Cheongpyeong butcher shop, beef flank with free pink salt: Ari Chuksan

Today I want to introduce a butcher shop I stopped by during a trip to Gapyeong.

Whenever I go on these trips, I always end up buying all my meat before I leave and hauling it with an ice box and ice packs to keep it from spoiling — ugh, such a hassle. This time I thought, let's just buy the beef near Gapyeong instead! So I searched hard and found a place with great prices and meat that looked amazing.

It was my first visit, but since I travel to Gapyeong often, let me introduce a butcher shop I'd definitely return to — Ari Chuksan (아리축산).

Where is Ari Chuksan, and what are its hours?

Ari Chuksan is at 23 Gangbyeon-ro, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, open 09:00–20:50. There's no dedicated parking, but since the road is quiet you can park briefly in front of the store. Otherwise the nearby Hanaro Mart works too — it's less than a minute's walk away.

• Address: 23 Gangbyeon-ro, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Hours: 09:00–20:50
• No dedicated parking
• Accepts Onnuri gift certificates and high-oil-price relief vouchers

It's near Cheongpyeong Station, right at the start of Cheongpyeong, so it's perfect to stop by before heading to a pension in Gapyeong or Cheongpyeong. Almost every pension route passes right by it, so there's no detour at all, haha. There's a Hanaro Mart nearby too, so if you're doing other grocery shopping, it's just a minute away — I'd recommend getting your meat here at Ari Chuksan, haha.

Out front there was a sign board introducing various menu items. Every Thursday seems to be the day they butcher a cow, so they sell yukhoe (raw seasoned beef) and sashimi too. We visited on a Monday, so unfortunately we could only buy grilling cuts, haha.

With Chuseok coming up, both the beef and pork were on a holiday sale! In particular, LA galbi was 1kg for ₩48,000, plus they're giving away galbi marinade with it — we're actually thinking of ordering from here for that too, haha. Because the meat we bought here was so delicious, our whole family fell in love with it... 🥹♥️

They accept Onnuri gift certificates and high-oil-price relief vouchers too, so keep that in mind if you visit!

Inside Ari Chuksan and the points perk for regulars

Inside, they were busy trimming meat. The interior was super clean the moment you walked in, which caught my eye even more.

Regulars who visit often get perks when they build up points! I was so satisfied this time that I think I'll make an account and start using points next time, haha.

Picking Korean beef flank and striploin from the case

Ari Chuksan's Korean beef fridge had a huge range of cuts ready — flower marbled ribeye, galbisal, striploin, tenderloin, and flank (양지꽃살). Just look at the color of this Korean beef... not a single filter added, it's insane. The marbling is perfect too. I'm officially calling this a top beef spot in Gapyeong and Cheongpyeong.

We like meat with some fat on it, so we picked the flank and the striploin. The fridge door opens from the front, so you just point to the cut you want and they hand it over, haha.

Korean pork at Ari Chuksan: pork tomahawk, kkodeul-sal, seasoned whole belly

Since this area is known for its samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly), they had pork cuts rarely seen at regular butcher shops — pork mahawk and kkodeul-sal (neck meat), plus seasoned whole belly, and pale, beautifully colored jowl meat too. Since where we were headed had an electric grill, I skipped the pork mahawk this time, but next time I go somewhere with charcoal, I'm absolutely stopping here again to buy it!!!

Wagyu, lamb chops, meal kits, vegetables and charcoal

They also had plenty of camping- and charcoal-grill-friendly meats like Wagyu ribeye and lamb shoulder rack! Even beyond Korean beef, they had skirt steak and galbisal ready in the fridge, haha.

When you go on a trip, stew is basically mandatory, right? They had really tasty kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) meat on sale too. Quality meat at seriously reasonable prices, (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Besides that, there was sundae (blood sausage), offal, sausages, pork skin, and various other items, plus meal kits like jjimdak (braised chicken) and pork/siraegi gukbap for an easy hangover-cure breakfast the day after a trip.

I almost went crazy seeing chicken wings and wanted to buy them too... but I held back, determined to focus purely on Korean beef, ^^. LA galbi is also amazing grilled over charcoal instead of stewed — they have both stewing and grilling versions, so I'll definitely buy some next time we're somewhere with charcoal, haha.

On top of that, they sold eggs, a variety of vegetables (carrots, onions, squash, lettuce for wraps, etc.), and charcoal plus a grill grate. They had such a wide range of products that you wouldn't even need to stop by another mart!!! Not just the meat being fresh and cheap — the vegetables and eggs looked really fresh too, at reasonable prices.

Grilling the striploin and flank with the free pink salt

The striploin and flank we bought at Ari Chuksan came neatly packed in gold containers, and they threw in pink salt as a free service. Being in that stylish gold packaging made it look even more delicious somehow... My boyfriend, who was taking photos of it too, even said, 'oh, the packaging really makes it look tastier,' lol.

⭐️Pink salt!!!! Pink salt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!⭐️ I really think salt is key when eating good beef, but I always forget to bring some when we travel, and this time was no exception. But them including it as a free service... so thoughtful of them.

Look at the color once the plastic wrap comes off — even more vivid. It was so pretty I ended up taking about 50 photos of just the beef, haha. Was I hypnotized or something?

This is the photo after everything was set up! Lol, it looks super bright in the photo, but I didn't even boost the brightness on purpose — the beef's color was just so vivid it kept coming out this bright. Absolutely insane shine, lol.

The marbling is insane... to think you can eat one serving of this quality, this marbled, for just ₩20,000. Glad I started blogging... to get to eat things like this and discover great places like this.

Let's hear the ASMR of the beef grilling, shall we... We dipped it lightly in the pink salt they gave us, and it really melted in our mouths. I actually prefer it a bit less cooked, but I got so caught up taking photos I overcooked it a little, haha, oops. Still delicious though!!!!

My boyfriend, who loves fattier cuts, had his eyes go wide as saucers after eating this, yelling 'whoa, this is so good!!!!!!!!!!!!' — so I ended up giving up a bit more of my portion to him, sigh.

Next time I visit, I'm definitely getting two packs of the flank as a baseline and then browsing from there, lol. That fatty cut with a bit of fresh wasabi on top is basically heaven, haha.

Is Ari Chuksan worth a stop before a Gapyeong pension stay?

Honestly, lately whenever I travel I try to save time and just do all my grocery shopping on Coupang without stopping anywhere. But seeing and picking meat in person at a butcher shop again after so long definitely doubled my satisfaction. This visit was sponsored, but the owner was genuinely kind, there was a wide variety of meat, and the quality was obviously great just from looking at it — this is somewhere I'd want to revisit even paying out of my own pocket next time.

If you're shopping nearby before heading to a pension in Gapyeong or Cheongpyeong, barbecue is basically mandatory once you get there, so meat is a must!! Buy from Ari Chuksan, a go-to spot for Korean beef and pork, and you won't regret it. Personally, I'd say I'm 200% likely to come back!!!