Suam-dong, Ulsan pork belly BBQ with chewy neck and meljeot: Biniljip

I finally visited Biniljip (비닐집) in Suam-dong, Ulsan, the outdoor-market-style meat restaurant everyone around me has been raving about. Hook here, reporting in!!

Where Biniljip Suam Branch is: between apartment blocks next to Suam Market

Biniljip sits right next to Suam Market, tucked between apartment complexes. I heard you can get a full outdoor-market (yajang) feel even though it's in the middle of the city, so I went for the atmosphere.

Hours: 4 PM to 11 PM

Biniljip is open from 4 PM to 11 PM, so there's plenty of time.

Parking: 1 hour covered at the raw fish center next door

If you park in the raw fish center lot right next to the restaurant, you get 1 hour of parking covered. The public parking lot doesn't give you that, but it's a good option too!

Inside: high ceilings and green, outdoor-market vibes

I stepped inside Biniljip Suam Branch, which is said to give you real outdoor-market vibes in Ulsan. I came right after opening, so it was still bright inside.

The interior was really spacious and clean. It's been open for quite a while and is always full of customers, so I worried it might be a little sticky... not at all! The floor had been washed down and was spotless.

With the high ceilings and all the greenery, you get that outdoor, forest feeling even in the daytime. It feels like you've traveled somewhere far away. And even though I visited in midsummer, it was really cool and comfortable inside!!

Menu: Biniljip Hanpan, and today's 2 portions of pork belly and 1 of ggodeul pork neck

The signature menu is the Biniljip Hanpan (a big platter) of pork belly, pork neck and ggodeul pork neck (chewy, skin-on pork neck), and the set menus that include stew are popular too. I started by ordering 2 portions of pork belly and 1 portion of ggodeul pork neck à la carte!

Self-bar: kimchi and chive pancake batter, even ramyeon

Biniljip is famous for its well-stocked self-bar. This is the kimchi/chive pancake (jeon) station.

And the ramyeon station. There are so many kinds of ramyeon that it's a headache... ugh, I want them all, I'm getting dizzy.

There are other side dishes too, a whole lot of tasty stuff, and I'm already excited.

They have both kimchi and chive pancake batter. I thought about doing half and half, but my appetite kicked in,

so in the end I made both, lalala. It's a self-serve pancake that comes free, yet it's so so good... And if it goes cold, you can fry it again on the grill later.

The staff set the table with the basic side dishes, but the self-bar has things that aren't on the table, so go grab some tteok (rice cake), meljeot (salted fermented anchovy dip) and more!!

Biniljip pork belly review: meat cut into bite-size pieces

Look at the quality of the meat at Biniljip, famous as an Ulsan pork belly spot... Wow, I went blinded by the outdoor-market atmosphere, and the meat quality was seriously the real deal...

The pork belly has layers of fat and lean meat, and I love that it's already cut into bite-size pieces. The thick ggodeul pork neck looks so tempting too. Putting the pork belly on the grill. Ahh... beautiful.

I piled on bean sprouts, gosari (bracken fern), kimchi, garlic and tteok, and started cooking everything at once.

The grill is wide, so everything cooks nicely, which I love. Oh, and Biniljip is a kimchi place too... the kimchi was really, really good. Not only is it tasty, you can grill it too, T_T! Fresh, it's so tangy and yummy, and grilled, it turns nutty and yummy too. Don't watch the video late at night.

The juices are rising. The thickness was just right.

For the first bite, I dipped it in just salt. Wow... this is truly a legit pork belly place. Honestly, when I saw Instagram and other blogs I only cared about the atmosphere, not the meat, but forget all that: the meat here is really, really good.

Oh, and the green onion kimchi here is also insane... I got three refills of it...

Dip the ggodeul pork neck in meljeot

The ggodeul pork neck is crazy too... the best I've ever had. The chewy skin and nutty lean meat cling to your mouth, so yummy T_T

Bring meljeot from the self-bar and be sure to dip it in!

When the pancake cools, fry it in the pork fat. Ahh, everything on the grill is delicious. It was such beautiful meat. If you're looking for pork belly in Suam-dong, Ulsan, definitely come here and chew on some meat.

Finishing with doenjang stew and self-bar ramyeon

For the finale, I ordered doenjang stew and rice, and also cooked a ramyeon from the self-bar. The kimchi stew is rumored to be amazing, but I'd eaten so much kimchi while demolishing the pork belly earlier, hehe.

Even the doenjang stew was delicious here..... A savory stew somewhere between cheonggukjang (strong fermented soybean stew) and regular doenjang stew. It had plenty of tofu, vegetables and meat, and I could have emptied a bottle of soju with this alone.

I came for the Ulsan outdoor-market BBQ vibes, but ended up falling for the meat and the kimchi. It's quite far from my house, but it was so good that I want to come back. That was Biniljip, the Suam-dong, Ulsan meat restaurant. Hook out!