Unlimited Korean BBQ Pork Belly: How to Grill & Eat

It's finally time to talk about this. Samgyeopsal.

If you ask travelers visiting Korea what their favorite food is, one name comes up almost every single time — samgyeopsal, aka Korean pork belly BBQ. Thick slabs of pork grilled right in front of you on a tabletop grill — it's an experience you really can't get anywhere else the way you can in Korea.

But there's more than one way to enjoy samgyeopsal. If your budget is generous, you can hit up a regular samgyeopsal restaurant where you pick premium cuts, choose the thickness, and eat exactly what you want. On the other hand, if you want to eat until you literally can't move while sticking to a set budget, there are unlimited refill samgyeopsal restaurants. You pay a fixed price, and you can keep ordering and grilling as much meat as you want.

Today, I'm going to show you my experience actually going to one of these all-you-can-eat pork belly spots and eating my way through it.

All-You-Can-Eat Pork Belly — How Much Does It Cost?

There are actually two types of unlimited refill places. One is the type where you tell the staff "more please" and they bring the meat to your table. The other is buffet-style, where you go up and grab the meat yourself. These days, most places run buffet-style. You just walk up, pick whatever cuts you want, load up your plate, and bring it back to your table.

All-You-Can-Eat Pork Belly — What About the Meat Quality?

This is the samgyeopsal you get at an unlimited refill spot. It doesn't come sliced paper-thin — it comes cut thick like this. If you're expecting flimsy little pieces just because it's all-you-can-eat, think again. With this kind of thickness, the juices get properly locked in when you grill it.

The meat keeps coming faster than you can eat it, so there's absolutely no need to feel shy about grabbing more. That said, I'll be honest — the side dishes aren't as impressive as what you'd get at a regular samgyeopsal place. You won't get a huge spread of banchan. But if your main focus is the sheer amount of meat, the value for the price is more than solid. And if the place has a decent salad bar, that more than makes up for it.

Here's What the Table Setup Looks Like When You Sit Down

When you sit down, the basic setup looks like this. There's a grill in the center for cooking the meat, doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew) on one side, and a banhap on the other. A banhap is a small metal bowl where you place grilled meat on top with kimchi and let them heat together. The stew is bubbling away next to the grill, the kimchi and meat are warming up together in the banhap — this whole setup is a scene you'll only find at a Korean pork belly restaurant.

Placing the Pork Belly on the Grill

Once the heat kicks in, it's go time. You grab the thick pork belly pieces with tongs and lay them on the grill one by one. The second they hit the surface, you hear that beautiful sizzling sound and the fat starts rendering out. The doenjang-jjigae is bubbling away right next to it, and the smell of grilling meat mixing with the stew already has your stomach growling.

Since it's all-you-can-eat, you can load up as much as you want. What you see in this photo is about two servings by regular restaurant standards. At a typical place, this much would cost you around $17. But at an unlimited spot, this is just the beginning.

How to Grill Pork Belly the Right Way

This is where it really matters. If you want to properly enjoy samgyeopsal in Korea, you need to know how to grill it. If you just throw it on and flip it whenever, the taste is going to be completely different. Let me walk you through it step by step with the photos I took while eating.

Don't Flip It Too Early

Once you place the meat on the grill, the heat comes straight from below, so it might seem like it's cooking fast — but you need to be patient here. If you flip it too quickly, the outside will be barely seared while the inside is still completely raw.

The timing of the flip is honestly what makes or breaks your samgyeopsal. After you lay one side down, you should wait about 2–3 minutes. If you look at the cross-section of the meat from the side, you'll see the color changing from the bottom up. When the cooked color reaches about one-third of the way up the thickness, and the meat lifts off the grill naturally without sticking — that's your moment to flip. If you pick it up with tongs and it clings to the grill, it's not ready yet.

This Is When You Should Flip It

When the bottom side looks like this — a nice golden brown with a bit of rendered fat glistening on the surface — that's the sweet spot. Flip too early and you won't get that crispy texture. Flip too late and it burns. When you see an even golden-brown color with a glossy sheen across the surface, go ahead and flip it.

Cut It Into Bite-Sized Pieces with Scissors

Once both sides are partially cooked, it's time to cut them with scissors. If you leave the thick pieces whole, the inside won't cook evenly. In Korea, cutting meat with scissors is completely normal — it's just part of the culture. It might seem a little surprising at first, but once you try it, you'll realize scissors are way more convenient than a knife.

There's one really important thing to remember here. In Korea, beef can be eaten a little undercooked, but pork absolutely must be cooked all the way through. If you cut into a piece and see any pink inside, put it back on the grill for a bit longer. The size you see in the photo is a good standard, but you can cut them thinner if you prefer. Thinner pieces cook faster, after all.

Spread the Pieces Out for the Final Grill

Now just spread the bite-sized pieces across the grill like this. The doenjang-jjigae is bubbling away in the center, and the little meat pieces are cooking evenly on all sides. Some people leave the whole slab on the grill from start to finish without cutting — but that just means the outside burns while the inside stays undercooked. The key to delicious samgyeopsal is grilling both sides first, then cutting the pieces and spreading them out for a final cook-through.

Pork Belly Grilling Steps at a Glance

How to Eat Your Grilled Pork Belly

Alright, now that it's grilled, time to eat. But samgyeopsal isn't just about picking up a piece of meat and popping it in your mouth. What really changes the game is how you use all the stuff that comes with it.

Useful Korean Phrases to Tell the Staff

Some unlimited refill spots require you to ask the staff directly for more meat. Even if you don't speak Korean, it's no problem at all. Just show the staff the phrases below on your screen.

All-You-Can-Eat Pork Belly — You Have to Try It at Least Once

If you're traveling in Korea, you absolutely have to try samgyeopsal at least once. You don't need to find a fancy restaurant. A neighborhood unlimited Korean BBQ pork belly spot with a glass of soju is all you need. Because that's the real samgyeopsal — the one Koreans eat after work every day.

This post was originally published on https://hi-jsb.blog.