Thick aged pork neck at Gangdong Korean BBQ: Geumdon Hwaro

Today I'm sharing my review of Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch, where I recently had some incredible meat near Sangil-dong Station. The tenderness of the aged meat and the professional grilling service were both spot on.

Where is Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch, and where do you park?

Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch is at 서울시 강동구 고덕로 399 메가스퀘어동 1층 132호. Hours are Monday–Friday 16:00–23:00, Saturday–Sunday 15:30–23:00, and last order is at 21:30.

For parking, use the Godeok Central Prugio commercial parking lot. Park on B2, come up to the 1st floor, and it's right next to Starbucks on the main street side.

Geumdon Hwaro's waiting perks: wait an hour, get a free serving of meat

Here's something neat — they have a waiting-time perk system! Wait 15–30 minutes and you get a drink, 30 minutes to an hour and you get soju or beer, and if you wait a full hour, they give you a serving of meat for free!! With perks like that, wouldn't waiting feel a lot more pleasant?

I visited around an awkward weekend time of 4:50pm, and there were already quite a few customers. By the time we sat down to eat, every table except reserved ones had filled up. If you want to avoid waiting, I'd recommend making a reservation on weekends.

What we ordered at Geumdon Hwaro, plus the side dishes and sauces

At Geumdon Hwaro Sangil-dong Station Branch we ordered aged raw pork belly (1 serving), aged raw pork neck (2 servings), pork-packed kimchi jjigae, and 2 bowls of rice.

Order list Aged raw pork belly, 1 serving Aged raw pork neck, 2 servings Pork-packed kimchi jjigae Rice x2

Once you order, they bring out side dishes and sauces to go with the meat. There's a good variety of both here, so it was fun mixing and matching combinations.

Staff grilling service: the meat is cooked for you from start to finish

There's a grill built into the end of the table. From start to finish, the staff grill the meat for you themselves!! Thanks to that, you don't need to worry about grilling it yourself, and you get meat cooked far more skillfully. I have zero talent for grilling meat myself, so places like this where they do it for you are tastier, easier, and just better haha.

The meat arrived! Look at the thickness of that pork neck... Seriously thick. Even before it's cooked, the visual already promises deliciousness.

While the meat was cooking, a fluffy steamed egg and fresh kimchi salad also came out. I was hungry so I had a bite of the steamed egg first, and the fluffy texture was no joke.

While grilling, they even thoughtfully grilled the bracken fern side dish too~ Grilling bracken fern really brings out its texture and flavor even more~

It's always true that food someone else makes tastes better, and meat someone else grills tastes better too, but the staff at Geumdon Hwaro really seem like professionals. They grilled it to the perfect state.

How the aged pork tastes, first bite with just salt

They gave us a piece on our plate and recommended trying it dipped in salt first. So I dipped it lightly in salt and had a bite... Wow. It was so good. Best meat I've had in a long while. The juices burst out and the texture was so tender — I completely fell for it...

Following the pairing chart on the table

One of Geumdon Hwaro's strengths, besides the grilling service, is the variety of side dishes and sauces, which makes mixing and matching a lot of fun. There was even a recommended-combination chart right on the table.

So I tried a variety of combinations following the chart, and also made up some of my own. None of the side dishes were too heavily seasoned, so they all paired well with the meat, and the sauces were all perfect matches — everything tasted great no matter how I ate it.

The must-order cut at Geumdon Hwaro is the pork neck

Oh, and if you come to Geumdon Hwaro, you have to get the pork neck. The thick pork neck was moist and tender, without any gamey smell at all, full of juice, and not tough in the slightest. It'd be a crime not to try pork neck this good!!!

Pork-packed kimchi jjigae to finish the meal

When you're eating meat, you can't skip out on a soup, right? So we ordered the kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew). Bubbling away in a stone pot, the visuals alone were a pass! And it was packed with meat inside. Softly braised kimchi, generous amounts of pork, and big chunks of tofu made it a perfect kimchi jjigae. Taking a sip of the broth between bites of meat refreshed the palate and let us eat even more delicious meat haha.

• Staff-grilling service from start to finish
• Meat that's tender, juicy, and free of any gamey smell
• Deep, spicy kimchi jjigae

With all three elements perfect, this was a really satisfying Korean BBQ spot, and I definitely want to come back!!! Planning to bring my family next time haha.