Cheongju pork belly restaurant, weekend lunch group: Anmin Yullyang

Anmin Yullyang is a go-to spot for company dinners in Yullyang-dong, Cheongju! I went for a lunch gathering, and the place was already packed at lunchtime — a real local favorite. Here's my review of Anmin Yullyang.

Where is Anmin Yullyang, and where do you park?

Anmin Yullyang, which I'd recommend for a Yullyang-dong BBQ dinner, sits in Yullyang 3-district. It's a bit removed from the busy Yullyang-dong strip, which actually makes it quieter to enjoy. There's parking right beside the restaurant (about 4 spots) where I parked — since it's tucked in an alley, parking is fairly easy. Otherwise, using the newly built public parking lot and walking over works well too.

The exterior already gives off a clean vibe — not your typical loud, bustling BBQ joint but something cleaner and more polished. By the way, Anmin is a chain! Other branches are good too, but a friend said their parents come here often, so we visited the Yullyang branch.

There are pig figures at the entrance! You immediately know it's a samgyeopsal place... sorry, cute piggies... come into my belly.

Here's the location info for Anmin Yullyang: 25-2 Yullyang-ro 201beon-gil, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, 1st floor. Hours are weekdays 16:30–23:00, weekends 12:00–23:00. On weekends they open for lunch, with a break time from 15:00 to 16:30.

Inside Anmin Yullyang: table spacing and private rooms

Next up, the interior of this Yullyang-dong favorite. Anmin Yullyang was nearly full even at weekend lunch, so if you have the Table-ing app, I'd recommend checking the wait before visiting.

Walking in, the warm wood-toned atmosphere catches your eye first. You'd usually picture BBQ restaurants with tables crammed together and a slightly chaotic vibe, but here the spacing between tables was much wider than expected, and the tables themselves were spotless.

The gap between tables gave us plenty of room to chat while eating with our group, and I liked the private feel.

Honestly, it almost felt like a slightly upscale restaurant! With tables set together, this place also seemed great for company dinners or group gatherings.

Even though it's a BBQ restaurant, the tables are really spacious, and it's genuinely clean with an upscale mood! I kept thinking — is this really a samgyeopsal place? The interior is so nice!

I visited with a reservation during lunch hour. More than half the other guests seemed to have reservations too — that's when I knew this place must be legit.

One of the reasons I'd recommend Anmin Yullyang for a Cheongju BBQ dinner is the private room! When you're at a company dinner or gathering, a noisy space makes conversation hard, but the private room lets you eat in a really private setting.

Anmin Yullyang menu, prices and side dishes

Next, the menu at this Yullyang-dong BBQ spot. Black pork whole set ₩64,000 (700g), black pork half set ₩41,000 (450g).

• Fresh pork belly, whole cut, 160g ₩15,000
• Fresh pork neck, whole cut, 160g ₩15,000
• Fresh pork special cuts platter, 150g ₩15,000
• Fresh pork skin & jowl meat, 180g ₩20,000

There were also side dishes like crab doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) ₩6,000, pot sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew) ₩6,000, and soy sauce ramen ₩6,000. Whatever else you need, you can order right from the tablet in front of you.

There are also drinks and alcohol. They even have non-alcoholic cocktails! This place would be great when you're dating or in the early stages of a relationship and craving BBQ — I think it'd work as a blind date spot too.

Since I'd reserved ahead, the side dishes were already set up when we arrived. Beyond aged kimchi, green onion kimchi, and pickles, there was also a good variety of sauces.

On one side there was a little guide explaining which sauce and kimchi was which — I really appreciated that. Usually you don't know what something is and it feels awkward to keep asking, but having everything labeled made it much more convenient.

There was songhwayeom (pine flower salt), soybean powder, cumin, and my beloved wasabi mayo, plus the delicious aged kimchi to pair with it all! And I'd never seen cheese fondue at a BBQ place before, so having that too was such a pleasant surprise.

There were also fresh lettuce wraps. The lettuce, peppers, and garlic were genuinely fresh! Sometimes places give you wilted vegetables, but not here — totally fresh! And the cabbage salad that came with it had a sauce that was just the right amount of tangy, pairing perfectly with the meat.

Free extras and dining with kids at Anmin Yullyang

Before the main review, let's talk about the free perks! Baby chairs, baby spoons, dried seaweed, and dessert drinks — great for visiting with kids. In fact, there was a family with a child at the table ahead of us, and the staff even cut the meat into smaller pieces for the child. The staff were incredibly kind overall. There's also phone charging, hair ties, a first-aid kit, corkage service, and a birthday event!

As soon as we ordered, the charcoal came right in! You've got to grill over charcoal for it to really taste good, haha. And I appreciated seeing our visitor number written down — it added a sense of trust.

Three servings of samgyeopsal, grilled for you at the table

Ta-da, our three servings of samgyeopsal. I prefer samgyeopsal over the drier pork neck, so we ordered all pork belly! Even in the photo you can see the color of the meat — the quality was great.

Along with the meat came mushrooms, kkwarigochu (shishito-style peppers), zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. And here's Anmin's standout feature: they grill the meat for you ♥

The moment the meat arrived, its thick, rosy-pink look already earned full marks — and Anmin uses domestic Korean pork! I love Korean pork so much ♥ They say the meat is hand-trimmed fresh every day. Not frozen, but fresh pork — great, great.

And having them grill it for you is genuinely so convenient!! At a BBQ place, someone always ends up in charge of grilling, but here you don't need that. Staff placed the meat on the grill and cooked it perfectly, so we just sat, chatted, and waited.

Ah, the samgyeopsal sizzling away — even looking back at the photo makes my mouth water. There's a smoke extractor right above the grill, so the smell barely lingers on your clothes.

This is such a huge advantage at a company dinner or gathering!!! No one has to step out of the conversation to grill, and there's no need to keep checking how done the meat is — so convenient.

And along with the meat, they grill colorful vegetables too — eating grilled veggies in between bites of meat instead of just meat the whole time made it so much tastier!

Once the meat is fully cooked, they move it to the side onto a mini charcoal brazier — so all that's left to do is eat! There's a flame underneath to keep it warm.

For the first bite, I neatly wrapped it in lettuce. The combination of the grilled vegetables and the tender meat was seriously delicious.

I wrapped a well-cooked piece of samgyeopsal with kimchi. The meat was savory with juices still intact — you could really taste that nutty flavor that comes from the fat unique to pork belly, and it wasn't too dry, which I loved.

The outside was browned nicely while the inside stayed moist, so the texture was excellent too. Having staff grill the samgyeopsal really is the way to go!!!! If my friend or I had grilled it ourselves, we probably would have burned even good meat with our lack of skill, but here it was cooked just right, keeping both the texture and the juices intact.

Anmin's variety of sauces and accompaniments is huge, so there was joy in trying them one by one. Instead of just dipping in salt, you could mix and match different combinations, which I loved. It even paired surprisingly well with the cheese fondue ♥

Pot sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew), 6,000 won

After eating so much samgyeopsal, we needed something with broth, so we ordered the pot sundubu-jjigae too. True to its name, it comes served in a clay pot, and it looked piping hot from the start!

The spicy, hot broth was perfect for cutting through the richness with a spoonful in between bites of samgyeopsal! Paired with a bowl of rice, it makes for a complete meal on its own. There was also plenty of meat inside the sundubu-jjigae, which was another highlight. The stew was genuinely delicious.

Is Anmin Yullyang a good spot for a group gathering?

The interior is clean and upscale, but the important part — the meat quality — was flawless, and having it grilled for us made things easy while still being incredibly delicious!! The prices were reasonable too, so I'd revisit 10000% for sure. Highly recommend it as a must-visit restaurant in Yullyang-dong, Cheongju.