Cheongpyeong butcher: honeycomb & 50mm kids' pork belly, Ari Chuksan

Our family travels east one week, west the next, haha. This time we took the kids to a pension in Gapyeong. When looking into Gapyeong pensions, the lodging and restaurants matter, but there's something else that quietly nags at you — the barbecue meat.

Since we rushed out right after picking the kids up from daycare and school, we ended up doing our shopping near the pension in Cheongpyeong. There was a Hanaro Mart right there, but I felt like meat to grill at the pension should really come from a proper butcher shop, so I stopped by Ari Chuksan next to Cheongpyeong Hanaro Mart.

Where is Ari Chuksan and where do you park?

Ari Chuksan is at 23 Gangbyeon-ro, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, right at the entrance of Cheongpyeong 5-day market. You can use the parking lot in front of the market, or park briefly right in front of the shop!

Ari Chuksan, a butcher shop in Cheongpyeong, Gapyeong / 📍 23 Gangbyeon-ro, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do / ⏰ 9:00AM ~ 8:50PM / ➕ Takeout, reservation / 🚘 Parking available

What meat does Ari Chuksan sell?

Ari Chuksan is known for using good raw meat — they carry Hi-Pork brand pork, and they directly auction and butcher hanwoo (Korean beef) themselves. The variety of meat on offer was bigger than I expected.

Beyond the usual pork belly and pork neck, they had cuts you don't often see at a regular butcher — tomahawk, pork tomahawk, kkodeulsal (chewy pork jowl muscle), baekkopsal (pork belly button cut), long-bone pork ribs, lamb ribs, and lamb skewers. They also sell house-made seasoned meats like gochujang jeyuk (spicy pork), soy-marinated bulgogi, beef bulgogi, LA galbi, pork whole roast, and pork cutlets — good for a quick meal at the pension beyond just barbecue.

Why Ari Chuksan covers a whole pension grocery run

I thought it was just a butcher shop selling pork belly and neck, but they also sell pork, beef, seasoned meats, various meal kits, scallion salad and lettuce, peppers, mushrooms, perilla leaves and other vegetables, various sauces and seasonings, eggs, and even charcoal and grills and other camping gear — a great place to shop before a pension trip!

Especially for families like ours heading to Gapyeong with kids to grill at the lodging, it was really convenient to get everything you need in one place.

Weekly butchering days and reservation-order freebies

Ari Chuksan also runs daily events. Tuesday is pork-butchering day, when you can find skin and offal; Thursday is beef-butchering day, with yukhoe (beef tartare), sashimi, liver, and cheonyeop (beef tripe) available; and Friday-Saturday bring weekend sales — worth checking before you visit.

Beyond buying in person, they also offer delivery, and it's free over ₩70,000. So if you happen to stop by while traveling in Gapyeong or Cheongpyeong and like it, you can order again once you're back home — a nice bonus.

What I liked most was that if you apply for a reservation purchase through Naver Place, they throw in generous amounts of salt or sauce. Prepping those little extras — salt, sauce, vegetables — for barbecue is always a hassle, so having that covered was genuinely convenient.

Honeycomb pork belly for adults, 50mm pork belly for kids

We picked out pork belly for the family that day, and I liked that you could choose from several thicknesses. For the adults, I went with the slightly thicker Master's honeycomb pork belly, and since the kids prefer thinner, easier-to-eat pork belly over thick cuts, I chose the thinner 50mm pork belly for them.

Even with the same pork belly, the grilling feel and texture change with thickness, so I liked being able to choose according to each family member's taste :)

We happened to visit on a Thursday, beef-butchering day, and they threw in hanwoo beef sinew as a free bonus — such lucky-vicky luck for our family. It felt like something was missing with just meat, so we also picked out sausages to grill alongside. Pork belly plus sausages packed, off to the pension!

Grilling the pork belly over charcoal at a Gapyeong pension

We arrived at the Gapyeong pension, played in the water right away, and then started the barbecue! Once the pork belly hit the charcoal, the sizzling smell alone made it feel like a real trip — the kids grabbed the sausages first, while the adults ate the pork belly grilled to a nice golden brown. Meat grilled yourself at a pension really does taste different from eating out :)

Choosing the thin pork belly for the kids separately was a genuine masterstroke. Thick meat can sometimes be a bit awkward for kids to eat, but the thin cuts grilled up crispy and were easy to eat, and the kids gobbled it up.

And to finish it off perfectly, ramyeon loaded with the hanwoo beef sinew the owner gave us for free!

Worth knowing before a Cheongpyeong pension trip

On this Gapyeong pension trip, choosing and preparing our own meat instead of grabbing something haphazardly near the lodging made barbecue time far more enjoyable. On a family trip with kids, what to eat at the lodging is a big part of the trip, and this time we ate really well thanks to stocking up thoroughly at Ari Chuksan, from meat to sausages.

People searching for good Cheongpyeong restaurants often think only of places to eat out, but if you're planning a pension trip to Gapyeong or Cheongpyeong like we did, it's worth knowing about a butcher shop like Ari Chuksan where you can buy great meat in advance.