Back to Seoul. So far I have reported on meals eaten during our week-long visit in July that centered on fried chicken, noodle soup and dumplings, naengmyeon, and the pleasures of Gwangjang Market. Here now is a report on the first of two meals centered on what in the US is one of the most iconic genres of Korean food: grilled meat. Arguably, in the US Korean bbq is mostly identified with grilled beef, with pork as a sort of handmaiden. Beef is probably in the ascendancy in Korea as well but, unlike in most American cities with established Korean communities and food scenes, there are a large number of establishments that focus on pork, and specifically on Korean pork. We happened on one of them, more or less by accident, while wandering the area around Namdaemun Market in seach of dinner: Hwapo Sikdang.

Hwapo Sikdang is a chain, by the way. There’s another location in Myeondong not too far away from the one we were at on Namdaemun-ro-1-gil and a few more around the city. I’m not sure what the relative merits of the different branches are, or what their reputation is locally vis a vis the competition, but I can tell you that we very much enjoyed our dinner.

The restaurant was quite full for dinner on the Saturday evening that we visited. It was a mixed crowd; a few tables had some middle-aged people at them but for the most part it was young people—some of them rather hip—who made up the numbers. We were at a large table divided in two. A young couple was sat down on the other side a little after us but we weren’t really on top of each other. While we didn’t see any other tourists in the place, the menu is quite foreigner-friendly as it features English translations/descriptions of all the dishes; and those nervous about grilling the meat themselves don’t have to be: the servers grill and cut up the meat for everyone. On the left-hand side are the grilled meat options and on the right-hand side are various jigaes/stews and stir-fried dishes and sides. There is a beef section among the grilled meats but pork leads the section and is clearly the focus. Indeed, when the missus asked our server for recommendations, she listed only pork dishes. We followed her lead.

Between the four of us we got the following: an order each of the pork belly and the pork neck steak (though I’m not sure if this is actually neck or shoulder) and one order of the kimchijigae. The pork came with a large pot of seafood soup featuring clams and an assortment of accompaniments to the grilled meat. There was also, of course, kimchi but not much else by way of banchan. We also got a couple of orders of rice. This proved to be more than enough food for the four of us.

There were various options on the table for vegetarian accompaniments to the meat: the classic seasoned greens, kelp and also white cabbage kimchi. In addition, the meat could could be doused in samjang, wasabi or various dipping sauces—and also, in a mode new to us, rolled in toasted and seasoned breadcrumbs. This latter was rather nice, I thought, and was how I ate most of the meat that fell to my portion after first dipping it in either the fish sauce that was heated up on the grill or in the other creamy dipping sauce. The meat itself was of a very good quality—and I slightly preferred the pork neck to the belly. The kimchijigae was also quite good but I liked the seafood/clam soup even more. This looked like a bland broth with vegetables and clams but had both depth of flavour and a surprisingly strong chilli kick.

To drink, Cokes for the boys and a large chilled beer for me. The missus stuck with water.

For a look at the restaurant and what we ate, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all cost and to see what’s coming next.

Service was the usual Korean mix of efficient and brusque. Price? The total came to 87,000 won or just over $60, which in American terms is very good value.

What’s next on the food front? Another Seoul report on Tuesday—that one might be pork-centered as well. On Wednesday I’ll have a Twin Cities Mexican report. And, of course, the weekly booze review will post tomorrow.