Crush beer and herb-free front leg jokbal in Sindorim: The Jokbal

I had somewhere to be near Sindorim and was trying to figure out dinner when I went to a jokbal (pork trotters) place a friend recommended — and it was so good...

My friend works near Sindorim and kept telling me there's a genuinely amazing jokbal place near her office. I finally went this time, haha, and texted her a thank-you the moment I took a bite lol.

First of all, I loved that the jokbal had no bad smell, and it was really tender and soft, so I ate it super happily!

Where The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch is, and its lunch specials

The Jokbal, a Sindorim jokbal restaurant, was super accessible thanks to being close to Sindorim Station. The address is 1F, Sindorim 3-cha Prugio Apartment commercial building, 619-3 Gyeongin-ro, Guro-gu.

They sell lunch specials like kongguksu (cold soy milk noodles), a bossam set, or a sundubu set, so it's also great as a Sindorim office worker spot — and apparently the chef used to work at the Chosun Hotel, which probably explains why it's extra tasty haha. There's a decent variety too, like jeyuk ssambap and spicy hanwoo gukbap, so next time I'm near Sindorim I definitely want to come for lunch...lol.

Is The Jokbal good for work dinners and dates?

The Jokbal, this Sindorim restaurant, had a really comfortable atmosphere — there were families eating out, and quite a few people on dates or group gatherings.

There's also a space behind that partition, so it seems popular for Sindorim work dinners or group meetups too, haha.

And the kitchen was half-open, and it looked really clean and well-run, so I felt like I could trust the food, haha.

The Jokbal menu lineup and Crush beer

At The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch, you can get front leg, back leg, and grilled spicy jokbal, plus naengchae jokbal, so there's something for every taste, and there's bossam too, so you can order the jokbal-bossam half-and-half! For sides there's mung bean pancake and steamed egg to go with the jokbal, but it seemed like it'd be way too much food so I just ordered the jokbal for now, haha.

Also, this Sindorim restaurant sells Crush beer on top of Cass and Kelly, so I'd recommend it to Crush fans as a Sindorim spot that carries it. Honestly I'm a Cass-is-the-best-Korean-beer kind of person, but it seems like Crush has quite the fan base, haha.

The front leg jokbal that was worth thanking a friend for

When I eat jokbal, I get turned off if the herbal smell is too strong, but the jokbal at this Sindorim restaurant didn't have much of that smell, so I ate it super happily!

We ordered the front leg jokbal. They say front leg is more tender and tastier than back leg, and it really was amazing, haha. Especially clean-tasting, with plenty of lean meat, some fat, and chewy skin — I could see why families bring their kids to eat this! The kids at another family's table nearby were eating so well too, it was really cute.

To wrap the jokbal, they give you baby cabbage, lettuce, perilla leaf, garlic, onion, and scallion — probably because this Sindorim restaurant has good turnover, the vegetables were super fresh, so the wraps tasted even better!

Banchan and bean sprout soup at The Jokbal

The side dishes were also really good — the chive salad was fresh and not overly seasoned,

the radish salad was great too — the weather's been weird lately so sometimes radish turns soft, but this one was crisp, perfect alongside the jokbal!

The bean sprout soup came out nice and cool, which paired well with the jokbal and felt refreshing in the hot weather!

The free naengchae jokbal (cold seasoned pork trotters)

They also gave us a small serving of naengchae jokbal (cold seasoned pork trotters) as a service item — this is such a great dish for summer that I'd want to order it on its own next visit, it was that good. If you're a fan of Busan-style naengchae jokbal, give this a try in Seoul too, haha.

Since it's front leg meat, the meat itself was delicious, but I also loved that the spice smell wasn't strong and it tasted clean.

Front leg meat has relatively tender lean meat and skin still attached for that chewy texture, and it was clean without any spice smell so it tasted even better. I like jokbal, but with herbal-style jokbal the medicinal smell is usually too strong for me — this one had none of that, just clean and savory, really the kind of jokbal that wouldn't split opinion!

If you like moist, chewy jokbal, The Jokbal is truly the best!

Sundubu jjigae as a side to the jokbal

Eating jokbal made me crave something hot and soupy, so we ordered sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew).

At jokbal restaurants, sundubu jjigae seems to be nearly as popular a side as makguksu (buckwheat noodles). Jokbal can feel a bit rich after a while, and apparently the soft, spicy sundubu cuts through that richness — my foodie friend said this and I literally smacked my forehead. Yeah, that's really it, haha.

The sundubu jjigae had a ton of soft tofu in it, and above all the broth was delicious, haha. Spicy in a good way. Honestly the jokbal was so tasty on its own that I didn't get tired of eating it by hand, but having the sundubu jjigae alongside made that richness fade away, which was great!

Final thoughts on The Jokbal Sindorim Main Branch

If you're looking for a good jokbal restaurant in Sindorim, I'd definitely recommend The Jokbal! Honestly, I usually hesitate with jokbal if the herbal smell is too strong, but here the spice smell wasn't overpowering and tasted clean, so I enjoyed it without hesitation from the very first bite.

The tender lean meat and chewy skin unique to front leg meat made for great texture, and the fresh vegetables kept me reaching for more wraps — the garlic was so fresh that my stomach hurt the next day...I'll probably eat even more garlic next time lol.

Especially pairing it with the sundubu jjigae, the spicy broth completely handled the slight richness of the jokbal, so I never got tired of it until the very last bite. The naengchae jokbal they gave as a service item was so good that next time I plan to come back just for that. Now that I've tried it myself, I totally get why my friend recommended it so much, and I think this place will come to mind for family dinners, dates, or group gatherings in Sindorim too, haha.