Aewol ocean-view lunch after a 20-minute CatchTable wait: Handam Guksu

Lunch near Handam Beach in Aewol, Jeju: Handam Guksu

On day two of our Jeju trip, we had some errands in Aewol, so we thought about where to grab lunch and ended up at Handam Guksu, right near Handam Beach. Aewol has so many good restaurants that it was hard to choose, but that day I really wanted to try gogi guksu (pork noodle soup) — kind of a native Jeju dish — and I liked that this place was right in front of the beach, so we went with Handam Guksu.

Spoiler: the food was delicious, and eating with an ocean view was genuinely wonderful.

Handam Guksu location, hours and parking

• Location: 33 Aewol-ro, Aewol-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea, 1st floor
• Hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–20:30 / Mon 10:00–16:20
• Break time: 3:30–5:30 pm (not on Mondays); last order 40 minutes before close
• Parking: about 3–4 spots in front of the restaurant, extra space next door; 1 hour free parking with the Handam Coastal Trail lot (not Handam Parking Lots 1 & 2)

How long is the wait at Handam Guksu?

When we arrived, there were about 3 parties ahead of us waiting.

My boyfriend signed us up on the CatchTable kiosk inside the restaurant, and we waited about 20 minutes. We expected some wait since it was lunchtime, but our turn came faster than I thought.

The Handam Beach view from the window seat

When it was finally our turn, we got lucky and were seated by the window. As soon as we sat down, Handam Beach appeared right through the floor-to-ceiling glass, and we both got so excited, haha. Before coming, I just thought of it as going out for noodles, but once we sat down, eating with the sea in view turned out to be way nicer than I expected.

There's a phone charger and a baby chair by the counter, so keep that in mind if you need them!

Handam Guksu menu and prices

The sun was so bright at the window seat that the photo didn't come out great.

This is from Handam Guksu's posted menu. Most dishes were around ₩10,000, so pretty affordable.

Side dishes from the self-serve bar

Side dishes are self-serve from the start — you take as much as you want and set your own table.

There's kimchi, pickles, peppers, and ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste). The peppers had a sign saying they were really spicy, and honestly, they really were.

How did the three bowls taste?

We ordered saggolgogi guksu (₩10,000), dongchimi bibim guksu (₩10,000), and salgogi gukbap (₩10,000).

Saggolgogi guksu (bone-broth pork noodle soup)

The milky broth looked rich just from the look of it, and when I tasted it, it was cleaner than expected while still carrying a deep bone-broth flavor. It wasn't too sharp or salty either, so it was easy to eat without feeling heavy.

For something I was trying for the first time, I ended up loving it — I think it was because of the combo of the thin, springy noodles and the lean pork I love, haha.

I figured we had to have a bowl of pork noodle soup since we were in Jeju, and it turned out even better than I expected — a real lunch find in Aewol.

Salgogi gukbap (lean pork rice soup)

This is the dish I ordered because I'd been craving rice since the day before. With two noodle dishes plus a rice soup, I thought it might be too much at first, but it was so good I ended up finishing it.

The broth was clean and not too sharp, and with the bean sprouts in it, it felt like a hangover cure, haha.

When you want a little heat, adding a small bite of the pepper hits just right.

We wanted to try each other's dishes, so we swapped some onto our own plates.

Dongchimi bibim guksu (radish-water mixed noodles)

The dongchimi bibim guksu felt completely different from the saggolgogi guksu. Underneath the cucumber, bean sprouts, lean pork, and seasoning sauce, the noodles are hidden, and the broth comes on the side so you can add as much as you like.

The seasoning sauce was so good on its own that we only added a little broth when mixing,

and once we tasted it, it had a solid tangy kick along with an explosion of umami. Honestly, ordering a bunch of different dishes even though it filled us up was a genius move that day, haha.

Having tried all three dishes at Handam Guksu in Jeju, the one thing I noticed was that the amount of lean pork is really generous. Still, we finished everything.

Is Handam Guksu worth it for lunch in Aewol?

As a lunch spot near Handam Beach in Aewol, Jeju, what I liked most about Handam Guksu was the taste of the food, and second was how close it is to the beach. There was about a 20-minute wait, but if you're looking for a place to eat lunch around Aewol, Handam Guksu is worth stopping by. Since there can be a wait, it's best to go with some extra time to spare.