Changwon black pork BBQ with soju-boiled melgeot: Jeju Doldam

I heard there's a great black pork place in Sangnam-dong! All meat is tasty, sure, but nothing beats the chewiness of black pork. So I went to check it out!

Jeju Doldam Sangnam Main Branch: location and hours

Jeju Doldam Sangnam Main Branch (제주돌담 상남동본점) is at 21 Madimi-ro 73beon-gil, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, in the building next to Seongsan Myeongga. It's about a 5-minute walk from the Sangnam fountain. If you have trouble finding it, just head in from the block right before Funny Dough!

• Open every day
• 16:00–23:00 (last order 22:30)
• Naver Reservation available
• Parking support when you use the Earth Building underground car park

Here's the exterior! Fitting for a Sangnam-dong black pork belly spot, there's a dol hareubang (Jeju stone grandfather statue) out front. You get a real Jeju feel before you even walk in!

It seems like all the popular meat restaurants these days have an aging fridge like this. One more guarantee of good meat!!

They also have high chairs, so it's a perfect place to visit if you have little ones.

Interior vibe and group reservations

The inside uses basalt decor to give Jeju Doldam its own atmosphere, and it felt clean and tidy. It's bigger than I expected, so I thought it would be great for company dinners, and they say you can reserve for up to 40 people!

I went after the usual mealtime, but people kept coming in. I wondered just how good it must be, and my expectations went up haha.

Mini hareubang figures on top of the aprons. So cute, I had to take a photo!!

Every seat also has wet wipes like this. Honestly, those tiny disposable hand wipes are just too small T_T, but pulling out a whole roll of tissue feels awkward. I love a place that puts out big ones like this!

Ordering the half belly, half neck set for ₩59,000

Here's the menu! From black pork belly to pork neck, gabrisal (pork rib-eye cap) and hangjeongsal (pork jowl), they had lots of black pork cuts, as you'd expect from a meat specialist.

We ordered the Jeju black pork (pork belly/pork neck) for ₩59,000 plus mul naengmyeon (cold noodles in broth) for ₩6,000! Since everyone calls this the Sangnam-dong pork belly place, I thought about ordering belly only, but I was too curious about the neck, how could I resist!! There happened to be a half-and-half set, so I ordered it right away.

Side dishes and the free kimchi stew

After you order, a whole spread of sides appears: pickled onion and garlic stems, fresh kimchi, cooked cabbage kimchi, myeongi namul (pickled wild garlic leaves), pink sausage, green onion kimchi, macaroni salad, salt, wasabi, sliced garlic, chili peppers, ssamjang (dipping paste), salted hairtail guts and more. That was already a lot, so I assumed that was everything.

What's this..? Kimchi stew, which other restaurants sell as a side menu, is a standard item at Jeju Doldam. Just look at that bubbling stew T_T

After one bite, I had no choice!! I had a drink. I was going to go with Hallasan soju to match the mood, but didn't. Next time I'll definitely have Hallasan ♥

Staff grill the meat for you

While I was marveling at the sides, the gorgeous meat arrived! When you grill meat yourself, your clothes smell like it and the oil splatters everywhere. But at Jeju Doldam the staff do all the grilling, so you can just enjoy eating from start to finish!

See that professional touch! It already looked so good that I couldn't take my eyes off it the whole time, wondering when it would be done.. If you sip a drink with the pink sausage and kimchi stew, it goes by quickly! You all know how it is, right?

It's crazy, just crazy, the look of it!! Of course, it's shaped completely differently from when I grill it myself. Once it's all cooked, they move it onto a small stone plate, and from then on you can start your mukbang (eating show)!

Salt for the belly, wasabi when it gets rich

First up, pork belly with salt! Dipped in the plain salt, the meat's juices and aroma burst out and the flavor really came through. When it gets a bit greasy, eating it with wasabi is the best ♥

Myeongi namul and green onion kimchi

Many places give only a little myeongi namul, but Jeju Doldam gives a big pile, which I loved. The meat is so juicy that it paired really well with the myeongi namul. It was salty, and the more I chewed, the more the meat's nutty richness came out.

This green onion kimchi!! It's the kicker. Well-marbled meat can get a little greasy, and this wipes that away completely. I wasn't hungry and only planned to eat a little, but after one bite of the green onion kimchi my appetite came back..

How to enjoy melgeot

A quick tip for melgeot (salted fermented anchovy sauce) lovers! Add a spoonful of cheongyang chili pepper, pour in a little soju and boil it hard. It's heavenly.

I heard this is how Jeju locals eat melgeot?? Jeju Doldam's melgeot isn't fishy, so I think even people who don't like salted seafood would enjoy it. (Honestly it's good just as it is.) My partner, who hates fishy smells, ate it happily too, hahaha

Finishing with ₩6,000 cold noodles

Halfway through the meat, both of our appetites came roaring back! So we ordered mul naengmyeon and it was so good that I overate T_T It does NOT taste like a ₩6,000 dish, and it even comes topped with myeongtae (seasoned pollock). That taste at that price!!

I'm definitely coming back. I'll keep going until the owner tells me to stop coming^^

That was the story of Jeju Doldam, the Sangnam-dong black pork belly spot! If you're looking for a clean, comfortable place for a group dinner, family meal or date in Sangnam-dong, please do visit. Once you taste the meat, 200 percent satisfaction guaranteed ♥