Gwanak Seoul Korean BBQ with chewy pork: Wanyuk

One-line verdict The chewy pork is seriously insanely good. The cheese charcoal fried rice is a must too..!!

Wanyuk Sindaebang Branch location and visitor information

5, 1F, 1471 Nambusunhwan-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea Daily 11:30–23:00 Mon–Fri break time 14:30–17:00 No weekend break time Last order 22:00 Free parking behind the restaurant; walk-in visit

The exterior of Wanyuk, an easy walk from Sindaebang Station

Wanyuk Sindaebang Branch is about an eight-minute straight walk from Exit 2 of Sindaebang Station! It is easy to reach on foot from the station, and there is a parking area behind the restaurant, so parking is free!

Inside Wanyuk Sindaebang Branch and the self-service bar

Wanyuk has a neat rectangular dining room, with seating arranged in two rows, so it feels clean and comfortable to eat in haha.

All of Wanyuk's meat is domestic Korean pork, so I could eat with confidence :) The reason I came to Wanyuk was for a cut called chewy pork! Also called triangular pork or duteopdaegi pork, it is said to have a deliciously springy texture. So excited +_+

At the self-service bar, you can keep refilling all the side dishes and ssam vegetables (wrap vegetables)! They even had sliced Cheongyang chili peppers, which I absolutely loved.. hehe.

Wanyuk set menus and what we ordered

• Wanyuk Assorted Set ₩64,000: pork belly 200g + pork neck 200g + chewy pork 300g
• Wanyuk Special Set ₩57,000: pork belly 150g + pork neck 150g + chewy pork 150g + pork skirt meat 150g
• Wanyuk Signature Set ₩48,000: pork belly 200g + chewy pork 300g
• Wanyuk Value Set ₩39,000: pork neck 200g + chewy pork 200g + choice of stew
• Ordered: Wanyuk Signature Set ₩48,000, cheese charcoal fried rice ₩5,000

Both were sooo delicious—highly recommended 👍 At 500g for two people, the set alone is filling.

Side dishes and the Wanyuk Signature Set

The side dishes came out first, along with sauces for dipping the meat. The sauce on this seasoned scallion salad was incredible?! Seriously so good haha.

The Wanyuk Signature Set comes with kimchi, mung bean sprouts, minari (water celery), gosari (bracken fern), salted hairtail innards, garlic, king oyster mushrooms, pork belly, and chewy pork. I also loved that there were lots of vegetables to eat alongside it.

The best part!! They show you the meat first, then grill it for you themselves!! Rather than grilling it at your table, they cook it in the open kitchen, so there is absolutely no heat or oil splattering to worry about—just delicious meat 👍

How to enjoy Wanyuk to the fullest

• Try it with earthenware-roasted sea salt and wasabi!
• Try it with meat sauce and wasabi!
• Try it dipped in salted hairtail innards!
• Try it with vegetables and house-made ssamjang (Korean dipping paste)!
• Try it with Goheung yuzu pickled radish wraps!

My favorite was definitely eating it with the salted hairtail innards haha.

Pork belly that paired beautifully with salted hairtail innards

While we gently turned the vegetables on the grill and waited, they cooked the pork belly first and brought it over to the grill!! The pork belly arrived beautifully cooked and so appetizing. It had a great balance of fat and lean meat!! Delicious dipped in salted hairtail innards, delicious with meat sauce too~

The pork belly was also delicious wrapped in ssam 😊 And the best thing is that you can eat as many wraps as you want from the self-service bar!

The set doenjang-jjigae

The doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) included with the set arrived too, and it was packed with ingredients and seasoned just right—so good alongside the meat!!

Wanyuk's crisp-chewy chewy pork

The chewy pork looks completely different from pork belly—its appearance slightly reminded me of pork jowl. I took one bite, and it was crisp, springy, and seriously delicious. My dad really loved it too!! If you like a bouncy, chewy texture, you have to try the chewy pork. It really is chewy, just like the name says hahaha.

There are pickled peppers among the side dishes, and they paired amazingly well with it too haha. The Signature Set includes 300g of chewy pork, so the portion is generous as well!

Cheese charcoal fried rice with a crispy cheese crust

Honestly, I had no room left, but the charcoal fried rice looked so good that I had to order it! I chose the version with cheese, and later the cheese turned into a crispy crust, which made it even tastier wow.

It is kimchi fried rice shaped neatly like a charcoal briquette, with mozzarella cheese lightly spread over the top. Once the cheese melts, mash it up and eat it together.

This looks unreal.. 💛 Looking at the photos makes me want it again—I am literally drooling.. hahaha. The charcoal fried rice is kimchi fried rice, and maybe the kimchi itself is delicious, but the seasoning was absolutely perfect.

I saved a little chewy pork and ate it with the fried rice—heaven hehe. I felt like I was about to burst, but it was so good that I kept eating.

There were also zero-sugar candies by the register that are great after a meal. They are popular these days, and I have had them a lot too; there are lots of flavors and they are slightly cooling, so they are perfect for freshening up after meat!!

What I loved about Wanyuk

The chewy pork was truly memorable—springy and chewy in a way that makes you want more. The cheese charcoal fried rice was delicious too, and I want it again..!! If you are looking for a good restaurant near Sindaebang Station, Boramae Park, or Sillim, I recommend Wanyuk!! I think I would come back whenever I am in this area.