Songpa Korean BBQ with crisp beef gopchang and garlic sauce: Jinseong

There was already a famous gopchang restaurant in Bangi Food Alley, but it looks like a serious competitor has arrived. That place is so well known that I thought no other gopchang spot would dare move in, but Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang—now making a name for itself—opened here.

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang, a Bangi-dong favorite

<Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang> Address 🗺️ 19 Olympic-ro 32-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울 송파구 올림픽로32길 19 1층) ⏰ Hours ⏰ Daily 16:00–23:00

Even if the wait is long, put your name down!

The wait really can be long, you know? Especially on a Friday evening, there can be 10 or more names ahead of you—but don't worry. Lots of people put their names down at several restaurants, so the queue is a little inflated, I guess? Even when it looks long, you might get in sooner than expected if you're lucky.

So many people, right?? My cousin had just moved to Bangi-dong, so our family decided to celebrate with gopchang and a glass of soju.

The weather was cool, and eating something delicious with the night breeze felt so good. I didn't envy the outdoor tables one bit.

Extra orders mean a fresh grill plate

• Korean beef gopchang (small intestine, 220g) ₩19,000
• Korean beef daechang (large intestine, 220g) ₩19,000
• Korean beef makchang (fourth stomach, 220g) ₩20,000

For our first order, we got gopchang, daechang, and makchang. If you add more, they have to change the plate and start grilling again. If you don't want to break the flow, order plenty the first time!

So much filling, and fried crisp—unbelievable!

They call these the three siblings of house-made kimchi. One reason Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang was so good was that most of its dishes seemed to be made with Korean ingredients.

The steamed egg is complimentary!! Have a drink with it while the gopchang cooks!

It needs about four more minutes on the grill. As it cooks, beef fat comes out and fries everything crisp in that fat—watching it is torture...

Because it is fried in the fat, the outside is wonderfully crisp: makchang is crisp outside and chewy inside, gopchang is crisp outside and full of rich filling inside, and daechang is crisp outside and juicy inside.

Then they put those three house-made kimchis on the grill with everything, and of course they were delicious. The famous Bangi Food Alley gopchang place I mentioned was Byeolmi Gopchang, but honestly, I think Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang tastes better. It felt like it had more filling, too.

I've only been eating pork intestines lately, so having beef gopchang again after a long time was clearly on another level. Whether it's meat or intestines, there's a reason people keep saying beef! Beef!

House-made garlic sauce that cuts the richness

Jinseong Hanwoo Gopchang is not only great for gopchang, but also for sauce. Every branch has its own house-made garlic sauce, and it was such a special treat.

It was a little spicy but not salty, and it cut through the richness of the gopchang beautifully. There were spicy Cheongyang peppers in the sauce too, so eating one at a time left my mouth feeling refreshed.

We ran short while eating and ordered two more portions of gopchang. They set it aside like this, then put it back on the plate once the second round is cooked. That definitely interrupted the flow, so next time I'll just order everything at once.

The kkakdugi fried rice seemed to have finely chopped makchang mixed in. As I ate, I could feel chewy little pieces. I don't like radish, so I tried eating around it, but the seasoned rice itself was delicious. They also have anchovy noodle soup, so if you need something brothy with your soju, it would be nice to order that too!