Kim Don-i: My Go-To Korean BBQ Spot Near Seolleung Station

reply 0 hit 877 date 25-11-18 06:00

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If I had to pick a samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) restaurant near Seolleung Station, I'd always choose Kim Don-i. Since I'm in a department with frequent company dinners, I get to visit many restaurants, but I keep coming back here because the food is delicious and the interior is quite spacious, making it a comfortable place to dine.

Kim Don-i is located within a 5-minute walk from Seolleung Station. Take Exit 8 and walk straight until you see the SK Telecom PS & M building. From there, turn right and walk a little further, and you'll see the restaurant.

Kim Don-i

Address: 9, Seolleung-ro 94-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 1st Floor

Operating Hours: Monday to Friday 10:30 - 05:00 (Break Time 15:00 - 17:00) (Last Order 14:00, 04:00)

Saturday 17:00 - 23:00 (Last Order 22:00) *Closed every Sunday

If you go during peak hours, you'll have to wait a long time for a table. It's worth the wait, so I often end up waiting, but I prefer to get in right away, so I headed to the restaurant a little earlier on this particular day. Thanks to that, I was able to get in right away.

Kim Don-i is a well-known samgyeopsal restaurant near Seolleung Station that has been visited by many celebrities. It's a real gem that has been in business in the same spot for quite a while, so it's popular not only with nearby office workers and residents but also with customers from other neighborhoods.

They focus on the quality of the meat, so there aren't many meat options. Personally, I like places with simple menus like this because I have a hard time making decisions. I ordered Baekdo-saegi (white pork) to match the number of people at the table and waited a short while.

The meat, side dishes, and charcoal briquettes for grilling the meat are brought out in order. It's not common to find places that grill meat over charcoal briquettes, so people who come here for the first time are always captivated by this setup. The area near the table warms up as soon as the fire is lit, and I watched the staff grill the meat while rubbing my hands and cheeks, which were cold from the chilly wind.

The meat at Kim Don-i, a famous samgyeopsal restaurant near Seolleung Station, is incredibly thick. It would be difficult to grill such thick meat over a gas stove because the heat isn't strong enough, but here, they use charcoal briquettes, so even with the thickness, the meat can be cooked thoroughly inside and out.

Moreover, the staff grills the meat perfectly, so you can just sit back and relax and then pick up the cooked meat and eat it.

When the meat is placed on the grill, the surface gradually turns brown, and the oil and juices drip down. The charcoal fire gets stronger when the oil drips, but even in this difficult situation, the staff grills the meat amazingly well.

The thick meat is rolled around whole on the grill, and when it's ready to be cut, it's cut into bite-sized pieces and cooked to the right doneness.

In the past, there was a perception that pork should always be cooked thoroughly, but these days, it can be cooked like beef, soft and moist, so you can adjust the degree of cooking to your liking. I prefer fluffy meat with moisture rather than dry meat, and the meat here is thick, so if you grill it that way, the taste is fantastic.

I even put the mel젓 (fermented anchovy sauce) on the grill to boil while preparing to eat the meat. Mel젓 has a pungent and fishy smell, so it's hard to appreciate its true value until you try it. But the moment you dip the meat in it, you'll be amazed by this new world.

I enjoyed the deep flavor of the fresh pork, which was brought from Jeju Island, by dipping it in mel젓 and salt. When you put it in your mouth and chew, you can feel the chewy texture, and the savory taste keeps coming, so you can't help but fall in love with it.

Even when the charcoal fire weakens, it still has warmth, so you can enjoy a subtle warmth until you finish eating the meat.

Pork loses its flavor when it cools down, and if you keep a strong fire on, the meat becomes tough and hard, which reduces the taste. But here, you can warm it up with the gentle heat of the charcoal briquettes, so you can keep eating it deliciously.

Put a piece of meat on a fresh lettuce leaf, add various side dishes, and roll it up to make a perfectly balanced wrap. If you only eat meat continuously, you might get tired of it, and you might not think it's delicious because there's nothing special about it, but if you wrap it up like this, you can taste a variety of flavors.

They also give you dongchimi (radish water kimchi) broth, and if you drink the broth with it, the greasiness is washed away. The cabbage and radish float in it, and the rich broth sticks to your mouth and is addictive.

I also eat the green onion salad aggressively. The green onion salad I eat at home is too spicy, so I don't eat it much, but the ones I eat at restaurants have a sweet and tangy taste rather than a spicy taste, so I refill it several times. These slightly spicy side dishes are essential when eating meat.

I eat garlic grilled and raw. I don't usually have the opportunity to eat raw garlic like this unless I'm at a Korean BBQ restaurant, but at a Korean BBQ restaurant, I eat a lot of garlic like a bear who became human after eating garlic.

The meat is chewy and delicious because it comes fresh from Jeju Island. It's on a different level from the samgyeopsal you eat at other restaurants, so it's a lot of fun to eat.

When I come to this samgyeopsal restaurant near Seolleung Station, I always order an additional 1-2 servings of meat in addition to the meat I originally ordered.

When I first order, I'm overwhelmed by the thickness and wonder if I'll be able to eat it all. But as I eat, the meat disappears in the blink of an eye, so I can easily order more.

As I was eating, I wanted to drink Hallasan soju, so I ordered a bottle and slowly sipped it while enjoying the Jeju pork.

Even though I ordered more, I was wondering if I should fill my stomach with only meat, but I thought it would be a shame not to eat a meal, so I decided to finish the meat here.

I ordered the kimchi stew rice soup for the meal, and until it came out, I ordered a bowl of white rice and mixed it with the soybean paste stew that they gave me as a side dish.

Kimchi stew rice soup is kimchi stew boiled in a tin pot, with rice added to make it thick. The visuals and taste are special, so you'll remember it once you eat it.

One of the reasons why I became a regular at Kim Don-i is this meal menu. It's not sour kimchi, but kimchi with a sweet taste, and it's also packed with pork, so you'll regret it if you don't eat it.

If you're looking for a delicious samgyeopsal restaurant near Seolleung Station, Kim Don-i is the answer. The atmosphere of this restaurant is also good, so once you come, you'll understand why I recommended it so much.