If you look up galmaegisal (갈매기살, pork skirt meat) in Ulsan, Wonjeong Sigyuk Sikdang (원정식육식당) keeps coming up.
The original branch sits in Okdong and apparently leans into that worn-in old-school vibe, with a wait most nights.
We went to the newer Sinjeong branch instead.
The sign lights up the whole corner once the sun goes down, which makes it easy to spot from a distance.
It’s tucked behind Ulsan Industrial High School (울산공고), not far from the KBS Hall area or Samsan-dong (삼산동).
Where it is and when it’s open
A few practical things up front.
- Address: 109 Wolpyeong-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan (울산광역시 남구 월평로 109)
- Phone: 052-260-1995
- Hours: 17:00 - 22:00
- Closed: 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month
- Parking: 2-5 cars in front of the restaurant
📍 View Wonjeong Sigyuk Sikdang (원정식육식당) on Google Maps →
The parking lot is right at the entrance, but it’s tight, so it depends a lot on how earlier cars left things.
We pulled in around 6:20 p.m. on a weekday and got lucky with one open spot.
If it’s full, a quick park on the side alley works fine.
For foreign visitors: Korean restaurants almost always accept Visa, Mastercard, and most international credit cards, so you don’t need to worry about cash here.
Korea also doesn’t do tipping. Leaving extra usually just confuses the staff, so skip it.
Inside
The Sinjeong branch is different in character from the original Okdong location.
Where Okdong is supposed to feel like a classic old-school joint, Sinjeong is newer, cleaner, and roomier, very much a modern butcher-style sigyuk sikdang (식육식당, meat-market restaurant).
You keep your shoes on inside.
There used to be a take-your-shoes-off rule, but they’ve since put up a “please keep your shoes on” sign by the door.
The space is bigger than it looks from outside.
There are large group tables and an annex building connected through a side door, so company dinners come here a lot.
Tables are spaced out enough that you don’t feel on top of the next group over.
They have baby high chairs too.
Lots of families with kids in the room, and I’d be comfortable bringing my parents or a child here next time.
The menu and what things cost
Wonjeong is technically a sigyuk sikdang, which means they sell butcher-quality meat directly, so they also carry hanwoo (한우, Korean beef) alongside pork.
Hanwoo here is graded 1++(9), which is the top tier.
- Galmaegisal (갈매기살) 600g: 38,000 KRW
- Marinated galmaegisal (양념갈매기) 600g: 40,000 KRW
- Jirisan black pork (지리산흑돼지) 600g: 38,000 KRW
- Half-order galmaegisal add-on: 19,500 KRW
- Hanwoo anchangsal (안창살, skirt steak) 100g: 25,000 KRW
- Hanwoo salchisal (살치살, chuck flap) 100g: 23,000 KRW
- Hanwoo galbisal (갈비살, short rib meat) 100g: 16,500 KRW
- Hanwoo kkotdeungsim (꽃등심, ribeye) 100g: 15,500 KRW
- Banchan service charge: 5,000 KRW per adult / 3,000 KRW per child
- Doenjang-jjigae: 3,000 KRW (large) / 2,000 KRW (small)
- Rice: 1,000 KRW
The banchan service charge is standard at sigyuk sikdang.
It covers the charcoal, wrapping greens, fermented dipping sauce, and side dishes.
Two people sharing one 600g pork order will land under 50,000 KRW total and leave full.
About the language barrier: Don’t expect English at the table, but the menu is mostly numbered and visual. Pointing at what you want and saying “이거 주세요” (i-geo ju-se-yo, “this one please”) works perfectly. The staff here are used to people just choosing the galmaegisal anyway.
The banchan setup is generous
The base spread arrives as soon as you sit down.
Salad, ssammu (쌈무, pickled radish wraps), pickled garlic, glazed pumpkin, seasoned seaweed stems, pickled onion, scallion salad, sesame-oil dip, and jeotgal (젓갈, salted seafood sauce).
For 5,000 KRW, it’s a lot.
The lettuce basket comes piled with lettuce, perilla leaves (kkaennip, 깻잎), and small green chilies.
Everything looked sharp and fresh.
You get a personal portion of pickled onion and scallion salad each.
The pickled onion in soy sauce is the one I kept reaching for, the brininess works really well with the pork.
That little green dab off to the side is wasabi, optional.
The ssammu (radish wraps) deserve a mention.
They’re way bigger and thicker than the usual sliced version, possibly made in-house, and you can actually wrap a full bite of meat with toppings inside one disc.
If you want more of anything, there’s a self-service banchan bar by the entrance.
Galmaegisal, served whole
Until this visit, every galmaegisal I’d ever eaten came already sliced and marinated.
Wonjeong does it differently.
They bring 600g out as long whole strips, scored deeply with a knife so the heat can get in without losing the thickness of the cut.
This is the 600g portion.
It almost looks like beef on the plate.
Plenty for two people, and under 40,000 KRW for the cut, which is genuinely good value.
Up close you can see how densely the scoring is done.
It keeps the bite-feel intact while still letting the meat cook quickly.
I’m coming back for the marinated version next time.
The marinade is garlic-forward and a little spicy. It’s not face-melting spicy by Korean standards, but if you’re not used to Korean heat, it could land warm on your tongue, so be aware.
You can order it as a half-portion add-on alongside the plain version.
The charcoal is no joke
The first thing my friend and I said when the charcoal arrived: “okay, that’s serious charcoal.”
The chunks are thick, the heat throws off real warmth, and I could feel my face flushing within minutes.
Don’t lean in too close.
The grill is a fine piano-wire grate.
The trick with whole-cut galmaegisal is to lay just a few strips at a time and stay attentive, since the heat is strong and the juices run if you walk away.
Once both sides are golden, scissors come out and the strips get cut into bite pieces.
That moment where the surface just glazes over with fat is when you want to grab it.
The first bite
Dipped in the sesame-oil-and-salt dish, the first piece basically explodes with juice when you bite into it.
There’s a smoky depth from the charcoal sitting underneath it all, and the texture has that springy, chewy bounce galmaegisal is known for, but elevated by the thickness of the whole cut.
This wasn’t the same dish I thought I knew.
Don’t skip the jeotgal.
You warm it on the edge of the grill, then dunk pieces of pork in.
I’m not normally a jeotgal person, but theirs has no fishy edge to it, just savory and rich.
The way I ended up eating most of it: one big ssammu, a piece of meat, a pinch of pickled onion or scallion salad, fold and bite.
The radish disc is large enough that one wrap holds the works easily.
Honestly the meat is so clean on its own that even plain ssamjang (쌈장, dipping paste) is enough.
Closing with stew
We finished with a bowl of doenjang-jjigae and rice.
It comes with chunks of tofu and pork, and the seasoning is on the milder side, so add some chopped green chili if you like things sharper.
I stirred my rice in and let it simmer down into a thicker stew-porridge, and finished the whole thing.
Heads-up: the rice bowls are on the smaller side. If two of you are sharing, just order two upfront.
Worth coming back for
I came in mostly curious, and left convinced.
Whole-cut galmaegisal is a different animal from the pre-sliced version: thicker, juicier, more present on the plate.
Add solid charcoal, generous banchan, and a price point that doesn’t sting, and it adds up to a place I’d absolutely return to.
Sinjeong is the easier of the two branches to enjoy with family or a group, since it’s newer, larger, and has high chairs.
If you’re traveling through Ulsan and want to see what real charcoal-grilled pork skirt meat can be, this is a good detour.
Location & How to Get There
Wonjeong Sigyuk Sikdang’s Sinjeong branch is on Wolpyeong-ro in Nam-gu, Ulsan, near the main Samsan strip.
It’s an easy spot to find.