#1. District 1, Aged Pork Belly Restaurant Matchandeul BBQ Review
Matchandeul BBQ, a famous aged pork belly restaurant, operates four restaurants in downtown Ho Chi Minh City alone, with stores located in Phu My Hung in District 7, Thao Dien in District 2, near Bui Vien Street in District 1, and near the airport in District Tan Binh. Matchandeul is famous not only for Koreans but also for Vietnamese locals.
To have lunch with my family on Sunday afternoon, I booked a private room at a store near Bui Vien Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The 1st and 4th floors are halls, and the 2nd and 3rd floors are private rooms. On weekends, it is recommended to make a reservation before visiting as it is crowded and you may have to wait for both lunch and dinner.
Although the number of side dishes has decreased compared to before, they still provide plenty of cabbage kimchi, pickled onions, green onions salad, salad, radish kimchi, pickled victory onion, and ssam that are good to eat with meat, and delicious side dishes such as mini pancakes, stir-fried anchovies, and japchae are still provided.
Since I was planning to just drink a bottle of soju with lunch, I ordered Hwayo 17%. It is more expensive than regular soju, and many people say that Hwayo 17% has an ambiguous taste, but I personally prefer it to regular diluted soju due to its smooth and clean taste.
On this day, I ordered a pork set. It consists of 200g of aged pork belly, 200g of aged pork neck, and 200g of aged pork jowl. If you additionally order one stew and cold noodles, it is enough to feed a family of four.
The staff started grilling the pork belly and pork neck first. Once the meat is cooked to a certain degree, it is cut into bite-size pieces, but it is thick so it takes quite a while to cook.
Matchandeul’s aged pork belly is oily, savory, soft, and definitely delicious. For those who doesn't like fatty pork belly greasy due to its high fat content, aged pork neck, which is relatively less soft but has a firm texture and full of meaty flavor, may be more delicious. If you eat pork by dipping it in meljeot(special anchovy sauce), which has a musty smell but is spicy and has a unique umami flavor, it reduces feeling of greasiness and allows you to enjoy an even more upgraded version of pork.
When eating meat, stew cannot be left out. I additionally ordered kimchi stew. Pork, tofu, enoki mushrooms, chives, and a moderate amount of sour kimchi were used, making the sour, spicy, and refreshing soup really good as a hangover or a side dish for drinks.
Following the pork belly and pork neck, staff grilled rice cakes, cherry tomatoes, chives, and pine mushrooms on the grill. I wrapped rice cakes and pork belly in chives and dipped them in meljeot and ate them, It taste and texture were quite good.
Staff grilled aged pork jowl last, and I think that's because it's thinner than pork belly or pork neck, so it cooks quickly. I was able to truly taste the unique chewy texture and the rich, nutty flavor.
When I was about halfway through eating the meat, I additionally ordered cold buckwheat noodles and spicy buckwheat noodles. The taste of Matchandeul's cold noodles is thick broth, and the garnishes such as radish, cucumber, meat, and egg are added to make it a delicious meal. It tastes like an ordinary cold noodle dish at a BBQ restaurant, but it is quite delicious if you add seasoning, mustard, vinegar, etc. to your taste in the slightly frozen broth.
#2. Matchandeul BBQ Menu
Matchandeul is the most famous aged pork belly restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. Although they also sell beef, most customers only look for pork. You can enjoy a cost-effective meal by ordering the lunch special menu on weekday lunches and the set menu that can be ordered at any time. In addition to meat, they also serve a variety of Korean dishes such as green onion pancakes, stone pot bibimbap, beef short rib soup, and kimchi hotpot.
I visited with my family during Sunday lunch and ordered the meal below.
Pork Set: 1,060,000VND
Kimchi Stew: 190,000VND
Cold Buckwheat Noodles(Small): 120,000VND
Spicy Buckwheat Noodles(Small): 120,000VND
Soju Hwayo 17%: 400,000VND
Soft Drink: 30,000VND x 2 EA = 60,000VND
I was able to have a full meal with my family for a modest total of 1,950,000VND. It is difficult to find a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City that is better than the Matchandeul in terms of price, taste, quantity, and service. Although many new BBQ restaurants have opened, such as King Stone and Gwandangjip, the first thing that comes to mind when I crave grilled pork belly is still Matchandeul.
#3. Matchandeul BBQ Hours and Location
Matchandeul, a famous aged pork belly restaurant, operates four restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City alone. Stores are located Phu My Hung in District 7, Thao Dien in District 2, near Bui Vien Street in District 1, and near airport in District Tan Binh. The store I visited that day is near Bui Vien Street, District 1. For detailed location, click the Check Location button below to check on Google Maps.
Address: 6-8 Đ. Tôn Thất Tùng, Phường Phạm Ngũ Lão, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Website: ...
Phone: 02873086464
Hours: 11:00 ~ 23:00