Gangnam Korean BBQ for tender pork shoulder: Daepae Market

After work yesterday, I suddenly had a serious protein craving, so I looked for a barbecue place near my office and ended up at Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch (대패마켙 강남논현점). I remembered having a really good meal here with friends before, so I came back for another visit. Let me leave an honest review of how the return visit went:)

Getting to Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch from Nonhyeon Station

It is about a five-minute walk from Exit 3 of Nonhyeon Station, near Yeongdong Market. It sits right in the middle of Nonhyeon's back streets, which get packed with people at night, so it was also in a great spot for dinner after work.

The interior was clean overall, and there were quite a lot of tables. I was surprised to see a few people dining alone too, and it looked like a nice option for get-togethers with friends or work dinners. There were lots of reserved tables when we visited, too!

Self-serve bar fee and ordering requirements

Once we were seated, we checked out the self-serve bar first. There were so many things, from fresh vegetables to ingredients that pair nicely with the meat. The self-serve bar costs ₩2,000 per person, but it is not added right when you order—it is charged together with your bill when you leave, so keep that in mind. They do not give you a separate notice at checkout, so don't be startled🌟

That day, we ordered thin-sliced pork belly and thin-sliced pork shoulder! You have to order at least three servings of each menu item, so the two of us got six servings. And after eating all that, I was not even hungry until lunch today🤭

Grilling thin-sliced pork belly and pork shoulder

We started by putting the thin-sliced pork belly on the grill. We also loaded up on mushrooms, kimchi, garlic, bracken fern, and more from the self-serve bar to grill alongside the meat. It looks absolutely delicious, right?:)

Daepae, or thin-sliced pork, cooks so quickly that it is perfect when you are hungry because there is no waiting around, haha. I cannot handle getting dizzy from hunger..🌝

Next, we grilled the thin-sliced pork shoulder. I usually prefer pork belly to shoulder, but the pork shoulder was softer and tastier that day?! I totally recommend it if you have not tried it✨

I do not usually make wraps with ssam vegetables, so I made myself a proper meat wrap using well-cooked meat instead, haha.

We also ordered some grillable cheese and cooked it until golden brown—so good! I was way too full for fried rice, the K-dessert, but thinking back, I kind of regret it. Should I have eaten it even though I was full..🥹

Oh, and the restroom is inside the restaurant, which looked convenient. It was very clean and well maintained, too.

After coming back

Daepae Market Gangnam Nonhyeon Branch was a solid choice for a day when I wanted a filling, tasty meal of thin-sliced pork at a good price! Being able to freely combine the meat with side ingredients made it fun to eat exactly how I liked, and of everything we tried that day, I found myself reaching for the thin-sliced pork shoulder a little more.