Horse meat restaurant 3 minutes from Daepo Jusangjeolli, Jeju: Marijoa

Why a horse meat first-timer chose Marijoa Seogwipo Jungmun Branch

Marijoa Seogwipo Jungmun Branch is a horse meat course restaurant in Daepo-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju. Our goal for this Jeju trip was to try local specialty foods together — black pork, hantae (squid), jeopjjakppyeguk, momguk... and one of them was horse meat, haha.

Honestly I only tried horse meat once, back in elementary school, and I remember the smell being strong and just not agreeing with me. I hadn't thought about it since. But while planning this trip with my husband, the idea of trying horse meat in Jeju came up, so we decided to give it a go.

Looking through reviews, I kept seeing that Marijoa is a horse meat course specialist offering lots of different preparations, and that it's approachable even for beginners! It's also right near Jungmun, so the location worked out perfectly — decided on the spot!

Marijoa's location and parking: 3 minutes from Daepo Jusangjeolli

The building has a huge horse illustration on the sign, with 'Marijoa' written boldly as a horse meat specialty restaurant. It's only 3 minutes by car from Daepo Jusangjeolli, so it fit perfectly into our route, and we didn't have to worry about parking at all.

Inside Marijoa: atmosphere and seating

Walking in, the place felt bigger than I expected. Tables were arranged in wide rows, and each table had its own grill with good ventilation, keeping everything clean. There were quite a few families there too, and with all the space it seemed like an easy place to bring kids (I saw lots of babies!).

Marijoa menu and prices: Joa Course at 39,000 won

A big menu board covers one wall! We chose the Joa Course (₩39,000), which includes extract, sashimi, yukhoe (raw beef-style tartare), sushi, makkas, galbijjim (braised short ribs), grilled meat, and shabu-shabu. The Mari Course adds geomeun jireum, a special cut, on top of all that.

You can of course order grilled meat, sashimi, or sushi à la carte too. There's a lunch menu with seolleongtang (ox bone soup) and yukhoe bibimbap as well. Since it was our first visit, we figured we'd go all in and try everything via the course, haha.

What Marijoa says about the health benefits of horse meat

A printed sheet on the table explained the benefits of Jeju horse meat — apparently it's rich in unsaturated fatty acids, low in fat, high in protein, and helps lower cholesterol. Basically, think of it as a health food, haha.

Here's the full spread of the Joa Course food laid out — so varied and generous, right??? By the end of the course you're completely full.

How the Joa Course at Marijoa is served, course by course

1) Horse meat sashimi and yukhoe (raw beef tartare) platter

The course opens with sashimi and yukhoe, served on a stone plate shaped like a horse, haha. Neat slices of horse meat sashimi were arranged with white yukhoe made from the fattier cut in the center, plus pickled ginger on the side to pair with it. I was nervous because of my childhood memory, but tasting it — oh, it really wasn't that different from beef!

2) Horse meat sushi

Then we tried the sushi! It came as 4 pieces of sushi plus 2 rice paper wraps, and honestly it was just delicious sushi, zero hesitation involved. I was surprised this dish was even part of the course — it showed me how many different ways you can enjoy horse meat.

And they also served us horse meat extract...?! One glass of that too, haha.

3) Makkas: deep-fried breaded horse meat cutlet

The fried makkas was really something! It's fried horse meat topped with corn flakes. I took a bite and honestly, if no one told you, you'd never know it was horse meat. It tasted like tonkatsu but with a slightly chewier texture — the breading itself was fried nice and crispy. This is where we really started enjoying the horse meat course.

They also brought out galbijjim like this, and it was really tasty. My sister said horse meat was delicious, and that I only had a bad memory of it because I ate it as a kid — she remembered liking it. And she was right, it really was delicious, haha.

They gave us albap (fish roe rice) as a complimentary extra!

4) Horse meat grilled at the table

By the later part of the course, they bring out the grilled meat. Meat really does taste best grilled, right — they gave us small portions of various cuts, and told us horse meat gets tough if you grill it too long, so grill it lightly.

Grilling the fatty part — mayu (horse fat), I think? — together with the meat, then taking a bite... the texture really is best described as chewy beef,

and it melts away just like beef.

5) Horse meat shabu-shabu

The shabu-shabu was also really good — a horse meat broth base loaded with green onion, carrot, cucumber, mushrooms and more, and the broth itself was delicious.

Swishing the meat quickly in the broth and eating it is so good, and the kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) noodles were apparently made with baengnyeoncho (prickly pear cactus) and gamgyul (tangerine)!

Final verdict on Marijoa and would the writer return?

If it's your first time trying Jeju horse meat, I think Marijoa Seogwipo Jungmun Branch is a great place to start! I don't remember the strong smell from my childhood at all now, and I loved that the Joa Course for two let us try sashimi, yukhoe, sushi, makkas, grilled meat, and shabu-shabu all in one sitting.

Great value for the price — if you're looking for a horse meat restaurant near Jungmun, definitely give this one a try!!