Jongno 3-ga Korean BBQ for a group of 5: brisket wasabi rice, Tapgol

It's outdoor BBQ season, so today my dinner goddesses and I visited Tapgol Gongwon, a famous outdoor BBQ spot near Jongno Station :)

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga hours, address and what to know

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch is an outdoor BBQ restaurant on the 1st floor of 111 Supyo-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, right beside the stone wall next to Tapgol Park near Jongno 3-ga Station. Hours are daily 17:00–01:00.

• Hours: Daily 17:00–01:00
• Location: 111 Supyo-ro, 1st floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Notes: No parking / No takeout / No delivery / No reservations

What is the outdoor seating by the stone-wall alley like?

Our table at Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch was right next to Tapgol Park and the stone wall, and the vibe was insane 😳🫧 First, let me brag about the vibe of eating frozen pork belly beside the stone wall 🤓🤍 This place is a total hotspot!!! (People walking by were even filming videos of it lol)

That famous 'spin-spin, make memories' pojangmacha (street tent bar) uncle in Jongno 👍🏻 Sadly we didn't get to see him spin anything ㅠㅠ But the uncle suddenly danced up to us and startled us lol

The weather's getting cooler and it's exactly outdoor BBQ season now 🍃 I've been visiting Jongno a lot lately and there are so many more outdoor BBQ spots now — almost every street is one!

How long is the Friday wait at Tapgol Gongwon?

We all came straight after work to enjoy Friday night, and there were 8 teams ahead of us. It was convenient that you could put your name on the tablet waitlist ✨

The tables turned out to be huge, so the wait went down fast. But since there were 5 of us, we waited a bit longer haha.

Fun fact: inside there's only the self-serve bar and the restroom! (The AC was blasting so even though it's outdoor seating, you can eat cool.) Us dinner goddesses seriously debated — what do they do when it gets cold?! Isn't that against some regulation?! So funny lol

Self-serve bar and the side dishes that come free

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch has an indoor self-serve bar with a lot of cold drinks, and it's great because you can refill without feeling awkward (the kimchi is seriously delicious ⭐️)

Ssamjang (dipping sauce), peppers, garlic, salted squid, seasoned bean sprouts, bracken fern, kimchi, radish salad, lettuce, sesame oil

Each table has a picnic basket with wet wipes, cups, spoons, and chopsticks.

What five friends ordered at Tapgol Gongwon, and the prices

• Flash-frozen pork belly ₩18,000 (3 servings)
• Chadolbagi ₩20,000 (3 servings)
• Chadol doenjang stew ₩7,000 (1)
• Rice ₩1,000 (1)
• Kimchi fried rice ₩3,000 (2)
• Beer ₩6,000
• Soju ₩5,000

That's how much five of us ate :) Of course we started with the signature frozen pork belly, and when Tori said she'd treat us, we also ordered chadolbagi~!

The basic side dishes came out on a wooden tray. These are all sides I love, so I was already excited~

We grilled every single one of these side dishes along with the meat. Grilled makes everything taste even better 👅

Wasabi and ssamjang go great with the meat, plus really plump, chunky salted squid. The owner really knows food, big respect 🙌🏻

Brisket doenjang stew, 7,000 won

The chadol doenjang stew is ₩7,000. It's packed with super soft tofu, savory chadolbagi, and lots of vegetables.

It's a slightly spicy, clean-tasting doenjang stew, so one bowl of rice with it disappeared instantly~! When eating with meat, doenjang stew is always the best.

Outdoor BBQ, frozen pork belly, and drinks — you can't skip the drinks~

How thick is the flash-frozen pork belly?

Tapgol Gongwon Jongno 3-ga Branch's flash-frozen pork belly is ₩18,000 for 3 servings, and it wasn't super thin — a nice medium thickness that made it even tastier.

The meat quality was great too, with a good ratio of lean meat to fat, very satisfying 👏🏻

Once the grill heats up, put the meat on.

Since the meat is thin, it cooks fast, isn't too greasy, and had zero off-smell — this place is seriously good..!!🫶🏻

They also grilled the bracken fern, seasoned bean sprouts, kimchi, and garlic together with the meat.

There's pepper too, so sprinkle it on — it tasted even better with pepper. Highly recommend ✨

Tori grilled everything to a nice golden brown 🤎 It's also great wrapped in lettuce like this.

We all took our first sip of somaek (beer and soju mixed) together 🍻 Getting tipsy on the vibe~ getting tipsy on the drinks~

Chadolbagi brisket eaten sushi-style with wasabi on rice

Chadolbagi is ₩20,000 for 3 servings. It has a nice pink-red color and looks super fresh just by looking at it. (FYI, the beef short rib meat and chuck flap were sold out when we went ㅠㅠ)

Chadolbagi is very thin, so it cooks quickly — great for grilling slowly and eating.

We probably should've eaten the chadolbagi before the pork belly, but honestly both are amazing 🐰💓

We put wasabi on rice, topped it with chadolbagi, and ate it like sushi — it was incredible!!!

Kimchi fried rice, 3,000 won

Kimchi fried rice is ₩3,000 each. It's stir-fried in the kitchen so it takes a bit of time, but the visual is insane 🫪

Each serving comes with one fried egg on top, cooked to a nice soft-yolk finish.

We added lettuce and leftover side dishes to make our own version of the fried rice haha. Since the kimchi is so good, the fried rice was bound to be delicious.

Matching group t-shirts and a night out in Jongno

Hahaha, the owner took our photo in matching group t-shirts with everyone watching. We looked like kids on a school trip from the countryside.

Our friendship FOREVER…⭐️ Love you, dinner goddesses…🤍

Walking around Jongno in our matching t-shirts with the dinner goddesses… haha. Hyeonjeong gave a thumbs up saying it was so good (so cute~^^). Suddenly there were a lot of people in blue, and our little group blended right in among the moms who'd just come from an Lim Young-woong concert (the colors matched exactly lol)

Secret Santa gift exchange complete 🐰🫶🏻 Everyone got gifts perfectly suited to their taste, very satisfying~~

The gift I got from my Secret Santa has a fun feature where the parts disappear one by one lol