포구나무집
One cut only in Dugu-dong: galmaegisal over fierce charcoal, crisp outside and juicy within
A galmaegisal specialist at 13-7, Jori 2-gil, in the Jori village area of Dugu-dong, Geumjeong-gu. The Angan Stream runs past the door and the setting is quiet and semi-rural, which makes it easy with older relatives. Public transport barely reaches it, so drive. There are more than twenty tables plus floor-seating rooms at the back for groups. It appeared on Choizaroad and has since picked up a Blue Ribbon.
The meat is Korean galmaegisal and nothing else, served either salt-grilled or marinated, both KRW 14,000 for 150g. The charcoal comes out fierce enough to warm the whole table, and galmaegisal is lean and grainy, so it toughens if you leave it on. Turn it often and lift it as soon as it colours. The salt version takes on a light smoke and stays juicy inside; the marinade is sweet enough to cover any gaminess and works with rice or wrapped in lettuce. Two portions rarely fill two people, so most tables order both and compare.
For a proper meal there is only doenjang stew and naengmyeon. The large naengmyeon at KRW 5,000 has a clean sweet-sour broth with no herbal note. The stew is savoury but small, so order one each. Rice is KRW 2,000. Banchan runs to cabbage salad, seaweed, pickled onion, pickled radish, and sour kimchi, none of it heavily seasoned, and the pickled onion in particular suits the pork. Help yourself to ice cream at the back when you finish.
Weekend evenings mean a wait. Write your name and party size on the board at the entrance and stand by until they call you; ten groups ahead on a Saturday at seven still cleared in about twenty-five minutes because tables turn fast. Weekdays are easier. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00 with no closing day, though they may still be setting up right at opening, so 10:30 to 11:00 is a better bet. The private lot beside the restaurant is large.