Room seating and private-room date dinner at Sansol Sinnonhyeon

While out on a Gangnam date with Shin-mon, I found a barbecue restaurant so good I had to write about it.

Since it's Gangnam, we got there by public transit ~ we took an intercity bus, but the subway is actually a bit closer, just so you know haha (you end up walking past the station lol).

We've eaten a lot of meat together, right? Some of those places were genuinely good too..!! But... this one is number one. My life-best barbecue restaurant. I was honestly shocked how good it was the entire meal ㅠㅠ

Here's my review of the restaurant that became my #1 barbecue spot — Sansol Sinnonhyeon.

Finding Sansol Sinnonhyeon from Sinnonhyeon Station

The storefront stands out so it wasn't hard to find ~ there are two entrances you can see, and it doesn't matter which one you go through.

In the second photo, going left brings you to the current view with the waiting chairs, and going right shows the view in the photo right above it, so either entrance works fine ~

Interior mood and room seating

The interior has a slightly dim, atmospheric mood. Right at the entrance there's a meat-aging fridge, and we were lucky enough to actually see them trimming and aging the meat ~

And Sansol Sinnonhyeon doesn't just have hall seating!!

Ta-da ~ there's also room seating, so it'd be great for gatherings or family meals.

What we ordered, plus the limited samgaksal

We ordered pork belly, pork collar, and kkakdugi fried rice.. and after ordering we spotted the limited-quantity samgaksal (pork rump cap)...

Something about 'limited quantity' just makes you want it.. but if we ordered that too it would've been way too much food ㅠㅠ so we promised to come back another time lol (I'd had beef samgaksal before and it was so good, which made this even more of a shame... ㅠㅠ Next time I'm definitely trying it!!)

Also, if you do the review event you get free corkage, and if you don't need corkage you can choose makgeolli or a highball instead — worth joining in ~

The banchan (side dishes)

The banchan (side dishes) came out. Seasoned vegetables, nabak kimchi (watery radish kimchi), mukeunji (aged kimchi), scallion soy paste — all of it was so good!!

When the basic banchan is this good, what does that mean? Odds are high it's a genuinely great restaurant ~

Sansol aged pork belly and pork collar, pre-seared

Sansol aged pork belly, 150g, ₩17,000

Sansol aged pork collar, 150g, ₩17,000

They come out pre-seared, and look at this... the visuals are insane!! The second I saw it I was already sure — 'this is going to be delicious.'

Staff grill the meat for you

Staff grill the meat for you directly, and if you'd rather grill it yourself, apparently you can just say so. I only found that out from reading the note on the tableside ordering tablet lol. But they grilled it so well that honestly, just letting them do it seems totally fine.

(Sometimes I've had staff who aren't great at grilling and I end up not wanting the help, but here they were so good at it that I loved it.)

Definitely order the kkakdugi fried rice

Kkakdugi fried rice (serves 2), ₩10,000

You absolutely have to order this!! It's genuinely amazing! We tend to eat on the less-salty side so it felt a little salty to us, but eating it with the meat balanced it out fine (it's not like they dumped salt over it, so it's manageable).

The kkakdugi fried rice is slightly crispy like scorched rice on the bottom and moist on top — the texture is honestly just perfectly balanced, a genuine life-best fried rice. I've eaten a ton of fried rice over the years, but this place is the best!!

How the pork belly and pork collar actually tasted

Sansol's aged pork belly.. it's just so~~ tender and juicy. Watching it grill actually reminded me of my #1 tonkatsu place — that's the level of visual it had. So I thought, 'wow, this is going to be soft and delicious,' and sure enough it truly~~~ was. It's great eaten on its own, with rice, or wrapped in lettuce — all of it works.'

Sansol's aged pork collar — ugh.. this one was also so~~~~ good ㅠㅠ. This is one of those places where you just keep saying 'this is so good' over and over. Clean and mild yet tender — other aged pork collar is good too, but this place is on another level!! I can't even put it into words — you really have to try it!!

Looking for a Sinnonhyeon pork belly spot? A Sinnonhyeon barbecue restaurant? This is the place, no question!! I honestly haven't tried other places and there's no need to — just come to Sansol Sinnonhyeon!! Highly, highly recommend!!!

Book on Naver or Catch Table, whichever you prefer, before you go ~ (it'd be so sad to show up and not get a table ㅜㅜ so make a reservation!! I really want everyone to try this place ㅠㅠ)

Sansol Sinnonhyeon location, parking and hours

• Location: 15 Gangnam-daero 112-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, ground floor (198-17 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
• Parking: available (paid), flat rate ₩3,000 / across the street at the Designers Hotel, mechanical parking for 2 hours (₩3,000 small car, ₩5,000 large car)
• Hours: weekdays (Mon–Fri) 12:00–23:00, break time 15:00–16:00 / weekends (Sat–Sun) 12:00–22:30