Hongdae pork BBQ date night with dwitgogi: Chopilsal Pork Grill

Where is Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch and what are its hours?

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch is a pork barbecue restaurant at 172 Donggyo-ro, 1st-2nd floor, Mapo-gu, Seoul, open from 12:00 to 24:00. It's a short walk from Hongik University Station.

I was stuck picking a weekend date dinner spot. We'd already had pasta the week before, and bunsik (Korean street food snacks) felt a bit lacking somehow. So I searched again for good restaurants near Hongik University Station, and Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch kept catching my eye. In the end we decided on it and walked over haha.

The menu board at the entrance and the honeycomb pork skin origin sign

The menu board outside the entrance of Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch lists four main items — pork skin, salted ogyeopsal (thick-cut pork belly), special cuts, and thick pork neck — with kimchi jjigae and doenjang jjigae listed below. The board was written in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese all together. I guess Hongdae gets a lot of foreign customers.

Next to it was a sign declaring, in huge letters, that this is the original honeycomb pork skin grill house. I stopped to read it, thinking, so this is the original place. We actually didn't order pork skin this time — ogyeopsal and dwitgogi alone felt like they'd fill us up between the two of us. Next time I'm definitely starting with the pork skin.

Seating and drink prices at Chopilsal Pork Grill, group dinners included

Inside, Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch has brick walls with a row of solid wood slab tables, each seat fitted with its own hood. The yellow stools matched the space nicely, making it decent for photos too. I always pictured Hongdae pork grills as cramped and noisy, but this place had a good amount of room from the start.

Seating kept going toward the back, but the tables weren't packed too tightly together. With a hood at every seat, I worried less about smelling like smoke afterward. There's separate group seating too, so it seems like a solid choice for a group dinner in Hongdae. We went in early, so it felt almost like we had the place to ourselves — quiet and calm.

Once we sat down, a drink menu was sitting on the table. Chamisul, Chum Churum, and Jinro were ₩5,500, while Cass and Terra were ₩6,000. We didn't drink that day, but just checking the prices, it seemed pretty reasonable for Hongdae.

There was also this notice on the table. Apparently if you search for Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch on Naver, hit save, and leave a photo review, they give you an 80g sample of pork skin. I was already curious about the pork skin, so seeing this made me think I definitely have to come back haha.

On the wall were framed reviews and signatures from past customers. Reading through them, an unusual number mentioned the pork skin specifically. That built up my expectations a bit more.

What side dishes come with the meal?

At Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch, along with the grill setup, chive namul and seaweed wraps came out first, followed by ssamjang, salt, garlic, chili peppers, baek-kimchi, and salted squid all laid out at once. The grill was set up first with tongs placed alongside. That's when I started getting properly hungry.

Then the side dishes were spread out all at once, and there were more than I expected. Ssamjang, salt, garlic, chili peppers, baek-kimchi, and salted squid all came out evenly. The meat hadn't even arrived yet and the table already felt full. It's been a while since I was surprised by the side dishes before the pork belly itself at a Hongdae pork grill.

Of everything, this scallion salad was my favorite. It came piled high in a stainless bowl, seasoned just enough without being overdone. Later, piled on top of the meat, it completely cut through the richness.

The chive namul and seaweed wraps also came out on a separate plate. The seaweed was salted just enough that it was fine to eat on its own.

Mu-saengchae daecheopbap (radish salad rice bowl)

Then the mu-saengchae daecheopbap arrived first. Honestly this was the dish I was most curious about — rice topped with layers of mu-saengchae (spicy radish salad), lettuce, and seaweed. The colors alone were so pretty that we both just took photos for a moment haha.

After mixing it up with a spoon, it looked like this. The radish salad's liquid soaked into the rice, giving off a faint tangy scent. One bite in, it wasn't overpowering at all, with a lingering, subtle nuttiness from the seaweed. It was good to eat before the meat arrived, or as a bite here and there in between.

Salted ogyeopsal and jinjja-dwitgogi: what two people ordered

That day at Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch, we ordered two things: salted ogyeopsal and jinjja-dwitgogi (mixed pork cuts). The salted ogyeopsal finally arrived, and both of us went 'whoa' at the thickness haha. After only ever seeing thinly sliced pork belly, encountering this thickness was a completely different sight. The layers of lean meat and fat were clearly separated, so it was immediately obvious why it's called ogyeopsal (five-layer pork belly). A whole king oyster mushroom came out alongside it.

The jinjja-dwitgogi we ordered together looked like this. Several different cuts were mixed on one plate, each a slightly different color — some pinkish, some a deep red. Since apparently each cut has a different texture, this was the one I was most looking forward to.

Once the grill was hot enough, we put the ogyeopsal on first. The moment it touched the grill, the fat started sizzling loudly. Being so thick, it took a while to cook, but the wait wasn't bad at all.

We flipped it once one side reached this color. The edges were browning nicely, and the smell at this point was really good. A staff member came by partway through to check the heat level for us.

Double cheese egg custard

While the meat was grilling, the double cheese egg custard arrived. It puffed up out of the stone pot with cheese melting golden over the top, and the moment it landed the whole table's mood lifted haha. Scooping in with a spoon released a burst of steam, with egg and cheese stretching long. It wasn't salty, just soft, and I kept reaching for it in between bites of meat.

Once it was cooked enough, we cut it into bite-sized pieces with scissors. The moment we cut in, juices seeped out from the cross-section. We also grilled the king oyster mushroom alongside — soaked in fat, it was a real treat too.

We put one of the first cooked pieces on a plate. You can see the fat glistening under the light. The outside was crisped up while the inside stayed juicy. We just dipped it lightly in salt, and personally this was the best bite of the meal.

We moved the cooked meat onto the wire rack to keep it warm while eating, and laid the dwitgogi down in the empty space. Same grill, but the meat's color was so different that it was fun just to watch.

The ogyeopsal on the wire rack looked like this. As the fat dripped down, the outer surface firmed up a bit more, but biting in, that crisp-outside-juicy-inside texture held. Topped with ssamjang and scallion salad, it made me want rice right away.

The dwitgogi was thin, so it cooked quickly. Each cut had a different chewing texture — some held a bit of chew, others went down soft. Same pork, yet so different, so we kept picking one piece at a time and guessing which cut it was. Alternating with the ogyeopsal, there was never a moment we got tired of it.

Getting there from Hongik University Station, and final thoughts

Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch has a red projecting sign, so it's easy to spot from a distance even in the alley. Full and satisfied, we looked back up at the sign on our way out. If you're looking for a Hongdae pork grill that's easy to find near Hongik University Station, this one should be pretty straightforward.

If you're looking for a good restaurant near Hongik University Station, this place is worth a visit. The thick salted ogyeopsal, the jinjja-dwitgogi with its different textures per cut, plus the mu-saengchae daecheopbap and double cheese egg custard made for a really satisfying spread. I'm already planning to go back soon just for the pork skin we missed haha. It's a quick walk from Hongik University Station.