my eye first. Haha.

Jipbul Taebaek menu and what the writer ordered

Jipbul Taebaek's straw-fired pre-seared meat menu. The prime rib has the best visual and is the hot signature dish. But we wanted the thick pork belly with that subtle straw aroma, so we ordered pork belly.

They also have pork skin, tortillas, steamed egg, sausage, cheonggukjang (fermented soybean) stew, kimchi stew, and naengmyeon. The kimchi stew and buckwheat naengmyeon are especially good — you need to order both even if you're full. Haha.

Ordering is done via kiosk at every table.

• Straw-fired pork belly ₩17,000 x 2
• Straw-fired pork neck ₩17,000
• Taebaek kimchi stew ₩7,000
• Buckwheat naengmyeon (in broth) ₩7,000
• Rice ₩1,000

Side dishes and the self-serve corner

Once you order meat, the basic side dishes get set up quickly. Japchae (glass noodles), potato salad, seasoned lettuce and perilla leaves, pickles, and various sauces to go with the meat — it's a generous spread.

Wrap greens like lettuce, perilla leaves, chili peppers, and garlic are all at a self-serve corner — just grab as much as you need.

Among the side dishes, the potato salad was clean-tasting and delicious.

I also liked that they served japchae. These days I hardly get to eat it outside of holidays. Haha. The seasoning was spot on, and it was great after a long while.

How the 25mm straw-fired pork belly tasted, grilled by staff

First up, two servings of straw-fired pork belly. My partner and I always end up eating three servings at barbecue places. Torn between pork belly and pork neck, we ordered belly first! Pre-seared over straw and charcoal, it comes out a deep, rich color.

The charcoal they bring to the table also looked great. The strong heat seals in the juices, making it taste even better.

Along with the thick straw-fired pork belly, they also add Taebaek kimchi, bracken fern, and king oyster mushrooms to the grill.

At Jipbul Taebaek, staff do all the grilling for you. Placing the meat, cutting it with scissors, flipping it, cooking it — all of it!

Clearly because it's grilled with expert skill, the meat tasted even better and didn't burn. Nice. Haha.

The pork belly at Jipbul Taebaek is a thick 25mm. The lean-to-fat ratio was fantastic too. Not a common sight — a smoked whole pork belly. Haha.

Once cooked, you can set the meat on the spicy Taebaek kimchi next to the grill so it doesn't burn.

First, I dipped the thick pork belly in ssamjang (dipping sauce). Whew~~ what can I say, it's just delicious. Haha. Thick, juicy pork belly bursting in your mouth.

Black sesame salt, angelica and neungi mushroom pesto

Salt? Pepper? Hmm, I thought it'd be an herb salt, but it barely had any salty taste. They call it black sesame salt, and the aroma was great.

Eating it with fresh wasabi was good too. Honestly, the pork belly itself is already delicious enough. Haha.

The green one is angelica (danggwi) pesto. The brown one is neungi mushroom pesto — both delicious. They cut the greasiness of the meat and gave it a refined taste. Not your usual pork belly... more like a proper dish? Haha.

Just trust the pork belly and eat, honestly. Haha. Every sauce pairs well, and the Taebaek kimchi is the real kicker. Good on its own, and even better wrapped with meat.

My partner, who loves wrapping meat in lettuce more than anything, was thrilled to have bracken fern and kimchi to wrap in too — delicious, she said.

Even the garnish mushrooms are great with pesto on top and dipped in soy sauce! Not a single thing here is anything less than delicious.

Order the 7,000-won Taebaek kimchi stew from the start

The kimchi grilled with the meat was so good we ordered it as a stew too — the side Taebaek kimchi stew for ₩7,000. Bottom line: strongly recommended, order it from the very start.

Of course it's loaded with Taebaek kimchi, and also plenty of tofu and thick chunks of meat. Of all the barbecue places I've been to recently, this stew broth was the richest and spiciest — really good.

Kimchi stew's best friend is a bowl of rice. I was trying to cut carbs... but one spoonful of stew and I gave up. Haha.

Straw-fired pork neck vs pork belly: which was better?

After the pork belly, I got curious about the pork neck and ordered it too. Even for one serving, it comes out as quite a big chunk.

The spicy, delicious Taebaek kimchi is plentiful at the self-serve corner. They grill the kimchi together with the pork neck. Oh, and of course the staff grill any extra meat orders too. Haha.

So how does the pork neck taste? Way below the pork belly, honestly. Haha. Not that it's bad — it's decent — but Jipbul Taebaek's pork belly is on a whole different level. If you're getting meat, I'd definitely recommend the pork belly. Haha.

Finishing with buckwheat naengmyeon

My partner and I went back and forth until the end on whether to order buckwheat naengmyeon (cold noodles). Verdict: so glad we did. The broth was ridiculously refreshing and washed away all the greasiness completely. It had that chest-cooling quality — a genuinely great cold noodle dish after a long while!

The noodles being actual buckwheat made them even chewier and tastier. Ordering the cold noodles was a decision with zero regrets. I recommend having it at the end for sure. Haha. It's especially good wrapped together with the meat.

Overall verdict on Jipbul Taebaek in Ingye-dong

Jipbul Taebaek, a pork belly favorite on Nahyeseok-gil. Pre-searing over charcoal and rice straw genuinely maximizes the flavor and aroma. Highly recommend the straw-fired pork belly, Taebaek kimchi stew, and buckwheat naengmyeon!!