Seongnam samgyeopsal restaurant for family dinner with kids: Musoettuk

If you're looking for cast-iron grilled pork belly and generous side dishes near Sinheung Station in Sujeong-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Musoettuk Samgyeop Sinheung Station Branch is worth checking out. Thick-cut pork belly grilled with minari, tofu and kimchi, plus kimchi fried rice and cool kimchi-mari guksu (kimchi noodle soup) round out a hearty meat-focused meal.

Where to find a staff-grilled pork belly restaurant near Sinheung Station in Seongnam

Musoettuk Samgyeop Sinheung Station Branch sits close to the subway station and is easy to spot thanks to its large yellow sign and tiled-roof exterior, visible from a distance. At the entrance, a notice about a TV appearance, a celebrity visit signature, and a waitlist sheet made it clear right away this is a popular spot with a wait during mealtimes.

We arrived before the actual mealtime rush, and there was already a long wait. It really does seem to be a well-known spot in Seongnam. That just made me look forward to it even more.

Inside, the staff take full charge of grilling the meat, so we could relax and chat without worrying about oil splatters — a really comfortable atmosphere. At home you have to grill the meat yourself, which is a hassle, but here it felt like being taken care of.

What comes with the Musoettuk Samgyeop set: minari, tofu and meljeot

This time we ordered the Musoettuk Samgyeop set for 3-4 people. After browning the pork belly to a golden crisp on the heavy cast-iron plate, they piled the center — where the fat collects — generously with delicious aged kimchi, fresh minari, tofu, and meljeot sauce (a fermented anchovy sauce) simmered right there.

The kids ate their meat with kimchi, while I piled mine on lettuce with pickled scallion and seasoned chili. Having side dishes to suit everyone's taste was such a nice touch.

The fragrant fresh minari cut through the richness of the pork, while the nutty grilled tofu and tangy kimchi added both cleanness and depth. Wrapping a piece of meat in lettuce with the well-seasoned pickled scallion and grilled kimchi gave a rich texture and full flavor with every bite. The meat was grilled to just the right doneness from start to finish — crisp outside, juicy and tender inside.

Doenjang jjigae and cold kimchi-mari guksu between rounds of pork

Midway through the meal, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) arrived hot in a stone pot. Loaded with diced tofu and zucchini, the broth wasn't sharp at all — savory and comforting to spoon up alongside rice or meat.

To finish off the meat course, we chose kimchi-mari guksu — chewy thin noodles in a broth topped generously with slush ice, chopped kimchi, and crumbled seaweed. The noodles came up so cold that bits of slush clung to the chopsticks, washing away the heaviness after all that meat with a refreshingly clean finish.

Kimchi fried rice with a fried egg: the finish you should not skip

The real finale of any Korean BBQ meal is fried rice. They laid foil over the cast-iron plate, stir-fried the rice sweet and spicy, sprinkled it with seaweed flakes, and topped it with a soft-boiled fried egg right in the center.

Popping the yolk and mixing it into the nutty rice, the crunch of the kimchi and the softness of the egg came together perfectly — we managed to finish it down to the very last spoonful.