Cheonan Korean BBQ with rice-husk smoked pork: Cham Dwaejitgan

A Dujeong-dong pork belly place with a rice-husk smoking grill

There are so many meat restaurants these days, but I was getting tired of how similar they all tasted, without much character... But then!! I spotted this pork belly place that smokes the meat with rice husks, grills it over true charcoal, and even uses a grill on a totally different level from other meat restaurants, so I hurried right over.

Cham Dwaejitgan Cheonan Dujeong Branch is in Dujeong-dong Meokgol, so it is easy to find. Even from the outside, it has that great-restaurant vibe~

Such a neat, clean exterior. As dinner time approached, the place filled up. There were couples on dates, and lots of groups out for company dinners too.

The pork belly and pork jowl we ordered

Here is the menu. We ordered pork belly for ₩16,000, flower-cut pork neck for ₩16,000, pork jowl (Cheongyeopsal) for ₩19,000, fried rice for ₩3,000, and soybean paste stew for ₩6,000.

A grill that uses true charcoal and rice husks

Isn't the grill fascinating? True charcoal goes in the middle, with rice husks around the sides. They say the rice husks add flavor through smoking, while the true charcoal makes the meat tender.

The meat cooks on the round grill. On the square grill beside it, they cook kimchi, minari (water celery), and bean sprouts. The meat fat runs down from the round grill, making the kimchi, minari, and bean sprouts even tastier.

Staff-grilled pork belly and potato ssam

They grill the pork belly and pork neck beautifully. The staff member handled the meat so expertly that we could just sit back and wait for it to cook. They even crisped up the skin side of the pork belly—such a pro!!

I had never seen potato ssam (wrap) before!! They grilled slices of potato alongside the meat to use as wraps.

Pork belly and flower-cut pork neck with a gentle smoky aroma

Here is the beautifully grilled pork belly. Every bite burst with juices, and it was so tender yet pleasantly chewy. The light aroma from the rice-husk smoking spread through it, and it was delicious even without dipping it in salt.

This is the flower-cut pork neck. When pork neck has “flower-cut” in front of it, it is suuuuper tender, you know? This one was tender too, practically melting away.

Making a wrap with the nicely grilled minari, kimchi, and bean sprouts on top of the meat. Seriously delicious...

My first crispy, fluffy potato ssam

My first potato ssam!!! The subtly crisp yet fluffy potato ssam went so well with the meat! How did they even think of eating it this way... Meat restaurant owners really know food.

The extra order of pork jowl was today's winner

We were planning to order just two servings because we were going to have fried rice, but the smoked meat was so good... We could not resist ordering extra pork jowl!! They grilled it deliciously, as expected~

The owner grilled it for us and cut it to different thicknesses so we could taste which we preferred. The owner said the thick pieces were their preference, but our little couple's preference was the thin ones!!!!! Such a thoughtful owner~~ We had never even considered eating it thinly sliced.

That rich yet crunchy-chewy texture of pork jowl... So delicious. Pork jowl was number one among everything we ate today!!!!

Fried rice topped with pork jowl and soybean paste stew

You cannot skip fried rice~ It is surprisingly hard to find a place with really good fried rice... After one bite, I said, “Wow, it has been so long since I had fried rice this good~” The seasoning was just right, and it was truly delicious.

Putting pork jowl on top of the fried rice~ Delicious plus delicious... it has to be good!!

I also ordered soybean paste stew because I wanted it with the fried rice. It was savory, packed with ingredients, and very delicious.