Pet-friendly Korean restaurant in Jongdal-ri, Jeju: Jongdal Sudatteul

I had braised mackerel on a recent Jeju trip at a place that serves it up like a proper Korean set meal — I ate myself silly on the mackerel and every side dish that came with it! Today I'm introducing 'Jongdal Sudatteul,' a Gujwa restaurant known for its Jeju-style braised hairtail and braised mackerel.

• ⏰ Open daily 10:00–21:00
• 🙏🏻 Baby chair available, pets welcome
• Corkage available (free)
• 🅿️ Parking available in front of the restaurant

Where is Jongdal Sudatteul, and what is the restaurant like?

Jongdal Sudatteul is a Jeju hanjeongsik (Korean set meal) restaurant on Yongnuni Oreum-ro in Gujwa-eup, Jeju City, sitting right along Olle Trail Course 1. The exterior is as pretty as the name, so I ended up admiring it from outside for a while before going in!

I got curious about the pretty name and looked it up — it combines Jongdal-ri, the village where the restaurant sits, with characters meaning 'hand' and 'many,' together meaning something like 'a garden tended with many loving hands.'

We visited around 11am and were the first customers, but by the time we finished and left, families started pouring in, and when I passed by again around 1pm, the parking lot was completely full!🚗

Since it's a Korean set meal, it works well as a family restaurant, and it seems like a lot of people bring their little ones for grilled fish. There's a baby chair ready too, so anyone visiting with a baby can eat comfortably!

Jongdal Sudatteul menu, self-serve bar and the cash-payment freebie

Jongdal Sudatteul's main menu is the Jeju hanjeongsik🥗 The braised mackerel can be swapped for braised hairtail, and the plain rice can be changed to abalone hot stone rice or sea urchin bibimbap.

Side dishes can be refilled at the self-serve bar — and even the addictive soy-marinated crab is refillable! Giving out that much, does the owner even come out ahead?🖤

Pay in cash and you get a free glass of freshly squeezed Gujwa carrot juice~ If you like carrots, paying cash to grab that cool carrot juice is a nice move🥕🧡

Jeju set meal for two at 50,000 won: the 13-dish table

When we ordered the Jeju hanjeongsik, the dishes just kept coming ๑˚₊‧ From grilled hairtail and dombegogi (boiled pork slices) to braised mackerel, seafood hot pot, marinated abalone, crab, and leafy greens for wraps — a whopping 13-dish spread filled the whole table!

Dombegogi (boiled pork slices)

The first thing we tried was dombegogi! It came out tender and sliced thick, so it passed the visual test right away..🏅 I dipped it lightly in salt first, and the moist, soft meat melted right into my mouth. Wrapped with the tangy-sweet scallion salad and cucumber peppers, every bite was pure happiness!

Grilled hairtail

Next up, grilled hairtail🐟 I picked the bones out of the nicely browned fish, and even one piece had so much meat on it that there was plenty to eat. Put on warm rice, the soft hairtail flesh just melts away~~

Kimchi-braised mackerel

The dish I'd been waiting for, braised mackerel🐠 Two big chunks of mackerel braised with well-fermented kimchi — and honestly, the sauce is insane. At the end I mixed rice into the leftover sauce, and it just vanished in seconds🪄

Seafood hot pot

I let out a gasp the second I tasted the broth of the seafood hot pot🍲 With blue crab and clams in it, the broth was so refreshing! Picking crab meat out was fun in itself, and the clams were pure chewy goodness. Sipping the broth between bites of rice cleaned my palate every time~

Soy-marinated crab and marinated abalone

Visually perfect, rice-thief-worthy soy-marinated crab🦀 Soy crab always looks delicious but has often disappointed me with a fishy taste, so I didn't expect much — but this one is genuinely good! No fishy taste at all, just savory soy sauce, so even I could eat it without any hesitation.

The marinated abalone was huge🐚 The chewy, slightly crunchy texture is so appealing. It was salty in the best way and paired perfectly with rice. They give one per person, and they're generously sized, so we enjoyed them fully~

Side dishes and refills

Every single side dish — stir-fried fish cake, bracken fern, kimchi, cucumber peppers, bean sprouts, and diced radish kimchi — was delicious without exception, so we kept going back to the self-serve bar for refills and ate every bit of it~~ As someone who loves Korean food, I felt like I'd made a great choice for lunch:)

Is Jongdal Sudatteul worth a visit?

If you're looking for a Jeju restaurant known for braised hairtail and braised mackerel, and a pet-friendly spot in Gujwa, I recommend 'Jongdal Sudatteul'~