Jongno Korean BBQ for a relaxed outdoor dinner: Tapgol Gongwon

A great evening for outdoor dining in Jongno 3-ga

The evening weather lately is just perfect for outdoor dining, right? You have to enjoy it now or you'll regret it! Hurry over to Jongno 3-ga!

It was the kind of weather where I wanted meat but felt it would be such a shame to eat indoors! Outdoor dining equals the Jongno 3-ga pocha street, so I figured it would be fine on a weekday—but it was absolutely packed ;;

• Hours: daily 17:00–01:00
• No parking

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch is right beside Tapgol Park, on the way from Exit 5 toward Jongno 5-ga Station! I came over wondering if there might be somewhere less crowded, and actually this side had plenty of seats and an even better atmosphere?

Relaxed outdoor seating beside Tapgol Park's stone wall

Because it's next to Tapgol Park, it feels less hectic and has a different vibe from ordinary alleyway outdoor seating? It's a Korean BBQ place, but it also has a subtly atmospheric izakaya feel—just the mood for coming after a date in Jongno.

The stone wall of Tapgol Park is seriously right in front of you!? That's what clearly sets it apart from other outdoor pochas. At pochas, there are usually people on both sides and it's so loud that you often can't even hear what your companions are saying! At Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch, you can have a re-laxed conversation, is what I'm saying! And eating while looking at Tapgol Park right beside you makes this pork belly spot feel different from just any pocha, right?

Three servings of pork belly and plenty of side dishes

The menu has everything from pork to beef and duck! If you want to try a variety, the Tapgol Set is perfect haha. In fact, nearly everyone around us was having a set hehe. But since we love pork belly so much, we got three servings! I thought soju would be ₩6,000, but thankfully it was ₩5,000 ^_^ Even better~

Meat quality matters at a Korean BBQ restaurant, but what else is important? The side dishes, of course! It's been a while since I've seen a meat restaurant serve side dishes this generously;

There were so many different side dishes to have between bites that I never got tired of it and ended up eating all three servings of meat; Even better, every single side dish is refillable! Not just kimchi, but bean sprouts, bracken fern, shredded radish salad, and salted squid too!

Quick-cooking frozen pork belly and my top pick, green onion kimchi

Because it's frozen pork belly, it cooks up so quickly—it has this magic that makes you eat without stopping. Once the meat fat starts to render, you have to pile on the kimchi and bean sprouts and grill them right away for the best flavor, right?!

Add the outdoor atmosphere at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch to that, and both the pork belly and soju just go down so easily. The weather was cool~ and the atmosphere was great, so it was seriously delicious. I don't normally expect much from the meat quality at places like this, but this is a real pork belly spot—the quality was so good;; Thumbs up from me 👍

Eating it with kimchi grilled beautifully in the fat was heaven. Maybe because it was frozen pork belly and cooked so fast, we just kept eating meat nonstop; even after two of us had three servings, it somehow felt a little short, and we almost ordered one more serving haha.

But my number-one side dish was the green onion kimchi. It was so delicious that I went back for it three more times,, Sweet with a subtle kick, it was such a rice thief!

For outdoor dining in Jongno 3-ga, head toward Tapgol Park

When you're looking for outdoor dining in Jongno 3-ga, you naturally end up at the pocha street, but after visiting Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch this time, I don't think you have to stick only to the Exit 3 side! Come toward Tapgol Park to Jongno 5-ga and it's comparatively quiet, the seating is more spacious, and the view is lovely haha. The weather has suddenly turned cool, so everyone is becoming an outdoor-dining addict (me too....) I recommend Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch, a great pork belly spot in Jongno 3-ga! If you don't go now, the ice age will be here before you know it and you won't get to enjoy outdoor dining, so get to Jongno for outdoor dining as soon as you can!!!