Hapjeong garden patio Korean BBQ: pork jowl add-on, Jeongyukdo

Jeongyukdo, a Hapjeong garden patio Korean BBQ spot for an 11-year reunion

Jeongyukdo is a Korean BBQ restaurant with a patio (야장, outdoor garden seating) just one minute's walk from Exit 5 of Hapjeong Station, and this was my third visit. On Friday, September 11, I met Songhee and Seungwon, who were in my class during our senior year of high school.

I still see Seungwon pretty often, but this was genuinely the first time I'd had drinks with Songhee like this haha. The three of us hadn't been together in 11 years, so we figured it was time to catch up over good food and a few drinks.

The weather's been so nice lately, perfect for grilling meat on a patio, and one place immediately came to mind — Jeongyukdo, the Hapjeong Station restaurant I was visiting for the third time :)

One minute from Hapjeong Station Exit 5: Jeongyukdo hours and reservations

Being just a minute's walk from Hapjeong Station Exit 5 made it easy to meet up with friends — a convenient Korean BBQ restaurant near the station, great for setting a meeting spot or dropping by for meat after work.

Hours are Sunday 11:30–22:00, other days 11:30–23:00, with last orders at 20:30 and 21:30 respectively. Naver Reservations are available too, so if you want a specific time slot, booking ahead is a good idea.

Parking and corkage at Jeongyukdo

There's no on-site parking lot. But there's a Kakao T unmanned parking lot and a Yonsei parking lot right in front of the entrance, so if you're driving, you can use one of those nearby paid lots. I heard using the Modu Parking Lot app can save a bit on fees too.

Jeongyukdo also allows corkage for ₩5,000 per person, so if you'd like to bring your own drinks to enjoy with the meat, that's worth keeping in mind.

What the garden patio at Jeongyukdo feels like

With the weather improving, I really wanted to eat on the patio that day. I love that outdoor patio vibe, and grilling meat outside with friends over drinks on a nice day sounded perfect, so this meeting spot basically chose itself lol.

As a Hapjeong Station restaurant where you can enjoy the patio on a nice day, it was a perfect fit for catching up comfortably with friends I hadn't seen in a while while eating great meat.

There were quite a lot of people inside when we visited. The interior was clean and well-kept, and the restroom was conveniently located inside.

I was the first customer on the patio at first, but as we chatted and looked around, the outdoor seats gradually started filling up one by one. By the end, the patio was almost completely full. The staff were also friendly about explaining orders and how things worked, so I think even first-time visitors would find it easy to navigate. On nice days, it seems like a lot of people want to eat on the patio.

Sitting outside genuinely felt like camping. Grilling the meat ourselves, sitting around with friends outdoors — it gave off a bit of a travel-trip feeling too lol. I love a patio, I really do. This was exactly the mood I wanted that day, so I felt good the moment I sat down haha.

And at the outdoor tables, tapping your phone via NFC brought up the menu right away. You could check the menu and order directly from your phone without calling a staff member over, which was convenient.

Jeongyukdo menu and what the three of us ordered

Jeongyukdo is a Hapjeong Station Korean BBQ restaurant where you can enjoy both aged 1++ hanwoo beef, prized for its deep flavor from dry-aging, alongside domestic pork specialty cuts. Beyond pork specialty cuts, raw short rib, pork belly and pork neck, they also had a range of premium hanwoo menu items like flap steak, sirloin and beef tartare.

There were also pork specialty cut sets — pork jowl, skirt meat, outer skirt — great for sampling a variety when dining in a group. The restaurant is spacious and has that outdoor garden patio, making it a good fit for friend gatherings, work dinners, dates or family outings. Jeongyukdo has also been featured on the TV program Live Today (생방송투데이), episode 3661.

We started by ordering the meat.

• Pork set with meljeot dip: ₩49,000
• Jinro soju: ₩5,000
• Cass beer: ₩5,000

The pork set with meljeot dip came with raw short rib, flower pork neck and pork belly, plus a stone pot of meljeot (fermented anchovy dip). Great for the three of us to sample a variety of cuts.

Not long after ordering, the side dishes started arriving one by one — shredded scallion salad, dried radish, pickles and fermented seafood, along with mustard seed sauce, wasabi and salt to go with the meat. We nibbled on those while waiting for the meat, haha.

Before long, the meat arrived too. The quality was excellent, as expected. The staff kindly guided us on anything we needed, so we could eat comfortably without any hassle.

Since it's a self-grill setup, we put the meat on the grill and got started right away. They also gave us a king oyster mushroom and two pieces of garlic scape.

Once the meat started grilling, the patio vibe really kicked in.

Sitting with friends waiting for the meat to cook while sipping soju and beer and chatting — that time was genuinely great.

How the 49,000-won pork set with meljeot dip tasted: pork neck, pork belly, fresh ribs

We started with the flower pork neck, and the meat was so much more tender than I expected. Even grilled thick, it wasn't tough at all — soft, and the flavor really came through the more we chewed.

The pork belly had exactly the lean-to-fat ratio I like. Not too greasy, not too dry, so one bite plus a shot of soju went down really smoothly lol.

Dipped in the meljeot, it was even better. The savory saltiness of the meljeot made the pork belly's rich flavor come through even more.

We also tried the raw short rib. Of all the short rib, the meat right by the bone was my favorite. I don't know why bone-in meat tastes so good lol. As we picked at the meat piece by piece and drank along, it disappeared fast. But three friends meeting up — we couldn't just stop there, right? Lol.

Pork jowl at Jeongyukdo, 21,000 won per serving and a first taste

Once we'd nearly finished the pork set, we wanted to try more, so we added two servings of pork jowl. It was ₩21,000 per serving. This was actually my first time ever trying pork jowl, so I was curious what it would taste like — and it was so much better than I expected the moment I tried it.

Chewy yet savory, with flavor that kept coming through the more I chewed — it paired perfectly as a drinking snack. That day I thought, this place really knows pork jowl lol. Next time, I'll start with pork jowl from the beginning!!!!!! I had no idea my first pork jowl would be this good, haha.

Hanwoo beef doenjang stew and steamed egg to finish

We'd had plenty of meat, but the meal course couldn't be skipped.

We also ordered the hanwoo beef doenjang stew (soybean paste stew), priced at ₩5,000. Songhee and Seungwon asked why I hadn't ordered the doenjang sulbap (rice cooked in the stew pot) instead — I'd thought we were just having the stew on its own lol.

So we added a bowl of steamed rice for ₩1,000 and mixed it into the stew. It was so much better than expected too. After all that meat, ending with doenjang stew and rice was the perfect finish.

We also ordered a steamed egg for ₩4,000, and it was really soft with just the right seasoning. After eating meat nonstop, having a spoonful of steamed egg in between paired really well.

Between the meat, the doenjang stew with rice, the steamed egg, and drinks throughout, we had so much to talk about after not seeing each other for so long, haha. Meeting up for the first time in 11 years, we went through everything from high school stories to catching up on our lives since then.

By the time we finished eating and drinking, we were completely full. After thoroughly working through the meat, drinks and side dishes, it was time to move on to the next spot lol.

Was a third visit to Jeongyukdo worth it?

Before paying and leaving, I took one more look around the restaurant, and there were tons of celebrity autographs posted all over the walls. Seeing that, it made sense why this place draws so many visitors.

Being close to Hapjeong Station Exit 5 makes it easy to get to, and on nice days you get the patio atmosphere on top of that — a solid spot for meeting up with friends. Above all, you can try a wide range of meat, from pork specialty cuts to hanwoo beef, and the staff were attentive throughout, making for an overall comfortable meal. The pork jowl I tried for the first time that day was especially memorable, haha.

Even on my third visit, I left satisfied again, and if I ever need Korean BBQ in Hapjeong, I'll likely come back to Jeongyukdo. Next time, I want to order the pork jowl I loved that day right from the start and really do it justice, haha.

What we liked, what fell short, and who Jeongyukdo suits

• What we liked: Being close to Hapjeong Station Exit 5 made it easy to find, and on a nice day, enjoying the patio atmosphere while eating meat was a real plus.
• What fell short: Nothing in particular this time — from the meat to the side dishes, everything was satisfying overall.
• Recommendation: For anyone near Hapjeong Station looking for good meat and drinks with friends, or wanting to enjoy the patio atmosphere on a nice day, I'd recommend this place.