Renovated Hamdeok black pork restaurant with breadcrumb salt: Jeju

Where is Jeju Samchun near Hamdeok Beach, and where do you park?

Jeju Samchun Hamdeok Beach Black Pork is a Hamdeok black pork restaurant at 537-1 Sinbuk-ro, Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, popular with both locals and tourists. This time I stopped by for dinner.

There's alley parking right in front of the restaurant, and the free Hamdeok Beach public parking lot is nearby too, so parking is easy.

What the renovated dining room looks like

It had been a while since my last visit, and after the renovation the interior looks a lot more polished and clean.

Reservations are possible for groups of 8 or more, and you can inquire via Naver or by phone.

300 hours of low-temperature aging and grapevine smoke

Jeju Samchun is a certified Jeju black pork retailer, officially recognized by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. The certified, quality black pork is aged at low temperature for 300 hours, then smoked using grapevine wood chips.

Garden view with the outdoor windows opened all the way

It was a nice day with a cool autumn breeze, so the windows facing the outdoor garden were opened all the way. The dol hareubang (stone grandfather statue), rocks, and stone walls came together beautifully for a very Jeju-style view.

The 500g Jocha Set and the lunch special

I ordered the #JochaSet (₩60,000), which comes with 500g of black pork neck and belly.

If you visit during lunch hours, the lunch special comes with black pork, kimchi jjigae, steamed egg, and rice all included — even better value.

What side dishes come with the meal

The basic side dishes are served neatly, and even though there's no self-bar, the staff kindly refill them on request.

The cucumber salad and scallion salad are tossed fresh right when guests arrive, which I really appreciate.

There's a good variety of accompaniments too — fresh perilla and other greens, pollack roe, seaweed, radish wraps, and baek-kimchi (white kimchi).

Write a Naver photo review and you get a free kimchi jjigae. Most places just give you a drink for a review, but here you get an actual stew — definitely worth doing!

Tableside grilling and the smoking performance

Jeju Samchun offers tableside grilling service, so you can comfortably enjoy the meat cooked to the ideal doneness without lifting a finger.

Showing off the grapevine-smoked meat right at the table is also one of Jeju Samchun's signature touches. The grapevine smoking makes the meat even softer and deepens the flavor.

Eating black pork while looking out at a garden that felt so distinctly Jeju made the meal even more special.

The meat looks fresh from the color alone.

I've been coming to Jeju Samchun for several years now, and the meat is always delicious and the staff always friendly.

The muscle cuts are thick — the kind an average person would struggle to grill properly — so having a pro handle the grilling makes it much easier to enjoy.

From deolmisal to five-layer belly: which sauce with which cut

The first cut to finish cooking was #deolmisal, a rare cut served in small portions with a nutty, chewy appeal — and since it was my first bite of the meal, nothing else could compare to how good it tasted.

It's great with just a light dip in salt, and it also pairs well with the shiitake-based sauce.

The pollack roe sauce that comes alongside is great mixed well and layered onto seaweed with the meat and roe for a different kind of combination.

The neck and belly are each grilled to the right doneness and set neatly at the edge of the grill, ready to eat.

Side orders and a bowl of rice

There are various side dishes — kimchi jjigae, doenjang jjigae, japchae-style noodle soup, yeolmu noodle soup, spicy yeolmu bibim noodles, steamed egg, and more — popular both as drinking snacks and full meals.

Adding one bowl of rice to the Jocha Set was just the right amount for me and my husband, so the noodles will have to wait for next time.

Five-layer belly dipped in breadcrumb salt

My favorite of Jeju Samchun's sauces is the breadcrumb salt — dip the belly in it and it strangely tastes exactly like tonkatsu, haha.

At Jeju Samchun, a Hamdeok black pork restaurant that puts the natural flavor of Jeju black pork first, try a black pork meal made even more special by the grapevine smoking!

Jeju Samchun Hamdeok Beach black pork: hours, price and info

• Address: 537-1 Sinbuk-ro, 1st floor, Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, Jeju, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 12:00–23:00 (last order 22:00)
• Reservations: For groups of 8+, via Naver or phone