Hamdeok alley black pork BBQ with chewy neck cut: Jeju Samchun

What is Jeju Samchun Hamdeok? Location and hours

Jeju Samchun Hamdeok is a black pork BBQ specialist on the 1st floor of 537-1 Sinbuk-ro, Jocheon-eup, Jeju-si, near Hamdeok Beach. It's open daily 12:00–23:00 with last order at 22:00, takes reservations and groups, and even has kids' seats. Parking is available at nearby lots or on the street.

You have to eat black pork at least once in Jeju, right? This time I was looking for a spot near Hamdeok Beach and ended up at Jeju Samchun Hamdeok.

It's right near Hamdeok Beach, but tucked a bit off the main road down an alley. Great spot to add to a walking trip after checking out the sea — and it's also handy if you're staying near Sonobel Jeju looking for a place to eat.

Inside Jeju Samchun: seating, atmosphere and kiosk ordering

I found this place while searching for a Hamdeok Beach restaurant, and it was bigger than I expected. Inside, the warm wood-tone interior gave off a cozy overall vibe. Tables stretched from the front all the way to the back, so there were more seats than I thought. The spacing between tables wasn't cramped either, making it a good fit for family visits or larger groups.

Ordering is easy via kiosk,

and off to one side there was a low-temperature aging fridge. They're a certified Jeju pork seller recognized by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, which built up my expectations for the meat itself!!

Side dishes and dipping sauces at Jeju Samchun

After a short wait, the banchan (side dishes) started coming out one by one. There was myeongnanjeot (salted pollock roe), ssammu (pickled radish wraps), baek-kimchi (white kimchi), cucumber muchim, scallion shreds, and lettuce wraps — a good variety to go with the meat. Several dipping sauces were also on offer.

They also had melljeot (fermented anchovy sauce) and galchi-sok-jeot (fermented hairtail innards sauce), essential companions for Jeju black pork, so I could mix and match to my taste.

The Joka Set: 300-hour aged Jeju black pork

We ordered the jocha set. It comes with samgyeopsal (pork belly), mokssal (pork neck/shoulder), and mokdeolmisal (upper neck cut) all at once — a good choice if you want to sample a variety of cuts in one go 🤤💛🤤💛

The black pork at Jeju Samchun Hamdeok is aged 300 hours at low temperature, then smoked using grapevine wood smoking chips. Maybe that's why I was quietly excited even before the meat hit the grill.

They piled the grill full of meat, and set some baek-kimchi alongside to grill too. Baek-kimchi is clean-tasting on its own, but grilled with the meat it worked surprisingly well.

And the staff grilled the meat for us, which was so convenient...!! Timing matters a lot with grilling meat, so having them handle it meant we could just relax and chat while eating. That kind of service made me think this place would also work well for families looking for a Hamdeok Beach restaurant.

Mokdeolmisal (neck cut): the chewiest bite

First up, mokdeolmisal. It's a fairly fatty cut, but rather than feeling greasy it had a nice chewy texture. The more you chewed, the more savory and rich it got — a distinctive cut, in my opinion.

Ogyeopsal (five-layer belly) with breadcrumb salt

Next up, samgyeopsal! The pork belly was grilled thick, and the salt served with it was a bit different from regular salt. It's apparently made from breadcrumbs, which I found interesting — dipping the meat in it lightly gave a different feel. I tried it with scallion shreds, wrapped in seaweed, dipped in myeongnanjeot or melljeot — mixing and matching a bunch of combos.

Mokssal (pork collar): the cut I liked most

And the one I liked best was the mokssal ~~ I tend to prefer leaner cuts, so mokssal suited my taste the most. It was sliced thick, giving a good chew, and the juices in the middle stayed alive, so it wasn't dry at all.

It was tasty topped with a little myeongnanjeot, and also good dipped in melljeot. Wrapping it in lettuce with the meat and grilled baek-kimchi turned out to be a tastier combo than I expected.

Yeolmu guksu (young radish noodles) to cut the richness

Eating only meat can get a bit much after a while, so we also ordered yeolmu guksu (cold radish green noodles) as a side. With crunchy radish greens and a cool broth, it felt like it cleaned the palate nicely after the meat. Especially in between bites of black pork, it cut through the richness and worked really well.

Is Jeju Samchun worth it for black pork near Hamdeok Beach?

If you're looking for a place to eat Jeju black pork around Hamdeok Beach, give Jeju Samchun Hamdeok a try. It's close to the sea, so it's convenient to stop by after visiting Hamdeok Beach, and the space is roomy enough for larger groups. Popular tourist spots are great, but there's also something fun about seeking out a hidden-gem BBQ place like this. The atmosphere felt comfortable for both travelers and locals alike.

If you're like me and want to try several cuts at once, I'd recommend ordering the jocha set and tasting the mokdeolmisal, samgyeopsal, and mokssal in order. If you're searching for a Hamdeok Beach restaurant and black pork comes to mind, enjoy the sea view and good meat all in one visit. After eating my fill, it felt like another satisfying meal in the books on my Jeju trip :)