Short rib restaurant in Jeju with kkakdugi fried rice: Jeju Udae

Jeju Udae: the first meal after landing at Jeju Airport

Landing in Jeju, we figured the first meal should be meat to refuel, so we decided on udae galbi and booked ahead through Naver. It was lunchtime, and honestly, without a reservation we probably wouldn't have gotten a table — the place was completely full.

Luckily we had booked, so we got seated quickly. As soon as we sat down we ordered the straw-fire udae saeng-galbi for two.

Where to park at Jeju Udae

There's parking right in front of the restaurant, but it only fits about 4 cars, so from the start we just used the bigger lot 1–2 minutes away. It's close enough to park comfortably and walk over. For the parking lot, put in 25 Wonnohyeong 3-gil, Jeju-si!

Jeju Udae address and opening hours

• Location: 1F, 39 Noyeon-ro, Jeju-si, Jeju, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 12:00–23:00
• Reservations: Naver reservation or by phone

Watching the short ribs grilled over straw fire

We got to watch our straw-fire udae galbi being grilled right in front of us!! 🔥 Seeing meat grilled directly over straw fire, up close, was completely different from the usual grilling scene — strangely fascinating and genuinely fun to watch. Especially seeing the meat turn golden brown over the straw fire got my hopes up hahaha, I was drooling before I'd even taken a bite lol.

Straw fire adds a subtle aroma that's totally different from regular charcoal grilling, so I got even more curious about how the udae galbi's flavor would turn out. More than anything, watching the whole grilling process happen right in front of us made me think, this place really does straw-fire galbi properly, haha.

As the smoky, savory meat smell drifted over, I kept salivating while waiting at the table lol. The meat gets grilled over straw fire first, then grilled once more at the table. Knowing I was finally about to eat the perfectly grilled straw-fire udae galbi, my excitement kept climbing 🥩🔥

And the udae galbi doesn't come pre-cut from the start — they bring out the whole hefty rack and trim it into bite-sized pieces right in front of you! 🥩 Seeing the huge rack shown off whole was honestly overwhelming just visually lol. It was already beautifully grilled over straw fire, glistening with sheen, and just looking at it made my mouth water.

Watching them slice it into perfect bite-sized pieces right there was oddly impressive haha. Having it trimmed right in front of us made it fun to watch, and it definitely felt different from a regular BBQ restaurant! Every time a thick piece of udae galbi got cut off, I thought, this is going to be so good, and I wanted to eat it right away 🤭 Showing off the whole straw-fire-scented rack and trimming it immediately made the whole experience — watching and eating — feel like the real deal, haha.

How to eat Jeju Udae's udae galbi, step by step

Jeju Udae kindly has instructions on how to best enjoy the udae galbi, so I read through them carefully before eating 😎 They say to dip the first grilled piece in Maldon salt to taste the meat's natural flavor first.

Of course, the first bite has to be with just salt haha. The subtle straw-fire aroma soaked into the meat meant that even with just salt, you could really taste the meat itself — great!! 🥩🔥

Second, we dipped the udae galbi generously in mayo sauce, put it on a tortilla, and topped it with coleslaw and radish salad. Wrapping it in a tortilla was a real treat too 🤍

Taking a well-grilled piece of galbi and topping it with perilla leaf jimichuri, cheongyang chili pesto, and garlic sauce, each in one bite, was delicious. It was refreshing enough to make you want to wrap up the rich, fatty meat with it. Refreshing and tasty.

The signature doubanjiang kkakdugi fried rice

Ordering Jeju Udae's signature doubanjiang kkakdugi (radish kimchi) fried rice means they stir-fry it together with the meat left on the galbi bones, so we ordered it right away too 🤍 If you don't order the fried rice, they'll grill the meat left on the bones separately instead!!

I'd recommend Jeju Udae for your first meal in Jeju. It's close to the airport too, so it's a good stop.