Andeok, Jeju BBQ restaurant: black pork neck vs raw ribs, 300g each

For the last stay of this Jeju trip, I booked Jeju Shinhwa World. While staying there, I looked for good black pork restaurants nearby and found Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon Shinhwa World Branch. I wanted one more black pork meal before leaving Jeju, and since this place was said to be great and wasn't far from Shinhwa World, I went there for dinner.

Where is Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon Shinhwa World Branch, and where do you park?

Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon Shinhwa World Branch is located at 1769 2-dong Jungsangan-seoro, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo-si, not far from Jeju Shinhwa World. There's a parking lot right in front of the restaurant, so it was convenient to visit by car.

What the restaurant is like on a weekday at 7pm

We visited on a weekday at 7pm. Several tables inside already had guests, so I wasn't able to get proper photos of the interior this time. But by the time we finished eating, the mood had completely changed. The guests who were there before us had mostly left by the time we finished, and just as we were leaving, a wave of new guests came in all at once. We finished eating around 8pm, and by then the place was packed again.

Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon menu and prices

Pork cuts: black pork and white pork

• Black pork geungogi 600g ₩66,000 / add 300g neck or belly ₩33,000
• White pork geungogi 600g ₩57,000 / add 300g neck or belly ₩28,500
• Raw pork ribs 300g ₩30,000
• Kids' pork cutlet ₩10,000
• Kids' cheese pork cutlet ₩12,000

Stews, makguksu and other meals

• Black pork stew ₩12,000
• Kimchi stew ₩9,000
• Doenjang stew ₩9,000
• Cold buckwheat noodles (mulmemil makguksu) ₩8,000
• Spicy mixed buckwheat noodles (bibim memil makguksu) ₩9,000
• Glass noodle cucumber salad (dangmyeon oi muchim) ₩8,000
• Webfoot octopus seafood ramyeon ₩12,900
• Egg custard (gyeranjjim) ₩3,000
• Cheese egg custard ₩4,000
• Rice ₩1,000

Among the meal items, black pork stew, glass noodle cucumber salad, and webfoot octopus seafood ramyeon were the signature dishes at Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon. Watching what other tables ordered, I understood why it's called black pork stew and not kimchi stew — the black pork was genuinely piled up like a mountain. I've seen octopus seafood ramyeon a lot in Jeju, but this was the first time I'd seen a webfoot octopus version. I'd like to try it next time I visit.

Side dishes and dipping sauces served with the pork

Once we ordered the meat, the side dishes were laid out one by one: pickled perilla leaves, pickled onion, radish pickle (ssammu), napa cabbage kimchi, scallion salad, and lettuce.

Then the glass noodle cucumber salad came out.

The glass noodle cucumber salad mixes flat glass noodles with cucumber, so you get the crunch of the cucumber and the chewy, springy texture of the noodles at the same time. It's also available as a separate order, but the portion that came as a side dish was quite generous — we didn't need to add more and had plenty to eat throughout the meal.

There were also several dipping sauces set out for the meat — ssamjang, wasabi, salt, chamsauce, and myeoljeot (fermented anchovy sauce). Quite a variety to choose from depending on taste.

Ordering 300g of black pork neck and 300g of raw ribs

We ordered one serving of raw neck meat (300g) for ₩30,000, one serving of black pork neck meat (300g) for ₩33,000, and cheese egg custard for ₩4,000.

When the meat arrived, the owner first showed us what we'd ordered, letting us check the condition of the meat directly before taking it back.

On the left is the black pork neck meat, on the right is the raw pork ribs.

Charcoal pre-grilling and the elvan stone grill: staff cook the meat for you

At Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon Shinhwa World Branch, the owner takes the meat away, grills it, and brings it back. The meat is nearly fully pre-grilled over charcoal before being placed on the elvan stone grill. Since we didn't have to keep flipping it and worrying about doneness while eating, it was really convenient from a diner's perspective.

The black pork neck meat came out first, grilled to just the right point. We were told that overcooking the meat makes it dry and less tasty, so we should place pieces at the edge of the grill and move them one at a time to the center to warm through as we ate. Eating it that way, the juices stayed intact even as time passed, and it was really delicious.

Taking a bite, the clean, mild flavor of the neck meat came through first, and the juices came out more the more I chewed. No matter how good the meat is, it turns out bad if it's not grilled properly — but since a professional grilled it for us, it really was delicious.

Salt, wasabi or maeljeot: which dip suited the black pork best?

The first bite I dipped simply in salt, the most basic option. To really taste the meat itself, a light dab of salt was best. The second bite I topped with wasabi — it cut through the fattiness of the meat and made the mouth feel a bit cleaner. The third bite I dipped in myeoljeot. It's hard to eat black pork in Jeju without myeoljeot, and the salty flavor paired well with the meat.

An unexpectedly great combination was the meat with the glass noodle cucumber salad. Chewy meat together with crunchy cucumber and springy glass noodles definitely changed up the texture.

The neck meat (deolmisal) isn't a purely soft cut like regular neck meat — it has its own distinctively chewy texture when you bite into it. I happen to like that cut, and this time too, the more I chewed, the more the nutty flavor came through, and I liked the chewy bite.

How the raw ribs tasted compared with the black pork neck

It had been a while since I'd had raw pork ribs, and sure enough, they had their own distinctive flavor.

Once the ribs arrived too, the grill was completely full of meat.

True to being a rib cut, chewing brought out a nutty, savory flavor that was clearly different from the neck meat.

If the neck meat was clean-tasting and tender, the ribs got richer in flavor the more you chewed. Ordering both cuts together meant the flavors and textures were different enough to enjoy alternating between them.

With meat this good, eating just the meat is honestly the best move, but out of conscience we ate some vegetables here and there too.

Cheese steamed egg for 4,000 won

I don't usually go for egg custard when eating meat, but this wasn't just plain egg custard — it was cheese egg custard, and I couldn't resist.

The egg custard had puffed up bubbling hot, with melted cheese on top. With the cheese melted into the warm custard, scooping it with a spoon brought out the nutty, salty flavor of the cheese running through the soft egg.

Egg custard is soft and savory on its own, but with the cheese added, the flavor got even richer.

Shinhwa World pickup and drop-off, plus what to know before you go

Looking around at the other tables while eating, quite a few people were drinking alcohol along with their meal. At first, since we'd driven, drinking wasn't even on our minds — but this place actually runs a pickup-drop service. I found myself thinking we should have booked the pickup-drop service and had a drink with our black pork after all.

What I liked about Heukdonsibaekdonmyeon was that staff grill the meat for you, so you can eat comfortably and deliciously — both the black pork neck meat and the raw ribs were great. The glass noodle cucumber salad that comes as a default side dish paired so well with the meat that I kept reaching for it. If you want to enjoy great black pork near Shinhwa World along with a comfortable drink, this is a place worth using the pickup-drop service for.