Korean BBQ near Mangwon Market with fire-seared pork: Dwaejibangatgan

How do you get to Dwaejibangatgan near Mangwon Station?

Dwaejibangatgan (돼지방앗간) is a BBQ restaurant on the 2nd floor of the Jokbal Cheonha building, 200m and a 3-minute walk from Exit 2 of Mangwon Station. It was a fun weekday date day~ We wanted to visit a pretty café in Mangwon and eat meat too, so we stopped by Dwaejibangatgan, a famous Mangwon-dong restaurant! I found it while looking for a BBQ place on the Mangridan-gil side, and the name alone was already unusual. Long story short: totally certified as a meat spot in Mangridan-gil~~~~~

It's so close to Mangwon Station that getting there is super easy!! If you take the bus, get off at Mangwon Market or Mangwon-dong Worldcup Market Entrance. If you drive, search Dwaejibangatgan on your navigation, turn into the alley between Jokbal Cheonha and Jeonju Kongnamul Gukbap (bean sprout soup restaurant), and park in the lot behind the Kongnamul Gukbap building, or so I'm told~~ Hours are 16:00–01:00 and you can book on Naver, so I recommend reserving ahead on weekends.

What are the atmosphere and hygiene like at Dwaejibangatgan?

The inside of Dwaejibangatgan is clean and tidy overall, and the utensil drawers under the tables are sterilizing units. Spick and span~ the whole place felt neat haha. If you sit by the window you get a leafy green view, which looked so pretty!! It was a nice space for eating meat with a bit of atmosphere!

Oh, and the utensil drawer under the table sterilizes the cutlery... my boyfriend and I were both impressed haha. Hygienic place, thumbs up.

What are the Dwaejibangatgan menu and prices, and what did we order?

At Dwaejibangatgan we ordered 2 servings of fire-grilled pork belly, 2 servings of fire-grilled pork neck and 1 perilla oil Jjapaghetti. Here's the menu!! This is how we ordered.

• 100% Korean pork fire-grilled raw pork belly, ₩16,000 per serving – 2 servings
• 100% Korean pork fire-grilled raw pork neck, ₩16,000 per serving – 2 servings
• Perilla oil Jjapaghetti from the 18-year master's oil mill, ₩6,000

(They say they use ingredients brought straight from the oil mill run for over 18 years by the owner's parents!!!! Both the perilla oil and sesame oil are pressed there, and this detail was really something else, I was so touched.)

What side dishes come with Dwaejibangatgan's meat?

The basic table setting at Dwaejibangatgan comes with cumin, wasabi and salt dips, pickled onions, sesame oil ssamjang (seasoned dipping paste), myeongi namul (pickled wild garlic-like greens), dongchimi (radish water kimchi), mustard leaf kimchi and vegetables. Here are the basic sides! The dips you'd use for lamb skewers? Cumin, wasabi and salt came out, plus pickled onions and sesame oil ssamjang. I don't really like ssamjang, so I asked the owner for just sesame oil on the side. I felt a bit awkward asking, haha, but he was kind about it, thank you~~^.^

Myeongi namul, dongchimi, mustard leaf kimchi and vegetables came out too! The dongchimi was amazing.. I kept scooping it up and wanted refills the whole time we ate meat.

How do the pork belly and pork neck taste at Dwaejibangatgan?

The meat at Dwaejibangatgan arrives first seared over a direct flame, and you grill it a second time at your table. The meat is finally here haha. It was 4 servings so the amount was really big, can you tell even from the photo...lol. My foodie boyfriend ate all of it... seriously impressive lol. I ate quite a lot too, but he ate way more haha.

Need I even say how the meat tastes.. It comes seared over a direct flame first, then you grill it at the table!! They managed the heat well, so nothing burned and it cooked just right haha. The pork belly was crispy outside and juicy inside, and the pork neck was super tender and chewy.

Please order both... it probably depends on taste haha. I'm team pork belly, my boyfriend is team pork neck!! The meat itself is tender with no gamey smell at all, so just a bit of sesame oil and salt was plenty tasty!!!! The kimchi was so good too, grilled together it's a perfect match!! I kept reaching for the grilled kimchi... totally certified Mangridan-gil favorite haha.

Is the oil mill perilla oil Jjapaghetti a good way to finish?

Dwaejibangatgan's perilla oil Jjapaghetti (₩6,000), made with perilla oil pressed at the oil mill, is a finishing dish with an exceptionally nutty flavor. The last dish, perilla oil Jjapaghetti... you already know the taste, no need to say. It's not just plain Jjapaghetti (black bean instant noodles); they use perilla oil pressed at the oil mill, so the nuttiness was on another level. I was so full from the meat that I planned to eat just a little, but it went down easier than expected. A perfect way to end a meat meal!

What to do after Dwaejibangatgan: Mangwon Market

On the way out at Dwaejibangatgan we got a mini bottle of freshly pressed sesame oil, and after the meal we browsed nearby Mangwon Market. They even gave us a mini bottle of their freshly pressed sesame oil on the way out T_T I was so moved... small touches of care like this make you want to come back haha. The food quality matters, but little details like this stay in your memory for a long time!

Mangwon Market is close by, so I recommend this for a day of strolling Mangridan-gil and the market and eating tasty things! Go to Dwaejibangatgan first to fill your belly, then wander the market (just like us). The day we went, some TV crew was filming, maybe the "6 Naegohyang" show? lol, so cool... The vegetables were really cheap lol. There are lots of good bakeries too! (They were sold out so I couldn't buy anything...)

I totally recommend Dwaejibangatgan as a Mangridan-gil and Mangwon Market food spot!!!!