900g pork platter with fried rice for 3 in Gwangjin: Sanggu's

For the weekend, I went to a Gwangjin restaurant with my husband and my older sister for a hearty samgyeopsal (pork belly) meal.

This place uses top-grade domestic 1+ pork, and everything about it was perfect — the meat quality, the generous vegetable self-bar, and the incredibly good-value set menu. This is 'Sanggu's Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal Gueui Branch.'

Basic info for Sanggu's Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal Gueui Branch

• Hours: Daily 11am–2am
• Parking: Mechanical parking lot behind the building
• Feature: Fresh raw meat is grilled by staff, ₩1,900 draft beer promotion running
• Sign up for Naver alerts and get a draft beer/drink coupon

It's about a 5-6 minute walk from Gueui Station Exit 3. It's not far from Gangbyeon Station either, where the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal is, so on nice days like these you can easily walk there.

There are seats in the center and on the opposite side too, but I couldn't get a photo because it was so busy with customers. There's a tablet ordering system at each table, and the menu is well explained on the wall with illustrations.

Restaurant atmosphere and the 900g platter set

Walking in, there were already quite a few people who looked like regulars. With the lively atmosphere and the big lid-shaped grills set up at every table, everyone was enjoying their samgyeopsal, so I got excited.

Here, thin frozen belly is grilled by yourself, while the thick fresh cuts are grilled start to finish by the staff. Since the three of us wanted to eat our fill, we ordered the incredibly good-value '900g platter set.'

• Base: Fresh pork neck + jowl
• Choice 1: Minari (or dried radish greens)
• Choice 2: Fresh belly (or frozen thin-sliced belly)
• Complimentary perks: 2 servings of fried rice (choice of 3 draft beers or 3 drinks)

900g of domestic 1+ raw pork, minari, and even fried rice at the end, all for ₩77,000! Given today's prices, this really deserves recognition as a great riverside restaurant.

A generous self-bar you never have to worry about

While the meat was being prepared, I went to check out the self-bar and was impressed. There was a really generous amount of fresh vegetables. Lettuce, perilla leaves, red chard, kale, and green chili peppers as the basic wraps, plus sweet pumpkin, enoki mushroom, eggplant, and garlic scapes that are amazing grilled in the pork fat! I loaded up a basket with all the vegetables I wanted.

1+ fresh belly grilled by staff, paired with minari

Finally, bean sprouts, kimchi, bracken fern, onion, and king oyster mushroom went onto the huge lid-shaped grill as the base. On top of that we added the sweet pumpkin, eggplant, and enoki mushroom we'd picked up from the self-bar, filling the grill completely.

The heat was so strong that the thick cuts of meat browned up quickly. The staff member grilled the belly first, then the neck and jowl second, with perfect timing so it was ready to eat — we just sat back and enjoyed it.

We dipped the beautifully browned belly in the special sauce along with the well-grilled kimchi, minari, bean sprouts, and onion, or wrapped it in lettuce.

Because it's domestic 1+ grade raw pork, there was no off smell at all, and the more you chewed, the more the savory juices burst out. Eating it with fragrant minari and sweet pumpkin grilled in pork fat felt like heaven haha.

Pork jowl, the special sauce, and ₩1,900 draft beer

This place's specialty is the basic meat sauce that comes one per person. Adding a generous amount of the sliced onion from the self-bar into the sauce and eating it with the meat was clean and really delicious.

And you can't have meat without a cold draft beer! Right now there's a promotion for a 300cc glass at ₩1,900, so there was no resisting. My husband had to drive so he drank water instead, sadly, but my sister and I clinked our beer glasses together and washed away all our fatigue.

Finishing it off with the ultimate lid-grilled fried rice

By the time we were nearly done with the meat, the two servings of fried rice we'd chosen as part of the set arrived. They fry up rice with kimchi and plenty of seaweed flakes right on the grill where the savory pork fat remains — this is a must-eat no matter how full you are. We scraped up every last bit of the crispy rice stuck to the grill and finished a completely perfect meal.

Verdict: Highly recommended for family meals and group gatherings

Quality 1+ fresh pork, the convenience of having staff grill it for you, a varied vegetable self-bar for grilling, and an incredibly good-value set menu — it was instantly clear why this place has so many regulars.

If you want to try proper sotttukkeong samgyeopsal around Dong Seoul Terminal or the Gueui-dong area, be sure to visit Sanggu's Sotttukkeong Samgyeopsal Gueui Branch. My family is planning to go back again soon!