Seongnae-dong Korean BBQ with no wait before 6pm: Gim Sukseong

I always get excited going to Cheonho. It's a food paradise, everything there is good..🤍 I just knew this would be good too!

My friend already knew about this Cheonho Station favorite, the Korean BBQ restaurant Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch (김숙성 성내점). Let me lay out the menu, the restaurant info, and my honest impressions after eating there.

Where is Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch, and what are the hours?

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch is an aged-meat restaurant at 35 Cheonhoyet14-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul. It's open daily 11:00 - 24:00.

Old-school Seoul BBQ atmosphere: how long is the wait?

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch sits in an alley in Seongnae-dong near Cheonho Station. The place is nowhere near modern — it's a retro, lively, comfortable kind of spot, better suited to an outdoor tent-bar feel or a casual gathering than anything formal. On a weekday before 6pm we walked straight in with no wait, but after that people started pouring in fast, so a short wait can happen.

The menu at Gim Sukseong, an aged-pork specialist near Cheonho Station

The set menu options were solid, but there were also plenty of non-meat items, so it took a while to decide. FYI, Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch also serves lunch. A BBQ place with jjigae (stew), jeyuk bokkeum (spicy stir-fried pork), and ramen on the menu — the taste is basically guaranteed. And the prices are pretty reasonable too! We went with the Gim Sukseong Special 2, which comes with pork neck, pork belly, and gabrisal (pork skirt meat) plus kimchi jjigae. Rice is ordered separately!

Gim Sukseong Special 2: pork neck for two, plus pork belly and gabrisal

While the grill was heating up, the side dishes and our ordered meat came out. The pork neck was seriously thick. I was genuinely surprised.

On top of that, this was the first place I've seen serve yangnyeom gejang (seasoned raw crab) as a side dish. Mix it into your rice and you'll clear the whole bowl in no time.

Three sauces: cheese salt, shiitake wasabi and makjang

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch lets you enjoy the meat in a lot of different ways. I liked that there were several sauce options — cheese salt, shiitake wasabi sauce, and makjang (a thicker, saltier ssamjang-style sauce). The shiitake wasabi sauce especially had good mushroom texture and surprisingly paired well with the meat. The makjang could've used a bolder flavor though, haha.

Next came a piping hot kimchi jjigae. It had a clear, light broth, so it was easy to eat even without rice. It also kind of reminded me of a cool bean sprout soup? If we'd been drinking, it would've made a perfectly good drinking snack too.

Pork belly with minari, grilled for you by the staff

Just sit back and relax, because a staff member comes over and grills the meat for you. I figured a place with this much old-school charm would have us grilling it ourselves, but not at all.

The thick cuts of meat started cooking fast. Once they were cooked enough, the staff topped them with minari (water dropwort) and aged kimchi.

You all know kimchi grilled in meat fat is delicious..🤍 And don't even get me started on the minari.. Waiting for it got me all excited.

They explained the menu and sauces so we could try the gabrisal dipped in salt first. That burst of fat and nuttiness in your mouth.. what do you even do with that. So good. The color combo of the meat, minari, and kimchi was insane. They told us that since the meat is aged, it tastes better if you don't grill it too long.

The downsides at Gim Sukseong: a two-serving pork neck minimum and no hood

Because the meat is aged, it seemed to have a bit more tenderness to it. I thought the thick pork neck might be tough, but it wasn't at all. Since we eat a lot, we ordered an extra serving of pork belly. Chewy, nutty, delicious meat all around!

There were a few downsides — the pork neck can only be ordered starting from 2 servings, oil inevitably splatters given the nature of the grill, and there's no hood to absorb the smoke while you eat, so you end up smelling like meat afterward.

Even so, the meat is good enough that everything is forgiven.. the smell disappears once you go home and shower anyway, haha. After eating there, I got why it's considered a top Korean BBQ spot near Cheonho Station. The relaxed atmosphere also makes it a great fit for group gatherings or hanging out with friends.

We wrapped up with fried rice — it's self-serve, so they don't stir-fry it for you. We had to mix it ourselves.

Is Gim Sukseong worth it for Korean BBQ near Cheonho Station?

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch is where you can try 20-day cross-aged meat. It's a place where you can comfortably enjoy aged meat without any gamey smell. Solid set menu combos, friendly service, and even grilling done for you. Come here on a day you're craving minari pork belly or pork neck. I'd definitely go back!