Hapjeong jjokgalbi for two: 4 servings plus pork skin at Champpoppo

I finally visited Champpoppo Jjokgalbi, one of Hapjeong's famous pork rib spots! I'd heard about it before since it's already well known, and I happened to be near Hapjeong so I stopped by — and I was so, so satisfied haha. Whenever I've eaten pork ribs elsewhere, there's usually barely any meat on the bone, which is always disappointing, but here the meat is genuinely thick and plentiful, and I loved that. Let's get into my honest review of Champpoppo Jjokgalbi~

Where is Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong Branch, and when is it open?

🩷Restaurant info

• Restaurant: Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong Branch
• Hours: Mon–Thu 17:00–24:00 / Fri–Sun 17:00–01:00
• Location: between Hapjeong Station and Sangsu Station

Here's what Champpoppo Jjokgalbi Hapjeong looks like from the outside.

Is there a wait? Early evening at Champpoppo means none

Here's the interior of Champpoppo Jjokgalbi. I went in early evening and got seated right away with no wait, but as I was eating, dinnertime hit and the place filled up in no time — a line started forming. I could really tell why it's such a famous spot in Hapjeong. If you want to skip the wait, avoid mealtimes and you'll get right in!

Champpoppo menu and what two people ordered

Here's the menu at Champpoppo Jjokgalbi.

• Soy pork ribs (ganjang jjokgalbi) ₩14,000
• Spicy pork ribs (yangnyeom jjokgalbi) ₩15,000
• First pork rib order must be 3 servings or more!
• Set menus — Pasta set (2–3 people) ₩51,000 / Tear-gas set (2–3 people) ₩51,000 / Assorted set (3–4 people) ₩85,000

There were two of us, so we ordered 2 servings of soy ribs, 2 servings of spicy ribs, one tuna mayo rice ball, and one honeycomb pork skin. Total: ₩70,900!

Looking at the photo, it looks so delicious.

The 15-minute pre-grill: what to eat while you wait

The ribs are pre-grilled to order, so it takes about 15 minutes. In the meantime, dig into the chicken porridge, corn cheese, pork skin, and potatoes first. There's a detailed guide on how to finish grilling after the pre-grill, and how to grill the pork skin, so give it a read. Extra orders also take 15 minutes because of the pre-grilling, so order generously the first time and place extra orders ahead based on your eating pace!

Korea's number one pork ribs, Ppoppo Jjokgalbi haha.

Champpoppo's receipt review event is worth doing

The receipt review event here is amazing. A review from 1 person gets a free drink, 2 people get sundubu ramen, and 3 people get a full serving of maegisal. It's incredible. Usually it's one review per table, but here the perks are best when everyone in your group leaves a review together.

Side dishes and dipping sauces at Champpoppo

Here are the basic side dishes. The pickled onions are delicious, nice and tangy haha.

These are the dipping sauces for the pork ribs and pork skin. The red one is spicy sauce, the yellow sauce is the classic sweet-and-salty sauce, and the yellow powder is curry powder.

Free chicken porridge before the ribs

The complimentary chicken porridge! Eat this while the ribs are pre-grilling. It's genuinely delicious — there's a good amount of chicken in it, healthy and tasty at the same time!

I've never seen a place serve chicken porridge as an appetizer before!!

Corn cheese, taster pork skin and potato chips

And then there's corn cheese, which I love~ Put it on the grill and eat once the cheese melts.

And the complimentary taster pork skin and potatoes! The pork skin also comes pre-grilled, so you just need to cook it lightly.

Wait, the pork skin was way too good? It was way thicker, chewier and stickier than any pork skin I'd had before — honestly incredible. It was the first time a free taster of pork skin made me want to order more!!! So after finishing the ribs, we ordered extra pork skin haha.

Grill the thin potato slices and let them cool slightly for crispy potato chips.

Tuna mayo rice balls you shape yourself

Here's the tuna mayo rice ball we ordered. It's a generous portion.

Alright, let's make some rice balls~

Round little rice balls, done! You know you have to eat rice balls alongside the pork ribs, right?

Gloves on: the order to eat the ribs in

Every table comes with gloves. Put on the cotton work gloves first, then the disposable plastic gloves on top. That way you can hold the hot ribs without getting your hands messy!

Soy pork ribs first — thick meat on the bone

Our 4 servings of pork ribs arrived. 2 servings soy, 2 servings spicy.

This is the soy pork ribs~ And this is the spicy pork ribs!

The ribs come pre-grilled, so you just need to finish cooking them a little. Doesn't it look so appetizing? Just put it briefly on the grill and cook it through!

Start with the soy ribs first. The spicy ones are more heavily seasoned, so you should eat the soy ones first.

Dipped in the spicy sauce, it's even more addictively delicious ❤️ That sauce was my personal favorite to dip in. Sweet and salty🩷 It's also good dipped in the curry sauce. Adding pickled onions on top brings a tangy note that cuts through any richness.

The bone and meat come apart easily so it's easy to pick the ribs apart. Usually when I eat pork ribs out, there's not much meat to pick at and I never actually fill up, but here there's genuinely so much meat on the bone — there's so much to eat!!!!

It's really delicious eaten together with the tuna mayo rice ball.

How spicy are the spicy pork ribs? Mild enough for the spice-shy

After finishing the soy ribs, we move on to the spicy ones. The color is noticeably richer right away, isn't it? The spicy ribs also have plenty of meat on the bone. There's a lot to pick at.

The spicy ribs are tasty even eaten plain, with a nice kick. They're also good dipped in sauce.

Eating the tuna mayo rice ball together with the spicy ribs mellows out the heat nicely. The spice level of the spicy ribs is totally manageable even for people who can't handle spicy food! Personally, I liked the spicy ribs a bit more than the soy ones, though both were delicious — but I'd recommend mixing them together since both are great.

Why we added a ₩7,900 plate of pork skin

After finishing 4 servings of ribs, I was pretty full and thought about stopping there, but I couldn't stop thinking about that taster pork skin, so in the end we ordered extra pork skin haha. ₩7,900.

The pork skin comes pre-grilled, so just cook it lightly.

It's genuinely so chewy... I found the pork skin of my life. So good. It's chewy, not thin, plump enough to give it a real bite. It's delicious even plain — the more you chew it, the nuttier it gets. Also great dipped in curry powder. It had been such a long time since I'd had pork ribs, and I ate so, so well.

If you're looking for a great pork rib spot near Hapjeong or Sangsu, definitely give Champpoppo Jjokgalbi a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy it~