Yangcheon pork belly restaurant with cauldron-lid kimchi: Ggupdda

I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner near Deungchon Station and ended up going for meat for the first time in a while! This time I visited Ggupdda, a well-known spot near Deungchon Station. There are so many BBQ places around these days, but this one grills the meat on a cauldron lid, which made it feel like a proper, old-school way to eat meat. Let me show you around!

How to get to Ggupdda from Deungchon Station, and where to park

There's a public parking lot right next to this restaurant near Deungchon Station, so it's easy to park if you're driving, and since it's public parking the fee is really cheap too — no burden at all!

The address is 11 Mokdongjungang-ro7ga-gil, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul (1st floor), and it's open Mon–Sun 16:00–23:00. Group seating, reservations, and high chairs are all available.

Inside Ggupdda: the feel of an open-air grill tent

The interior overall was clean and comfortable, great for meals with friends or family, and also really good for group dining. Since it has an open layout, on a nice day when the doors are wide open, the breeze comes in and there's nothing stuffy about it — it feels open and airy, almost like eating at an outdoor grill tent.

This Deungchon-dong restaurant also has a restroom inside, which was convenient to use mid-meal! When you're out grilling meat and the restroom is outside or far away, it's kind of a hassle.

Ggupdda's sets and à la carte cuts, ordered by tablet

Ggupdda near Deungchon Station has both set menus and à la carte options. If you want the meat with mineri (water dropwort) included, go for a set; if you'd rather order the meat separately, à la carte works too.

That day I ordered the pork belly & pork jowl platter and bibim makguksu. There's a tablet installed at the table, so you just order through that. Being able to check the menu on the tablet made it really easy to pick what I wanted and order right away!!

The basic side dishes that pair well with the meat come out neatly arranged, and if you run out, you can just grab more from the self-serve bar without feeling awkward about it — so convenient!

Grilling the pork belly & pork jowl platter on the cauldron lid

Now the meat I ordered came out!! Look at that visual! The pork belly and pork jowl come out generously piled on one platter — the presentation is on point!!??

The staff member brought the meat over and placed each piece onto the cauldron lid one by one!

Once the meat starts cooking and the fat starts rendering out, that's when you add the basic side dishes onto the cauldron lid to grill together! Things like kimchi or bean sprouts — put as much as you want on the lid and grill it, and cooking it in the meat's own fat makes it taste so much better!!!

Mineri (water dropwort): just wilt it, don't cook it

When the meat is nearly done and golden brown, add the mineri (water dropwort) on top and grill it together! Don't cook the mineri too long — just a light touch to wilt it is the sweet spot!? As the fragrant mineri aroma rises up and mixes with the meat, the savory flavor combined with that fresh herbal scent is such a great combo! The pork belly and pork jowl had no gamy smell at all, the fat and lean meat were well balanced, and it was savory with proper juiciness!

Rice with a slice of Spam, then bibim makguksu to finish

Eating meat near Deungchon Station wouldn't be complete without rice, so I ordered a bowl of rice, and cutely, it came with a slice of Spam on top haha. Getting a little extra Spam like that made me unreasonably happy hahaha.

Eating meat made me crave something tangy and spicy, so I also ordered the bibim makguksu, and the portion was pretty generous too — it really woke up my palate and was perfect to eat in between bites of meat!

After finishing up and getting ready to leave, I noticed there was a mirror set up like a photo zone on one side of the restaurant — great for taking a picture haha. After eating well, I got a mirror shot in and headed out!! If you're looking for a good meat place near Deungchon Station, I'd recommend giving Ggupdda a try!