Rainy-day window seat and baby egg custard at Jeju Samchun, Jocheon

Jeju Samchun Hamdeok Beach Black Pork. After playing hard at the beach, we went looking for a good black pork spot to refuel and found Jeju Samchun, a 5-minute walk from Hamdeok Beach.

5 minutes from Hamdeok Beach: location and hours

Turn into the alley and you'll see a stylish storefront set against Jeju's stone walls.

<Address> 537-1 Sinbuk-ro, Jocheon-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea <Hours> Daily 12:00–23:00, last order 22:00, closes early when ingredients run out

<Parking> Street parking is available around the alley, but at peak times I'd recommend the public lot near Hamdeok Beach.

300-hour wet aging and grapevine smoke

Walk in and you'll see black pork aging away in the fridge by the entrance. They say it's Jeju-certified black pork, wet-aged 300 hours and finished with grapevine smoke. I was so curious how distinct the flavor would be~~~

A rainy-day window seat, with a baby in tow

A rainy-day window seat, with a baby in tow

The interior can handle group parties too, so it seems like a good spot for a family trip. We liked the seats overlooking the outdoors, so we ate our meat with the rain as our backdrop~

There were plenty of baby chairs ready, and the staff set up baby dishes without us even asking, which made eating with a baby so easy. Every staff member was in full friendly mode 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Meat menu and set prices

<Meat menu> They have set menus and à la carte items — I'd recommend trying a set first, then adding à la carte.

• Jocha set (₩60,000) pork neck/pork belly 500g
• Samchun set (₩96,000) pork neck/pork belly/bone-in ribeye 800g
• Harubang set (₩132,000) pork neck/pork belly/bone-in ribeye/skirt/jowl 1100g

What's on the side menu?

<Side menu> True to Jeju's local flavor, there's a seafood doenjang stew, and instead of naengmyeon there's cool japchae noodles or yeolmu (young radish) noodles. We added japchae noodles and egg custard for the baby to our Jocha set. Such a relief there was a menu even a baby who can't eat meat well could enjoy~ They say you can get the best-menu kimchi jjigae free if you leave a Naver Place review, so definitely give that a shot!

Adult side plates and baby dishes. Seeing that they even prepared dinosaur-shaped plates that babies love, this really does seem like a kid-friendly place~ This kind of thoughtfulness made me want to come back!!!

Banchan and sauces

Side dishes and sauces: rinsed aged kimchi, pickled radish, seasoned cucumber, mixed pollack roe, raw seaweed, scallion salad, bread-crumb salt, sokjeot (salted seafood), soy sauce, and myeoljeot (anchovy sauce).

Smoked to order, grilled tableside by staff

Once you order, they start smoking immediately, then show you the finished smoked meat right in front of you and grill it themselves~!

Our wet-aged, smoked meat with a dol hareubang statue haha. It was pork belly and pork neck, and I was curious about the thinly sliced cuts, so I asked — turns out there's a part of the pork neck that tastes best sliced thin, so they pre-slice it. I've had black pork in Jeju many times, but this kind of prep was a first — you could really feel that they wanted their guests to enjoy the meat to the fullest~~

The staff member seasons with fat and grills the meat for you. Black pork is thick and tricky for regular people to grill, so having it grilled for us was such a relief haha. It was our first time at a meat restaurant with the babies — I can only imagine how chaotic it would've been if we'd had to grill it ourselves ㅠㅠ

The hood works overtime so you can eat without worrying about smell! Meat grilled by a pro really looks different~! They also grilled baek-kimchi (white kimchi) on the side, and it was genuinely delicious.

Egg custard and cold japchae for the baby

The egg custard and cold japchae noodles for the babies arrived, and I was grateful they asked ahead whether to leave out the chili flakes from the japchae ㅜㅜ. The egg custard, made with anchovy stock, was soft and delicious, and even our baby on baby food loved it — and the cold japchae was a huge hit with our noodle-loving 3-year-old!!!

Myeoljeot, roe-and-seaweed wraps, and shiitake wasabi

Wow, such beautifully grilled meat~~~ I'd been so excited for the thin pork neck slices, and the pork belly was just as promising!!! We forgot the myeoljeot and boiled it a bit late, but the charcoal fire was hot enough that it boiled up quickly haha.

Following the staff's recommended method, I tried wrapping the meat in seaweed dipped in soy sauce with roe sauce on top, and also tried it with shiitake wasabi. Beyond the myeoljeot, there was fun in trying all the different combinations haha.

The thinly sliced pork neck had a slightly chewy texture bursting with fat, while the thicker-cut pork neck had a rich, deep meaty aroma. The pork belly was chewy with just the right amount of fat — perfectly balanced! But in the end, the best combination for that last bite was, without question, black pork with reduced myeoljeot as the ultimate sauce! haha

Wrap-up

Thanks to the friendly service, we wrapped up a comfortable, hearty meal with the family! If you're looking for a Hamdeok Beach restaurant, Hamdeok black pork restaurant, or Jocheon restaurant, I'd recommend trying the quality aged black pork at Jeju Samchun~~~