Hongdae Korean BBQ: pork belly with mushroom and scallion: Gogikkun

I heard there's a great Hongdae pork belly spot near Hongik Univ. Station, with delicious pork belly and raw galbi-sal (marinade-free short rib meat), so I went to Gogikkun Gim Chunbae Hongdae Main Branch (고기꾼김춘배 홍대본점)! Let me introduce it right away~~!

How to get to Gogikkun Gim Chunbae Hongdae Main Branch and the vibe

Come out of Exit 9 of Hongik Univ. Station and head straight into the alley, and you'll find it! There's a standing sign, so it's not hard to find, which I liked.

The restaurant is on the 3rd and 4th floors of the building. It seems to be a popular spot with foreign visitors too haha.

Go up to the 3rd floor and there's this low(?) entrance, and past it is a huge hall!

There are tons of tables and they're spacious! Every seat also has a partition, so it feels private, which was nice~~ It looked good for groups and get-togethers too.

Gogikkun Gim Chunbae Hongdae Main Branch menu and the set we ordered

The menu is divided into sets, highballs, single-order hanwoo, single-order pork, sides, and alcohol. We decided to go with a set!

The sets come as hanwoo, pork, or hanwoo/pork, so we ordered the 2-person hanwoo/pork set to taste both beef and pork :) We also ordered kkakttukbap (diced-radish kimchi rice) and half-and-half naengmyeon (cold noodles) to share!

• 2-person hanwoo/pork set (150g pork belly + 250g raw galbi-sal + 200g hanwoo of the day)
• Kkakttukbap
• Half-and-half naengmyeon

Here's the basic table setting. They brought myeongi-namul (pickled wild garlic-like greens), which made me so happy haha.

The 600g hanwoo/pork set for two: how are the portion and meat quality?

Here comes the meat from the hanwoo/pork set for two. It's 600g in total, so the portion is huge and the meat quality looked amazing!

Let me introduce them one by one: this is the hanwoo sirloin (hanwoo of the day), this is the pork belly, and this is the raw galbi-sal. Overall the quality is great and it looks mouthwatering!

The staff grill all the meat for you, so all we had to do was eat happily. They started with the hanwoo sirloin.

Half-and-half naengmyeon: perfect when you can't choose between broth and spicy

While the meat was grilling, the half-and-half naengmyeon arrived. It's the perfect menu item for anyone who can't decide between mul (cold broth) and bibim (spicy, mixed)!

I loved this bibim naengmyeon sauce so much T_T It went so well with the meat,,

Next they grilled the raw galbi-sal right away. The amount and quality of the meat, what is going on,, it was so good.

Kkakttukbap: glad we ordered it instead of fried rice

The kkakttukbap came out too! The portion here is pretty big haha.

It tasted like I made the right call ordering this instead of fried rice! Insanely good.

How to enjoy the hanwoo sirloin and raw galbi-sal

I ate the quickly cooked hanwoo sirloin first. It melted in my mouth;;;;

The raw galbi-sal was tender and so good too!

Dip it lightly in salt and it's heaven.

Meat + mushroom + scallion salad combo

The pajeori (spicy scallion salad) here was so good that I ate it as meat + mushroom + scallion salad, and it was the kicker.

Of course you can't skip a ssam (lettuce wrap) haha. The meat is really so good T_T

Last up, pork belly: chewy and nutty

Finally, they grilled the pork belly! I was already getting full, but it still made my mouth water.

The pork belly here is chewy yet nutty, the kind of taste that needs no words. If you're looking for a Hongdae pork belly spot, I highly recommend Gogikkun Gim Chunbae Hongdae Main Branch!