Free-corkage Korean BBQ near Jonggak Station: Jonggak-ap Nosang

Among BBQ places, the ones that put pork neck front and center almost always have better meat overall. Pork neck usually has a reputation for being dry, but at the good places it actually tastes better than either regular pork belly or the thicker cut.

Jonggak-ap Nosang Gongyeong Juchajang near Jonggak Station in Gwancheol-dong is one of those pork neck places — the charcoal grilling is excellent, staff grill your meat all the way through, and it's free corkage, which makes it a great Jongno spot for a group dinner.

How to walk to Jonggak-ap Nosang Gongyeong Juchajang from Jonggak Station Exit 4

The restaurant is a 4-minute walk from Jonggak Station Exit 4, on the 5th floor of a building in the Gwancheol-dong Youth Street alley. In front of the entrance there's a pile of empty liquor bottles — looks like the remains of everyone's free-corkage drinks.

Since it's on the 5th floor, the entrance is right next to the elevator. Instead of the usual glass door you get a wooden sliding door — it felt a bit like walking into a mountain lodge, haha.

The dining room was quite spacious and there are private tables too, so it's a good Jongno BBQ spot for a company dinner.

Menu, prices and free corkage rules at Jonggak-ap Nosang Gongyeong Juchajang

Sets here start at ₩99,000 for the Recommended Set (500g), and corkage is free for any alcohol except what's sold in the restaurant itself.

• Recommended Set (500g) ₩99,000 — hanwoo (150g) + pork neck (200g) + pork belly (150g)
• Pork Set A (600g) ₩69,000 — pork neck (200g) + pork belly (200g) + skirt meat (200g)
• Pork Set B (1000g) ₩119,000 — pork neck (300g) + pork belly (300g) + skirt meat (200g) + pork jowl (200g)
• Premium Set (400g) ₩167,000 — chuck flap (100g) + top blade (100g) + sirloin (100g) + rib finger (100g)
• Hanwoo chuck flap (110g) ₩49,000 / hanwoo top blade (110g) ₩49,000
• Hanwoo sirloin (110g) ₩44,000 / hanwoo rib finger (110g) ₩44,000
• Pork neck (150g) ₩17,000 / pork belly (150g) ₩17,000
• Skirt meat (150g) ₩19,000 / pork jowl (150g) ₩24,000 / pork skin (150g) ₩12,000
• Free corkage (any alcohol allowed except what's sold in-house!!!)

After ordering the set, the side dishes and accompaniments arrived.

Green onion kimchi, white kimchi, pickled onion, pickled aster scaber, plus ssamjang (dipping sauce), garlic sauce, and salt.

Bringing Kagoshima sweet potato soju in under free corkage

Since this Jonggak restaurant is corkage-free, I brought a sweet potato soju that pairs great with meat — Kagoshima's Sekitoba (Red Horse), 25% ABV.

The charcoal in the grill was at just the ideal temperature. While grilling I noticed the heat wasn't too high or too low — exactly right for cooking meat.

Shredded green onions and lettuce showed up too.

What comes in the 99,000 won Recommended Set: hanwoo sirloin, pork neck, pork belly

The Recommended Set at this Jonggak restaurant comes with hanwoo (150g), pork neck (200g), pork belly (150g), corn, king oyster mushroom, and oyster mushroom.

Hanwoo sirloin, corn, king oyster mushroom, and fermented shrimp sauce (myeoljeot) went onto the charcoal grill.

Once the sirloin had cooked somewhat, the pork belly went onto the grill grate too.

At this Jonggak spot, staff grill the meat all the way through, which made eating very easy.

With practiced hands, the staff member finished off a perfect hanwoo sirloin grill.

Tender, delicious beef sirloin.

House-made garlic sauce instead of fresh wasabi

The beef sirloin was grilled beautifully. I ate the first round with salt, and the second dipped in the garlic sauce. It looked like plain minced garlic but wasn't spicy at all — they said it's a house-made sauce based on ground garlic.

There's no fresh wasabi here — instead they serve this house-made garlic sauce, and the combination with the meat is really delicious.

While we worked through the sirloin, the pork neck rested for a bit. They even placed ice next to the raw pork neck to keep it fresh — a nice touch of attention to detail from a place that clearly takes its meat seriously.

Staff grill the meat from first slice to last

After the sirloin, as the pork belly slowly cooked, the pork neck went onto the grate too. Cutting meat with scissors while grilling isn't easy work, and I really appreciated the staff cutting every table's meat, not just once but repeatedly.

At many BBQ places offering grilling service, staff only grill at the start and leave you to finish the rest yourself — but here, it was impressive that they grilled everything all the way to the end.

The pork belly finished cooking too, lined up neatly next to the sirloin.

Beautifully grilled pork belly. Pork belly really does go best wrapped in lettuce.

The pork neck was nearly done and got cut into bite-sized pieces with scissors.

With the pork neck done, the whole set of grilled meat was complete.

Why the pork neck at Jonggak-ap Nosang Gongyeong Juchajang tastes different

Among hanwoo sirloin, pork neck, and pork belly, my personal favorite cut is pork neck. At ordinary belly-focused BBQ places, pork neck tends to be dry and unpopular compared to belly, but at places that specialize in it, the neck is genuinely different.

There was just the right amount of fat in the neck meat — not dry, tender, and without the heaviness of belly. It's honestly best eaten completely plain.

Half-and-half naengmyeon and kkakdugi fried rice to finish

The half-and-half naengmyeon (cold noodles, ₩7,000) is exactly what it sounds like — half bibim (spicy mixed) and half mul (cold broth), served with individual bowls and a ladle, which made it easy to split between two people.

Cubed fried rice (₩8,000). Somehow a BBQ meal feels incomplete without fried rice at the end — it's basically a required order.

This Jonggak restaurant clearly has good meat quality. The charcoal grill is great, the staff's grilling service is great, and they grill the meat well.

When a BBQ place has good meat quality, the taste is just noticeably different, haha.

Hours and location of Jonggak-ap Nosang Gongyeong Juchajang in Jongno

• Daily 12:00–23:00
• No break time, open 7 days a week
• 4-minute walk from Jonggak Station Exit 4
• In the Gwancheol-dong Jonggak Youth Street alley, 5th floor of the building