Korean BBQ in Paju Unjeong: 5 servings for three at Tannae Paju

Pork belly is fun precisely because the taste changes depending on whether it's grilled on a stone plate, a cauldron lid, or charcoal. Once you've had the cauldron lid version, it's time for charcoal next.

On a weekend outing to Starfield Unjeong, we stopped by Tannae, a charcoal BBQ spot in Garam-maeul. It specializes in selected white pork cuts and seasoned pork grand grill, each cooked to bring out its own character, and it's hugely popular with locals. The selected white pork has that clean pork aroma and chewy texture, while the seasoned pork grand grill has deep, rich flavor from fruit-marinated sauce as its selling point!

Where is Tannae Paju Main Branch? Parking and opening hours

Tannae Paju Main Branch sits on the 1st floor at Garam-ro 73 in Garam-maeul, Paju, and this is the sign at the front entrance! Since it's charcoal-grilled, ventilation matters, so they seem to keep the door open — and right now, with a cool breeze coming through the open door, it's just perfect weather for eating meat.

For parking, the free lot behind the building is your best bet, but if it's full, there's an alley lot near the Samsung Plaza entrance where they'll give you a parking coupon.

Hours are Mon–Fri 17:00–23:00, Sat–Sun 16:00–23:00 (last order at 22:00). Sadly there's no lunch service — it's a dinner-focused spot! Perfect timing for a work dinner.

The interior looks similar to other BBQ restaurants, but the staff are all so friendly it somehow feels warm...?

What we ordered at Tannae and what it cost: 5 servings for three

At Tannae, the meat itself is just excellent. Thick-cut pork neck trimmed of all fat, and pork belly sliced to just the right thickness. The pork neck is so thick that it can only be ordered in units of 2 servings.

• Selected pork belly 16,500 won × 3
• Selected pork neck 16,000 won × 2
• Crab doenjang stew (complimentary)
• Rice 1,000 won
• Mul naengmyeon (review event)

We wanted pork belly so badly that we jumped straight in and ordered 3 servings, then added 2 more of pork neck,,,, haha

The basic side dishes came out, and there were quite a few of them! They gave us cabbage wraps too, which I liked since I can eat those — and you can grab more sides from the self-serve bar. This is also where you make your own grilled garlic!

Charcoal grilling by the staff, myeolchi-jeot (anchovy dipping sauce) and garlic sauce

Once you order at Tannae, they immediately set the charcoal fire and place their own house-seasoned myeolchi-jeot right on top.

They tell you exactly when to pull it off once it starts boiling — and they grill all the meat professionally off to the side. The strong charcoal heat locks in the juices right away and cooks the inside moist and tender.

Then it gets delivered straight to our table like this! You could eat it as-is, but

since we like it a bit more well-done, we set it aside and cooked it a little further. They lift it to the side, cut it up for you — dad tried his hand at cutting meat for the first time in a while, wasn't very good at it, and the scissors got taken away immediately.

A small dish of garlic gets placed in the center too

and it's cooked in sizzling hot oil — garlic really does taste best when done in oil that's properly boiling.

The free crab doenjang stew that comes with your order

And here's another thing bubbling away! The complimentary crab doenjang (soybean paste) stew — you can choose kimchi stew instead, but we picked doenjang!

Tofu, zucchini, crab — the broth is heavy and refreshing, the kind of flavor that demands a bowl of rice.

The meat is fully cooked now~ the garlic's fully cooked too~~

Dipping it in plain salt is tasty enough, but at Tannae, that garlic sauce is the real kick. It's not greasy at all, and the garlic aroma spreads through it in a way that any Korean would love.

Somewhere in the middle you have to eat some vegetables too. There's a seasoned lettuce-and-perilla-leaf salad which is also delicious~ and the green onion kimchi is cut into pieces that pair perfectly with a bite of meat, easy to eat.

? Who eats this many side dishes with their meat. Not me, though ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Two pieces of meat with garlic, green onion kimchi, and seasoned vegetables!

I do rice with meat, salt, garlic, and green onion, haha~ rice-team all the way ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ you've gotta have carbs too!

Review-event mul naengmyeon and the extra pork neck we added

Once you've been eating meat for a while, you start craving naengmyeon (cold noodles). Since Tannae participates in the review event, you can get a whole 6,000-won bowl of naengmyeon for free. It's real naengmyeon, not a post-meal dessert version — packed with icy shavings and genuinely refreshing, though of course once there's naengmyeon, you need more meat.

Here comes the 2 extra servings of pork neck we added~ hahahahaha. There are only three of us, but 5 servings of meat is totally doable.

The pork neck is plump but tender, with a texture almost like bossam (boiled pork), plus a charcoal-smoke aroma. It's trimmed of fat, which made it easy for me to eat too.

And this is the chewy special cut you get when you order pork neck! Only 2–3 pieces come with it, but it's wonderfully springy and delicious.

Pork skin, boneless chicken feet and marinated ribs at Tannae

Besides pork belly and pork neck, Tannae also has pork skin, boneless chicken feet, and marinated pork ribs — and the charcoal-grilled marinated pork ribs were genuinely popular too. Because, yep, they grill that for you as well,,,,, ribs are a pain to grill yourself, so having it fully done for you is great~ and boneless chicken feet seem like a good final round to order alongside pork skin at a work dinner or friends' gathering!!

If you live in Garam-maeul or Unjeong New Town and are craving genuinely good meat! Or if you went to Starfield Unjeong but it was too crowded and you're looking for somewhere nearby, go for Tannae~~