Jongno3-ga Korean BBQ single-portion pork with potato wraps after work

A while back I had plans with a friend in Jongno, so we met up straight after work for the first time in ages. I thought hard about where to go — I didn't want the usual boring menu, I wanted to fill up on genuinely good meat. Searching for a Jongno pork belly restaurant led me straight to Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch.

There are so many places to eat near Jongno3-ga Station that it's always a struggle to pick one, but this visit was such a success I really wanted to tell you all about it. Walking inside, the space was spacious and clean, and I immediately understood why it's known as a spot for company dinners and get-togethers. The tables weren't cramped either, so the atmosphere was comfortable for grilling meat at your own pace.

Evening waiting and single-portion orders

Waiting seems to be pretty much a given during dinner hours. I'd recommend booking ahead on Catch Table before you go! After the wait, we were seated and everything was already set up at our table.

My friend and I debated what to order and went with pork belly and five-layer pork belly for our first round. Being able to order just one portion at a time seems like a real advantage here.

From the pickled vegetables to the green onion shreds and various sauces, everything was so neat and tidy that I loved it right away. As the grill heated up, my anticipation grew right along with it. They even grilled a full serving of kimchi for us from the very start, which was such a nice touch.

The meat finally arrived! You could tell just by looking that it was super fresh.

Honestly, the potato wraps — Cham Dwaejitgan's own special touch — were the whole reason I was drawn to this restaurant in the first place.

The thinly sliced potato wraps in particular had me especially excited.

Amenities on the table

From paper-wrapped utensils to a portable charger, hair ties, plastic bags for storing clothes, children's tableware, dental floss, mouthwash, and Febreze — this was a restaurant that clearly thinks about its guests!

Before the food arrived, we started on the side dishes, and the pickled garlic scapes in particular were really delicious!

Staff-grilled pork belly and five-layer pork belly

Finally, the meat went on the grill.

It was even better because a staff member grilled it perfectly for us!

As a minari (water dropwort) fanatic, I especially loved that they grilled minari as part of the basic setup! They also grilled the kimchi separately off to the side so we could eat it with the meat from the start, which meant no worrying about the grill getting messy.

The meat turning golden brown on the grill!!

Potato wraps with shiitake wasabi and minari

Just as I'd hoped, what really won my heart here was the potato wrap! At most pork belly restaurants, you get lettuce, perilla leaves, or maybe wild garlic — that's it. But here, they serve these special potato wraps instead. At first I was puzzled about what it even was, but once I grilled it lightly on the pan and wrapped it around the meat, it was a whole new world. The potato's clean, chewy texture paired perfectly with the juicy pork belly.

Take a thick, golden-grilled piece of pork belly, lay it on a potato wrap, add shiitake wasabi and minari, and pop it all in one bite — happiness spreads through your whole mouth. The meat quality itself was so good, with zero gaminess, and the more you chewed the more savory it got. My friend and I couldn't put our chopsticks down and just devoured it! We were completely won over by the potato wrap and kept marveling at it as we ate.

There were so many different combinations to try that we never got tired of it! It was so good that we ended up ordering an extra portion of pork belly.

Finishing with fried rice

And of course, the Korean way to finish is fried rice! They even fried the rice for us themselves.

We chopped up the leftover pork belly and mixed it into the fried rice too!!

Why I want to come back for a company dinner

Unlike typical pork belly restaurants, this place has a distinctive, charming cheat code — the potato wrap — that kept the whole meal fun from start to finish. It's a pork belly restaurant with an addictive charm: the combination of juicy, high-quality meat and clean-tasting potato keeps coming to mind.

Thanks to the spacious, comfortable atmosphere, this time I came for a cozy dinner with a friend, but I found myself already wanting to come back with coworkers for a company dinner. If you're looking for a filling dinner after work, or want to try pork belly with an unusual and delicious combination, why not enjoy the potato wraps tonight at Cham Dwaejitgan, a pork belly restaurant near Jongno3-ga Station?