Korean BBQ in Jongno after Changsin-dong Toy Street: Cham Dwaejitgan

I came out of Changsin-dong Toy Street and suddenly wanted pork belly so badly. So I looked for a BBQ place I could get to right from Jongno and ended up at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점). The moment I walked in, the fridge by the entrance was packed with meat and I thought, "this is going to be good." And it was. I finally had a proper pork belly meal after ages.

We only ordered 2 servings of Cham pork belly (참삼겹살) at first, but it was so good that instead of trying another cut, I just added 1 more serving of pork belly. And it's not only the meat. The combination of sliced potatoes grilled alongside, garlic scape pickles, minari (water dropwort) and the sauces is really great.

Where is Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, and what are the hours and parking?

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch is at 1-89 Picadilly CGV Theater 1F, 1 Donhwamun-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea, and it's open daily 12:00–23:00, year-round. There's no parking, but you can reserve through Naver.

• 📍 1-89 Picadilly CGV Theater 1F, 1 Donhwamun-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• 🚇 Walk from Jongno 3-ga Station, Exit 2-1
• ⏰ Daily 12:00–23:00, open year-round
• ✔️ Staff grill the meat for you
• ✔️ Meals available from lunchtime
• ✔️ Naver reservations available
• ✔️ No parking

It's a 1–2 minute walk from Exit 2-1 of Jongno 3-ga Station. It's on the ground floor of the Picadilly CGV building, but you go in through the separate entrance on the outside, not from inside the building. We walked over after Changsin-dong Toy Street, and I loved that it opens at lunchtime, so you can have BBQ during the day.

What caught my eye first was the fridge full of meat. It was stuffed with pork belly, pork neck and more, so I was excited before even ordering. Plenty of BBQ places in Jongno are for evening group dinners, but Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch opens at noon, so you can go when you want a Jongno BBQ lunch too.

Menu prices at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch: how much was it?

We had 3 servings of Cham pork belly, margarine soy sauce egg rice, spicy cold noodles and a bottle of Cass beer, and the total came to ₩63,900. The Cham pork belly is ₩16,000 per serving.

• ✔️ Cham pork belly, 3 servings: ₩48,000
• ✔️ Margarine soy sauce egg rice: ₩3,900
• ✔️ Spicy cold noodles: ₩7,000
• ✔️ Cass beer: ₩5,000
• Total: ₩63,900

We started with 2 servings. I thought about trying another cut, but the pork belly was so good that I just added 1 more serving of Cham pork belly. With the cold noodles and egg rice on the side, it was plenty for two.

How the Cham pork belly tastes and how the staff grill it

The Cham pork belly at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch was juicy and moist, and the staff grill it for you from start to finish, so you can just pick up each piece when it's ready.

At BBQ places, someone is often stuck busily grilling the whole time, but here the staff do it all, so it was easy to focus on the conversation while eating. I think it would also work well for a Jongno work dinner or a group gathering.

Sliced potatoes and minari grilled with the pork belly

The most memorable thing at Cham Dwaejitgan was the sliced potatoes. Thinly sliced potatoes are grilled together with the pork belly, and as they cook in the pork fat they get a little golden outside and soft inside. They're a bit like french fries, and wrapped up with the pork belly they're really good. Next time I eat pork belly at home, I'm definitely grilling sliced potatoes with it.

The minari grilled alongside went well with the meat too, and it freshened up the aroma compared with eating meat alone.

How were the sides: margarine soy sauce egg rice and spicy cold noodles?

For sides at Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch, I ordered margarine soy sauce egg rice (₩3,900) and spicy cold noodles (bibim naengmyeon, ₩7,000).

The margarine soy sauce egg rice tastes exactly the way you'd expect: warm rice with soy sauce, egg and margarine. But after so long, why is it so good? It reminded me of the soy sauce egg rice I ate as a kid, and with a piece of pork belly on top, it went down even better.

The spicy cold noodles were spicy and mildly sweet. Eating them between bites of pork belly cleaned my palate again, so I kept going back for more.

Side dishes and sauces

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch serves side dishes such as cabbage salad and pickled garlic scapes, plus five sauces: salt, ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), wasabi, wasabi mushroom and spicy sauce. I liked the side dish lineup too.

The cabbage salad had an oriental dressing and was tangy, which got my appetite going before the meat. And I really loved the garlic scape pickles. The pork belly is already good, but with a pickle on top you get a tangy, salty kick that makes it much less greasy.

If I had to pick the combo I'd crave again at Cham Dwaejitgan, it's pork belly + sliced potato + garlic scape pickle.

• ✔️ Salt
• ✔️ Ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste)
• ✔️ Wasabi
• ✔️ Wasabi mushroom
• ✔️ Spicy sauce

As someone who loves sauces, I really liked this lineup. One piece with salt, the next with wasabi, the next with the spicy sauce, and I never got tired of it right to the end.

Staff-grilled Jongno pork belly: Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch wrap-up

Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch was the place where I felt, for the first time in a while, that the pork belly itself was really delicious. After the first 2 servings, I didn't move on to another cut but simply added more pork belly, which is probably the most honest review I can give.

Having the meat grilled for us was convenient, and the house combos like sliced potatoes and garlic scape pickles, on top of the minari, made it even better. The margarine soy sauce egg rice tasted like childhood, and the spicy-sweet cold noodles went well with the meat. Next time I'll definitely try the minari fried rice I missed this time.

• ✔️ A place with delicious pork belly
• ✔️ BBQ where the staff grill for you
• ✔️ BBQ available from lunchtime
• ✔️ Easy for group dinners and gatherings

If you're looking for a place like this in Jongno, check out Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch.