Jongno Seoul Korean BBQ with potato wraps: Cham Dwaejitgan

On a lovely autumn day, I was looking for delicious pork belly near Jongno 3-ga Station and ended up visiting Cham Dwaejitgan Jongno Main Branch (참돼짓간 종로본점). 😊

Chewy cheongyeopsal and potato wraps

This is a great Jongno pork belly spot where I enjoyed chewy, nutty cheongyeopsal, pork belly, and even potato wraps in a refreshingly different way.

How close is it to Jongno 3-ga Station?

It is only about a one-minute walk from Exits 2 and 2-1 of Jongno 3-ga Station, and just a two- to three-minute walk from Ikseon-dong, so the location was really convenient.

The restaurant atmosphere

It is on the first floor of the Piccadilly CGV building, and the pig-family figurines out front made it easy to spot even from a distance.

I visited around 2 p.m., late on a weekday afternoon, so I was able to eat in relative peace. Still, guests kept coming in while I was dining, and I was surprised by how many international visitors there were.

The staff served international guests very naturally too, so it felt like this was already well known as a good restaurant around Jongno 3-ga for visitors to Jongno.

Boseong Nokdon menu and prices

• Pork belly (Boseong Nokdon): ₩16,000
• Flower pork neck (Boseong Nokdon): ₩16,000
• Jirisan black pork five-layer pork belly: ₩19,000
• Cheongyeopsal (Boseong Nokdon pork jowl): ₩19,000
• Gabrisal (Boseong Nokdon special cut): ₩19,000

With the Naver review event, you could receive a complimentary drink or fried rice by leaving a receipt review.

A thoughtfully laid table and special pork

We ordered the Boseong Nokdon pork belly and Boseong Nokdon cheongyeopsal.

They use Jirisan black pork and Boseong Nokdon pork, along with domestically grown minari (water parsley), so I was looking forward to having the minari with the meat too.

The custom grill that arrived with the meat was impressive: its design was optimized for grilling. Pork fat drained away naturally along the slanted grill, while cooked meat could be kept warm slightly away from the heat. It also used charcoal, so the meat did not burn easily and had that lovely charcoal aroma.

There was a wide selection of sauces too, including ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste), spicy sauce, salt, and wasabi.

Along with lettuce and perilla leaves, there were plenty of ingredients to eat with the pork—seasoned scallions, garlic scapes, garlic, and chili peppers—so you could put together combinations to suit your taste.

Pork belly and cheongyeopsal grilled by the staff

The staff provided the grilling service themselves, so all we had to do was eat comfortably. I tried the thick-cut pork belly first, and it was nutty and nicely juicy.

But personally, I liked the cheongyeopsal even more. Its texture was different from pork belly—chewy yet nutty—and I kept reaching for it.

It was good enough that, if I return, I would like to order a little more cheongyeopsal. 😊

How do you eat the potato wraps?

One of the most memorable things at Cham Dwaejitgan was the potato wrap.

You place pork belly on a thinly grilled potato slice, then wrap it with minari, kimchi, and more. The nutty grilled potato went unexpectedly well with the meat, minari, and kimchi. The minari, bean sprouts, and kimchi grilled alongside the pork also cut through its richness while adding flavor, so I kept reaching for more.

Personally, my favorite combination was a piece of meat on grilled potato with wasabi and spicy sauce. It was also delicious to make wraps with lettuce and perilla leaves, adding seasoned scallions, garlic scapes, garlic, and chili peppers however I liked.

With so many combinations to try, I never got tired of the meat throughout the meal.

Finishing with kimchi jjigae and egg fried rice

The kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) that came with the meat was delicious too. It was loaded with pork, making the broth rich and pleasantly spicy, and it went so well with rice.

Even though we had eaten plenty of meat, I simply could not skip the final fried rice. 😊 It had lots of minari, kimchi, and roasted seaweed flakes, and unusually, they added egg and fried it all together.

That gave it an extra nutty flavor, making it perfect as a finishing dish. I had a few perilla leaves left, so I tore them up and added them to the fried rice. Making it into a pretty heart shape made me happy.

When you are craving pork belly in Jongno 3-ga

It was close to Jongno 3-ga Station and easy to get to, with Boseong Nokdon pork belly and cheongyeopsal to enjoy alongside many accompaniments. I especially liked the staff grilling service and the unusual potato wraps; it was also a solid Jongno 3-ga pork belly restaurant for group meals or company dinners. 😊