Kid-friendly pork belly restaurant near Yongsan Station: Jeokto

This review includes a visit paid for out of my own pocket.

[Jeokto Balhyo Gui quick facts] - Group reservations for 6–30 people available! - Pre-grilled meat! No more worrying about smelling like BBQ! - Bar seating available, great for a date! - Parking: free, plus free parking at Yongsan Tax Office (after 6pm weekdays, all day weekends) - Corkage: free for whiskey, wine and other alcohol (excluding drinks sold in-house), with glasses, ice and chilling bags provided

The morning and evening breezes are getting cooler, which means fall is almost here!!! You know you need to eat well during this changing season, right?? A Yongsan Korean BBQ favorite!!! I want to share my experience at Jeokto Balhyo Gui, a place that ferments its pork belly for extra flavor!!!

From the entrance, the place already had a serious aura, and both the food and the atmosphere won me over instantly. The vibe is no joke haha.

A pork belly restaurant where the smell doesn't stick to your clothes?

Jeokto Balhyo Gui Yongsan Branch pre-grills the meat before serving it, so there was almost no grilling smell or oil splatter. The moment I walked through the door, the thing that surprised me most was actually the 'smell'. Usually with pork belly places, you worry about your clothes smelling afterward, right? But strangely, this place barely had any grilling smell at all. The clean, tidy interior and pleasant air made me feel good even before the meal started.

Since the meat comes pre-grilled, there's no worry about oil splattering either, which made me think this place would be perfect for a formal occasion or a gathering with people who matter to you.

Is Jeokto Balhyo Gui okay to visit with a child?

And!!! It was really nice to bring my kid along too~ Since there's no risk of oil splattering, I didn't have to nag her to be careful, which made things a lot easier~

Especially if you need a gathering that feels like being treated well — like a wedding invite meetup — I'd really strongly recommend this place.

Jeot-samgyeop or plain pork belly first? Why the eating order matters

Jeokto Balhyo Gui's signature dish is the 'jeot-samgyeop' (fermented pork belly) — pork belly marinated in salted seafood and sauce, then fermented inside a red clay onggi jar. The name alone sounds pretty serious, right?

Let me show you a quick peek at the menu first!!!

We ordered 2 plates of jeot-samgyeop and 1 serving of plain pork belly. But that was our mistake ㅠㅠㅠ the jeot-samgyeop is already seasoned, so after eating that and then moving on to the plain pork belly, it tasted bland.... If you're ordering other dishes alongside the jeot-samgyeop, I strongly recommend enjoying the unseasoned dishes first and eating the 'jeot-samgyeop' last!!!!

Herring roe and perilla leaf sauce with cold buckwheat noodles

What impressed me most at Jeokto Balhyo Gui was the herring roe sauce and the perilla leaf sauce. Once we sat down, a neat spread of side dishes arrived along with various sauces. Among them, what really caught my eye were the herring roe and perilla leaf sauces. The popping texture of the herring roe combined with the fragrant perilla leaf paired with the meat like a true 'match made in heaven'. It was a whole new world of deep, rich flavor, completely different from the usual ssamjang (soybean dipping sauce) or salt!!

You know how ordering mul-memil-myeon (cold buckwheat noodles in broth) can sometimes be bland and disappointing? But this one was totally savory and salty, and it paired perfectly with the sweet jeot-samgyeop hahaha. My husband ordered rice and I ordered the mul-memil-myeon, and he was like haha, he should've ordered the buckwheat noodles too^^ Thanks to these sauces plus the mul-memil-myeon, I felt like I could keep eating the meat forever hahahaha.

Even on the way out, we kept saying to each other, this place is really good... oh... that was really delicious, right? talking with my family the whole way ❤️ 🤍