Myeongil-dong bossam restaurant with parking out front: Iseon Hwaduk

We were out with my husband and kids over the weekend, and on the way home after being out all day, I just didn't have it in me to cook dinner too haha. On days like that, eating out and heading straight home is the best plan!

Bossam (boiled pork wrap) happens to be one of the kids' favorite foods, and I heard Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch has wood-fired pizza too, which the kids would love — so we went for dinner.

Once we tried it, the bossam was soft with no gamey smell, and it went really well with the spicy makguksu (buckwheat noodles). Best of all, it's a restaurant with parking right in front — surprisingly hard to find in Myeongil-dong — which made it easy to visit with our SUV.

Where is Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch, and when is it open?

• Address: 8 Yangjaedae-ro 147-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea (101호)
• Hours: Daily 12:00 - 23:30
• About 100m from Myeongil Station Exit 2
• Parking available in front of the restaurant
• High chairs available
• Reservation / takeout / delivery available

A short walk from Myeongil Station, with parking right in front

Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch, a well-known bossam spot near Myeongil Station, is just a short walk from Exit 2 of Line 5's Myeongil Station. Public transit works fine, but since we're moving around with kids, we drove that day too.

Honestly, parking is something you always have to think about when eating out in Myeongil-dong. Not many restaurants have parking, and even the ones that do often have mechanical parking systems — and our SUV doesn't fit into those. So sometimes when we drive to Myeongil-dong to eat, we end up hunting for parking before we even pick a restaurant.

But Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch had space for up to 3 cars right in front. *There's also a basement parking lot in the building, but the entrance looks too narrow for an SUV to get in.*

The parking area itself isn't huge, but just being able to park directly instead of dealing with a mechanical system was a big relief for our family. Especially with kids in tow, not having to walk far from the car after parking was a real plus — being able to park right in front and walk straight in was great.

The menu and the free gorgonzola pizza for a Naver review

The signature menu at Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch is the wood-fired jokbal (pork trotters). But our kids prefer soft bossam over chewy jokbal, so we ordered bossam again this time.

Besides the basic jokbal and bossam, they also serve spicy jokbal, cold jokbal salad, whole octopus, assorted whelk stew, clam soup, dried pollock, gorgonzola pizza, grilled pollock roe, canned peaches, pear sherbet, and more. Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch works well whether you're stopping by for a meal or for drinks.

Leave a Naver review and you get a free gorgonzola pizza!

A weekend evening that filled every table at Iseon Hwaduk

We visited on a weekend evening. We took our seats, ordered, and started eating — and before long, customers kept streaming in until the whole place was suddenly full.

It wasn't just dine-in customers — delivery orders kept coming in too. Next time we might just order delivery at home from this popular Myeongil-dong delivery spot, Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch.

There's a large screen inside the restaurant playing music videos on repeat. We don't let the kids watch TV at home yet, so they were basically glued to the screen haha.

They boil fresh jokbal and bossam every morning. There's a wood-fired oven in the back where they were constantly cooking the wood-fired jokbal and pizza.

The kids' favorite: tender medium-size bossam

The side dishes were simple — dried radish strips, chives, kimchi, lettuce plus perilla leaves, chili peppers, garlic, salted shrimp, and ssamjang (dipping sauce). They have kids' tableware too, so feeding the children was easy. The owner was really warm with the kids, which made it a relaxed place to eat.

After a short wait, the kids' favorite food — bossam — arrived. It was actually the main reason we chose this restaurant that day, and sure enough, as soon as it hit the table, the kids went for it first.

Since I'm dieting and my husband wanted makguksu, we ordered the medium bossam — though calling it 'medium' undersells it, since it came out more generous than what most places would call a large. They kept it warm on a gas burner, so it stayed hot and delicious to the last bite, which I appreciated.

Above all, the meat wasn't tough — it was soft, with absolutely no gamey smell. Our kids stop eating the moment there's even a hint of that smell or any chewiness, but they ate this bossam happily.

Even the lean parts weren't dry — eaten with the bit of fat still attached, it was moist and tender. When I boil it at home it never comes out this soft... I always wonder what their trick is haha. Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch, a great bossam spot near Myeongil Station for visiting with kids...

Spicy makguksu that cuts the richness of the bossam

Bossam alone felt like it needed a partner, so we also ordered makguksu. It turned out spicier than expected. So it was more of a hit with me and my husband than with the kids, paired with the bossam.

Eating bossam continuously can leave that greasy pork taste lingering in your mouth, and a bite of the spicy makguksu cut right through it. Wrapping a bite of bossam with the noodles was a combination that worked really well together.

I was trying to stick to bossam over noodles because of the diet, but the soft, clean-tasting bossam paired with the spicy kick was much less greasy than eating the meat alone — I kept reaching for more.

Wood-fired pizza the kids liked even more than the bossam

Honestly, there was one dish the kids dug into even more eagerly than the bossam that day, haha — the wood-fired pizza. It comes free with a Naver review, and it turned out to be a properly made wood-fired pizza, more than you'd expect for a free item.

What I especially liked was the dough. Instead of the thick, fluffy dough of a regular pizza, it was baked very thin, with a crisp texture that held up. Eaten plain it was clean and nutty, but dipped in the honey that came with it, the salty pizza met the sweet honey for a proper sweet-and-salty combo.

Even though bossam is our kids' favorite food and they ate plenty of it, once the wood-fired pizza showed up, their attention shifted straight to it haha. It was thin enough that the kids could handle it easily, and dipping the crispy crust in honey seemed to be a hit — they ate it right up. If you're visiting with kids, it's worth checking whether the Naver review event is running.

A free sundubu jjigae rounds out the table

On top of all that, sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew) also came as a free service item. With bossam, makguksu, and wood-fired pizza already making the table pretty full, the addition of a hot sundubu jjigae made it feel like a proper full dinner spread.

It was nice to have a spoonful of hot soup whenever we wanted something warm between bites of bossam. The kids ate the bossam and pizza, while the adults got to enjoy bossam with spicy makguksu and hot sundubu jjigae too — good variety for the whole family.

Is Iseon Hwaduk a good family dinner spot near Myeongil Station?

We went to Iseon Hwaduk Jokbal Bossam Myeongil Branch simply because we didn't want to cook after a weekend outing. We chose it at first because it had both bossam and wood-fired pizza that the kids love, but after visiting in person, it turned out to be quite satisfying as a family meal out.

The bossam was soft with no gamey smell, easy for the kids to eat, and the spicy makguksu cut the richness of the meat, which suited the adults' palates too. The thin, crispy wood-fired pizza we got free through the Naver review event was tastier than expected too — the kids' favorite item of the night.

The place filled up quickly while we were eating and delivery orders kept coming in, which made it clear plenty of people in the neighborhood pick this spot for dinner.

And personally, what I liked most was still the parking. Myeongil-dong has a lot of mechanical parking lots, so as an SUV family, finding a restaurant can be tricky when we go out to eat. This place isn't huge, but being able to park right in front made things easy.

With kid-friendly menu items and high chairs ready to go, this is a solid pick if you're looking for a bossam restaurant near Myeongil Station to visit with kids, or a family restaurant with parking.