Seogwipo restaurant for cheesy pork cutlet: Seobiu Udon Donkatsu

When you travel around Jeju, you naturally end up eating things like black pork, hairtail, and mackerel more often than usual. We had been eating that kind of food nonstop for nearly 10 days of our Jeju trip, too. This time, we wanted something a little different, so we looked for a good pork cutlet place.

That brought us to Seongsan Seobiu Udon Donkatsu (성산서비우동돈까스), near Goseong Five-Day Market. We arrived around noon on a weekday, and there were already quite a few people eating; customers kept coming in while we were walking inside, too. It felt like there were slightly more local Jeju residents than tourists.

A good restaurant near Aqua Planet: Seongsan Seobiu Udon Donkatsu

Parking and the atmosphere at Seongsan Seobiu Udon Donkatsu

There was parking right in front of the restaurant, but it was only big enough for about one or two cars. Luckily, there happened to be an open spot when we visited, so we could park right outside.

• Goseong Five-Day Market parking lot
• Public parking lot behind Jeju Bank
• Parking lot opposite Seven Eleven at the intersection past the restaurant

All of these offered free parking and were about a two-minute walk from Seobiu Udon Donkatsu. If you are traveling by car, there is probably no need to panic even if the spaces in front are full.

The exterior and interior of Seongsan Seobiu Udon Donkatsu

Inside, the restaurant was compact overall. That said, it was not a place with only a few tables: there were separate two- and four-person tables. Customers continued to come in while we ate. Considering it was noon on a weekday, it seemed quite popular for lunch.

Unlike restaurants packed with tourists alone, it was also noticeable that people who appeared to be Jeju locals were sitting at several tables. There were quite a few solo diners as well.

Long shelves ran along the wall, packed tightly with Crayon Shin-chan figures. Looking closely, there really was an impressive variety. I found myself thinking, Were there really this many Shin-chan figures?

The whole place felt like a space that began with the owner's hobby, and that gave it a character clearly different from an ordinary pork cutlet restaurant. My favorite was the Shin-chan figure made to look like a Teletubby—it was especially cute. If you visit with children, browsing the figures while waiting for food could be quite fun, too.

There were high chairs on one side, and water and side dishes were self-serve.

What we ordered and prices

What we ordered at Seongsan Seobiu Udon Donkatsu

We ordered assorted tempura for ₩7,000, cold udon for ₩9,000, the cheese pork cutlet set for ₩17,000, inari sushi for ₩2,000, and Pepsi Zero for ₩2,000.

We set out danmuji (yellow pickled radish) and kimchi to cut through the richness here and there, then our food arrived.

The generous assorted tempura

I thought it would be a simple ₩7,000 side dish, but when it arrived, the portion was quite generous.

It included onion, chili pepper, eggplant, king oyster mushroom, kabocha squash, and two shrimp. It was nice that there was an assorted-tempura side dish, so we could have tempura without ordering a separate tendon rice bowl.

You can tell how crisp it was just from the photos. Every bite made a pretty loud crunching sound—its own kind of ASMR.

The vegetable tempura was not soggy, and each ingredient still had its own texture. With two shrimp included, it was perfect for the two of us to have one each.

Cold bukkake udon with sauce poured over it

The cold udon came with the sauce separately, to pour over the noodles yourself. They told us we could ask for more sauce if we needed it, but the amount we received at first was enough for us.

When I lifted the noodles with my chopsticks, their springiness was immediately clear. They had that bouncy bite when chewed, which suited cold udon really well. This texture is probably why people eat bukkake udon.

The cold, chewy noodles soaked up the savory, salty sauce and tasted great.

Cheese pork cutlet set on a thick pork loin cutlet

Of everything we ordered that day, the cheese pork cutlet was what I enjoyed the most.

When you think of cheese pork cutlet, you usually picture cheese tucked inside the cutlet. Because the meat and cheese are rolled together and fried, you get plenty of cheese, but the meat itself can feel relatively less present.

But Seobiu Udon Donkatsu was different. They first fried a thick pork loin cutlet, then piled plenty of cheese on top.

So when you cut off a piece, you first get the texture of the thick pork loin, followed by the nutty richness of the cheese. Rather than enjoying the meat and cheese separately, it felt like the two flavors layered together in one bite.

I normally prefer tenderloin over loin when choosing pork cutlet. Pork loin cutlet can sometimes feel a little dry when it is not done well. But there was none of that disappointment here, even though it was loin.

The meat was thick, so it definitely had something to chew on, but the inside was moist and not tough. The more I chewed, the more I could taste the meat's natural aroma, while the cheese added another layer of richness. So that day, I enjoyed pork loin cutlet far more than I usually do.

Udon is something I would miss when eating pork cutlet if it were not there. It was nice to sip the broth now and then.

Inari sushi topped with crab meat and tempura flakes

I was curious after seeing the photo on the menu, so we ordered just one inari sushi (seasoned tofu pouch sushi). It was topped with crab meat mixed in sauce, with tempura flakes between the rice and crab meat. So it was not only soft rice and crab meat—there were crisp little bites throughout.

The subtle sweetness of the tofu pouch, the savory depth of the crab meat, and the rich crunch of the tempura flakes came together, making it small but surprisingly substantial.

We sought this place out thinking we would have something a little more ordinary instead of Jeju food this time. When you come to Jeju, foods from black pork to hairtail and braised mackerel naturally catch your eye, but as the trip grew longer, a meal like this was actually welcome.

At Seobiu Udon Donkatsu, though, we did not just get by with an ordinary meal: we were very satisfied with both the pork cutlet and udon. If you are looking for a good pork cutlet or udon restaurant around Seongsan Ilchulbong or Seopjikoji, it is worth stopping by.