Jongno3-ga pork belly spot with cold noodles and melon soju: Cham

Recommending a pork belly spot in Jongno! Hi everyone, this is Gamja. Today it's a meat restaurant near Jongno3-ga Station that's also a top-tier work dinner spot.

I had dinner at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점), famous as a Jongno pork belly restaurant that ages top-grade Jiri-san black pork belly and finishes it with rice-husk smoke over domestic charcoal! With cham samgyeopsal and kkotmokssal (Boseong nokdon pork) starting from ₩16,000 as the mains, plus ogyeopsal, gabrisal, and cheongyeopsal, it's a well-regarded pork belly place in Jongno.

Definitely tasted like a pig raised on green tea — so flavorful, and the juiciness really stood out for a Jongno meat restaurant! You can also eat it uniquely wrapped in potato along with kimchi, bean sprouts, and minari, which made me want to recommend it even more.

This is my review of Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, a pork belly work-dinner spot near Jongno3-ga Station.

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch: hours, address and menu prices

• 📍Address: 1 Donhwamun-ro 5ga-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 1st floor, Piccadilly CGV, unit 1-89, South Korea
• ⌚️Hours: Daily 12:00 - 23:00
• ⭕️Groups/reservations available
• 🚻Separate men's/women's restrooms
• 🅿️No parking

Cham samgyeopsal for two with melon soju and cold noodles

Since it's a Jongno pork belly restaurant, of course I had to order pork belly, and at ₩16,000 it felt like good value too. On top of that we ordered Byeolbitcheongha (sweet melon soju) and mul naengmyeon (cold noodle soup) haha!

Even before tasting anything, I could tell this place had to be popular — the basic side dishes are absurdly generous. Honestly you could just order meat for your headcount and still eat plenty full, no problem at all!

Pork belly wrapped in potato, grilled at the table by the staff

The signature treat at Cham Dwaejitgan is this potato served alongside the pork..! It was genuinely delicious. I'd never even imagined wrapping meat in potato before. Anyway, the staff here grill the meat for you too 🔥 They must train their staff really well, because it came out perfectly grilled.

The portions are seriously generous ~ eating it with kimchi, with bean sprouts, with minari, wrapped in potato, with scallion shreds, slurped with mul naengmyeon — you get to enjoy the same meat in so many different ways, almost like a pork belly omakase.

Chewy, juicy, with the flavor bursting in your mouth — so good! Rice with pork belly and grilled kimchi and minari on top, that classic combo. Without exaggeration, a few spoonfuls of this wipes away all of life's stress. Boseong nokdon pork, let's go.

How to walk there from Jongno3-ga Station, and how busy it is at 6pm on a weekday

You can take any of exits 1, 2, or 2-1 from Jongno3-ga Station to reach Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch — no need to stress over which one.

Even if there's a wait, there's a waiting area out front, so as long as it's not raining you can wait comfortably.

Since it was 6pm on a weekday, the inside was completely packed — work dinners, family outings, couples, all kinds of groups were eating there! The tables are spaced generously wide, so the meal felt really comfortable.

Is Cham Dwaejitgan worth it for a group dinner in Jongno3-ga?

That wraps up my review of Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, my pick for a Jongno pork belly restaurant. By the way, the Gyeongbokgung night opening is a hot topic these days, isn't it? Grill some meat nearby, then go view the palace with full energy and take tons of photos! It gets seriously packed!

With generous portions, dependable flavor, and solid value all in one, plus a spacious and comfortable interior, I'd recommend this meat restaurant if you're looking for a place for a work dinner or a meal out near Jongno3-ga Station.