Jeju black pork restaurant lunch with a toddler: Nopo Dwaeji Aewol

A black pork restaurant after swimming in Aewol

A barbecue restaurant we went to after swimming in Jeju! Clutching our starving bellies, we headed to Nopo Dwaeji Aewol for lunch and some Jeju black pork.

It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Takeout, parking, and high chairs are available too.

There is plenty of parking behind Nopo Dwaeji Aewol, and it is 10 minutes from Eco Green Resort. If you are staying at Eco Green Resort, do visit Nopo Dwaeji Aewol! It is nearby and great for families too.

Anyway, here is the exterior of Nopo Dwaeji Aewol. The name may suggest an old-school place, but it is actually super clean. There is a convenience store right next door too, perfect for ice cream after the meal haha.

A clean interior that was easy with a child

The inside of Nopo Dwaeji is truly clean and spacious. There was no lingering meat smell or burnt odor, and it was so comfortable that it felt like a great barbecue restaurant to visit with a child. Even the restroom was very clean.

They bring a chili-based sauce of some sort (?), shredded radish salad, and pickled radish wraps, all perfect alongside black pork. Personally, I liked it best with the shredded radish salad. Though honestly, everything was good.

Salt, wasabi, and ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste) come too, along with dongchimi (radish water kimchi) and seasoned lettuce. The dongchimi has a little spicy kick, so it is hard for kids to eat. Personally, the seasoned lettuce at Nopo Dwaeji was soooo good that I kept getting refills!

My favorite banchan (side dish) 👍

Nopo Dwaeji also has children's tableware ready, making it a great barbecue restaurant to visit with kids. Our child had the same dishes we use at home, so they could eat comfortably.

The lunch special and extra pork skirt meat

Nopo Dwaeji's signature black pork geungogi pairs pork neck and belly aged for over 168 hours, and there is also Jeju pork skirt meat and pork jowl. There is a lunch-special menu from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.! Side options include soybean paste stew, kimchi stew, spicy raw-fish bibim naengmyeon, and mul naengmyeon (cold broth noodles). They even thoughtfully have non-alcoholic beer, for your reference. Personally, I wish there had been steamed egg too..!

At Nopo Dwaeji Aewol, you can also get stew or naengmyeon by joining the review event.

Any side dishes you need more of are generously stocked at the self-service corner.

We ordered Nopo Dwaeji's two-person lunch-special set. As we ate, it felt a little short, so we added pork skirt meat.

Black pork grilled from start to finish

At Nopo Dwaeji Aewol, the staff grilled the meat from beginning to end, so we could eat comfortably!

The moment I bit into the black pork, the juices burst out—it had an incredible texture. The more I chewed, the nuttier and tastier it became. It was also tender rather than tough enough for our 38-month-old to eat.

Even Nopo Dwaeji's bowl of rice is not just plain rice: it is kelp rice, so it is chewier and nuttier. Thank you, Nopo Dwaeji, for putting care into even the rice,,❤️

Seeing it again makes me want to eat it again. The staff cut the meat into easy-to-eat pieces and even set it up for us, so going to a barbecue restaurant with a child did not feel chaotic.

Jeju crab soybean paste stew and meljeot

We ordered Jeju yellow crab soybean paste stew as a side, and wow, the broth was amazing. Thanks to the crab, it was so clear and refreshing that I felt I could finish a whole bowl of rice with it! Our child ate the tofu in it well too!!

Our child seemed to find it delicious and ate eagerly. Nopo Dwaeji Aewol's self-service bar also has gim (roasted seaweed), which makes it nice to visit with a baby.

It is delicious dipped in meljeot (fermented anchovy sauce), and super delicious wrapped in ssam (leaf wraps) too, haha!! I used to think meljeot was really fishy, but these days I enjoy it because it seems to heighten the flavor of the meat.

We added pork skirt meat. The pork skirt meat is the one you grill yourselves.

The pork skirt meat was tender too, with no odor, a pleasantly chewy texture, and a nutty flavor, so we ate very well and very full. Nopo Dwaeji Aewol is 10 minutes from Eco Green Resort and great to visit with a child, so do stop by if you are looking for Jeju black pork.