20-day aged pork jowl set for two in Gangdong, Seoul: Gim Sukseong

I worked a morning shift on the weekend and was starving — and I'd been craving pork belly for days — so I heard about a Korean BBQ spot near my workplace in Cheonho-dong and Seongnae-dong called Gim Sukseong (김숙성) and decided to check it out. The moment I clocked off, I was already excited to eat aged pork again after so long.

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch: parking and practical info

A well-known Korean BBQ spot in Seongnae-dong, Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch.

• Group bookings available / reservations available / high chairs provided
• Pets allowed / corkage allowed
• Parking available (up to 2 cars on-site — inquire before visiting)
• Public parking lot near Cheonho Station — about ₩3,120/hour

Korean pork, cross-aged for over 20 days

Cross-aged for over 20 days! That's the taste of properly aged Korean pork. Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch only uses top-grade domestic pork and ages it for about 20 days through a cross-aging process. Aged meat can't be bad, haha. I was already looking forward to the taste before I even walked in.

And from 11am to 6pm, Gim Sukseong sells soju and beer for ₩2,000! Perfect spot if you're into day-drinking.

A retro-vibe interior

The moment you step inside Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch, the retro atmosphere hits you right away. It felt like walking into an old-school BBQ joint, the kind of place that makes anyone who likes a drink want a shot of soju with their pork belly. It just had that vibe where the meat and drinks would flow easily, so I was already excited the moment I sat down.

An essential item at any BBQ joint — a disposable apron. (Invisible oil splatters can hit your clothes, so wearing one is a must.)

True to a BBQ restaurant, the chairs had storage space underneath for your coat or bag, which was a nice touch.

Overall the place was spacious and clean. With a whopping 11 round tables seating four each, it looked great for group gatherings or work dinners too.

Gim Sukseong's menu and prices

First off, Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch notes that all their meat is cross-aged. The Gim Sukseong Special is a set menu, and individually you could also order chadolbagi (beef brisket), pork belly, pork jowl, gabrisal, and more.

• Chadolbagi 130g (1 serving) ₩27,000
• Pork belly 160g (1 serving) ₩16,000
• Pork jowl 160g (1 serving) ₩16,000
• Gabrisal 150g (1 serving) ₩18,000
• Pork jowl minimum order is 2 servings

Side dishes included jjagechi noodles, perilla oil noodles, minari bibim noodles, cold noodles, chadol doenjang stew, Korean pork kimchi jjigae, and seasoned raw crab — lots of options to pair with the meat, which I loved.

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch was also running a review event — leave a review and get extra minari or corn cheese. Everyone should write a review and grab that minari or corn cheese! There was also a simple guide on how to best enjoy Gim Sukseong's dishes.

What we ordered: Gim Sukseong Special 2

The side dishes were napa cabbage kimchi, green onion kimchi, mountain herbs, and seasoned raw crab. Minari, potatoes, and mushrooms get grilled along with the meat. Not many pork BBQ places serve seasoned raw crab as a side dish, but Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch does.

Gim Sukseong Special 2 (pork jowl 320g for two + pork belly and gabrisal 250g) = ₩54,000

The two of us ordered the Gim Sukseong Special 2, and the portion was more than enough to fill us up.

What's great about the Gim Sukseong Special 2 is that you get to try a good variety of cuts. King oyster mushrooms and potatoes get grilled alongside too!

Staff grilling service

One of the best things about Gim Sukseong in Cheonho-dong is that staff do all the grilling for you. These days, checking whether a BBQ spot has grilling service is basically the first thing I look up before going.

Look at the thickness of that pork jowl and pork belly! When cuts this thick are aged and grilled, they're bound to taste amazing — all that juice gets locked right in.

How gabrisal, pork belly, and pork jowl tasted

They told us to try the gabrisal first since it cooks fastest. With just the right amount of fat, it melted in the mouth.

Next, pork belly! No need to say how much I love pork belly. The Gim Sukseong pork belly had a tender texture, likely from the aging, and a savory flavor that got better with each chew.

The thick pork jowl needed a bit more time on the grill, and the moment I took a bite, the juices hit immediately. The meat stayed moist, so every bite filled my mouth with rich, savory flavor. It had a chewy yet tender texture with deep umami — the kind of cut you can't stop reaching for.

They also cut and grilled the kimchi that came with the meal for us! The best.

Then they topped it all off with a mountain of minari — and the Gim Sukseong Special spread was complete!

Pork belly, minari, and kimchi together — a combo any Korean would love.

Enjoying it different ways with fermented anchovy sauce and minari

To finish, they added fermented anchovy sauce (myeoljeot) on top too!

You dip the well-cooked meat right into the myeoljeot. It's salty with deep umami, and dipped in pork belly, it seasons the meat perfectly. The savory flavor of the meat blends so well with the distinctive taste of the myeoljeot that you keep dipping in for more.

But above all, grilling the mountain of minari and piling it on top of the meat was, I thought, the best pairing of all. And once you're a bit tired of minari, you can switch to the mountain herbs instead.

They gave us a generous amount of minari, so we never ran short.

Kimchi jjigae and fried rice that come with the special menu

Ordering the special menu also gets you kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew).

It was packed with kimchi. Eating only meat can get a bit heavy, but having kimchi jjigae in between cut through the richness with its mildly spicy, refreshing flavor that paired perfectly with the pork belly and pork jowl.

Fried rice, one serving, ₩3,000. Ordering it comes with a raw egg on the side. You mix it in yourself, then press it down on the grill to make delicious fried rice!

No Korean can pass up a proper K-dessert finish — fried rice after BBQ is essential! The fried rice at Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch had plenty of kimchi mixed in, making it the perfect closer. Plenty of roasted seaweed flakes too, adding a great savory finish.

Gim Sukseong Seongnae Branch also had a waiting area for when the restaurant is fully booked. Such a thoughtful, well-considered touch.

Final verdict

Because it's aged, Gim Sukseong's pork has a rich, distinctly savory flavor that really comes through, and I enjoyed the meal a lot. The retro, old-school atmosphere gave it a warm, cozy feel that made for a comfortable meal. If you're looking for a good aged-meat spot around Cheonho-dong or Seongnae-dong, I'd say it's worth a visit!

📍 Location: 35 Cheonhoyet14-gil, 1st floor, unit 101, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea