Seongdong Seoul Korean BBQ with pork jowl: Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom

I tend to go near Exit 6 of Wangsimni Station a lot. But having lived in Wangsimni for so long (?) I’ve realized that the really long-standing hidden gems are actually over by Exit 10!

They seem to be clustered around Haengdang Market. Lots of restaurants that have been on TV are in these alleyways too. The place I visited today, Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom (푸줏간생고기점), is right in Haengdang Market.

Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom information

• 24 Haengdang-ro 17-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
• Mon–Sat 14:00–24:00
• Sunday 12:00–22:30
• An easy walking distance from Wangsimni Station Exit 10

There were three of us today! Meat is great with two people too, of course, but I think it tastes even better when you go with a group haha.

The food was delicious that day, but the conversation with the people I went with was so much fun that dinner flew by in an instant!! 🙌 From around 5:30 (?) on a weekday evening, customers gradually started coming in,

and later the restaurant was nearly full. It definitely felt like a barbecue place the neighborhood has loved for a long time! ✅️ Great for coming with friends, and ✅️ it also seemed like a good choice for anyone looking for a team-dinner venue.

Pork jowl and pork belly for three

What is a good amount for three people?

We ordered two portions of pork jowl plus two portions of pork belly: four portions in total! Apparently, it is domestic Korean pork.

✅️ Each was ₩20,000 per portion. And what I really want to recommend here is… 📍the pork jowl!!! If you like pork jowl, you have to try it.

Honestly, at places where pork jowl is not good, it can be so fatty that after a few pieces it starts to feel heavy, right? But perhaps because it was grilled on the cauldron lid, the outside of this pork jowl turned beautifully golden and it was seriously delicious. This pork jowl gets a pass from me 👏👏

Potatoes cooking alongside the meat on the cauldron lid

Actually, because the name is simply “Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom,” I had no idea it would be a place where you grill meat on a cauldron lid. But when I sat down,

there was a huge cauldron lid right in the middle of the table!!! I immediately shouted “Nice!!!!” to myself haha. It had been such a long time since I’d had cauldron-lid pork belly.

It was not just meat that went on the cauldron lid; kimchi, mushrooms, and potatoes went on together too. Especially the potatoes! When you cook potatoes in pork-belly fat, well… there is no way they could be bad. The potatoes soak up a little of the meat fat and turn golden brown—👏👏👏 a taste that makes you applaud automatically.

The staff grill the meat for you! They do not just grill it at the beginning; they keep grilling until it is almost ready to eat. ✅️ A huge plus for anyone who finds grilling meat a hassle! That day, I could just sit there, chat, and pick up perfectly cooked meat, so it was very comfortable.

There is just one thing to watch out for… Maybe because it is a cauldron lid, the oil splatters in every direction more than you might expect haha. If you are visiting in nice clothes, I think you should be a little careful.

Wrap vegetables and side dishes

We did not order individual bowls of rice with our meat. Instead, this place serves quite a variety of wrap vegetables,

and there were side dishes that were great for wrapping with radish and meat, so the meat went down very easily.

Doenjang-jjigae and dessert choices

✅️ Partway through, doenjang-jjigae (soybean-paste stew) comes out too. You can choose between doenjang-jjigae and kimchi-jjigae, and we chose the doenjang-jjigae. I liked that it had more meat in it than I expected.

Once you have eaten a fair amount of meat, you can choose naengmyeon (cold noodles), nurungji (toasted rice crust), or noodles for dessert.

Since there were three of us, we chose one mul-naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth), one bibim-naengmyeon (spicy mixed cold noodles), and one nurungji.

Of these, I totally recommend the nurungji! We had not ordered rice with the meat, and as I ate, I found myself craving rice grains without even realizing it haha. Having warm nurungji at that point was seriously so good.

And the naengmyeon! I tried both the mul-naengmyeon and bibim-naengmyeon, but for me, bibim-naengmyeon wins 🙌 I guess bibim-naengmyeon really is the one with meat. Save one piece of meat, wrap it in the bibim-naengmyeon, and it is truly delicious.

Next time, I want to try the beef too

Next time, I want to go back for beef instead of pork.

I had never even heard of cauldron-lid beef (?) haha. I recommend Pujutgan Saenggogi-jeom in Wangsimni for a day when you really want a proper cauldron-lid pork-belly meal again 🙌