Jeju Korean restaurant family breakfast: Jeju Seom Godeungeo Ssambap

When you travel to Jeju, there are days when, for some reason, you crave rice from the morning rather than bread or coffee, right? Especially when traveling with a child, I find it much easier to have a hearty proper meal before getting on with the day than just eating something quick. On this Jeju trip, while wondering where to have breakfast, we visited Jeju Seom Godeungeo Ssambap near Hamdeok Beach.

Jeju Seom Godeungeo Ssambap

• 1F, 418 Johamhaean-ro, Jocheon-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju, South Korea
• 09:00–21:00 / last order 20:00
• Closed every Tuesday
• Parking available
• Mackerel ssambap for 2: ₩36,000

A great location near Hamdeok Beach

We were staying in Hamdeok. We wanted a hearty breakfast, so while looking through menu options, we ended up visiting Jeju Seom Godeungeo Ssambap. It is on Johamhaean-ro close to Hamdeok Beach, making it a handy stop for people staying or traveling around Hamdeok like us. There was also parking close to the restaurant, so it was easy to visit by car with our child. Best of all, it opens from 9 a.m., so it was a good fit for travelers like us looking for breakfast during a Jeju trip.

The atmosphere at Jeju Seom Godeungeo Ssambap

When we visited, perhaps because it had not been open for long, the entire restaurant felt very tidy. There were plenty of tables, so it looked like a good place for families, too.

There was also a self-serve bar set up on one side of the restaurant. When choosing restaurants while traveling in Jeju with my child, I quietly place quite a lot of importance on whether the place is clean as well as the food, and the first impression here was pretty good.

The menu was more varied than I expected

The signature dish is, of course, mackerel ssambap (rice served with mackerel, kimchi, and wrap vegetables). From fish dishes such as grilled mackerel, braised cutlassfish, and grilled tilefish to sea urchin roe seaweed soup, abalone hot pot, and cutlassfish soup, there were lots of dishes you would want to try at least once in Jeju. We visited with our six-year-old, so we ordered mackerel ssambap for two and added sea urchin roe seaweed soup for our child. For two people, the mackerel ssambap alone looked like enough, but adding one soup dish with our child made for just the right meal.

Mackerel ssambap for breakfast—would it work?

After a short wait, our full mackerel ssambap spread arrived, and it was more generous than I expected. There was plenty of mackerel and kimchi, along with wrap vegetables and several side dishes, so it felt just like a home-style meal in Jeju. At first, I wondered whether mackerel ssambap might feel a little heavy first thing in the morning, but once I tried it, I actually loved how filling it was. It made me think that Koreans really do need rice for breakfast, haha.

The combination of mackerel flesh and well-fermented kimchi

What I liked most was the combination of mackerel and kimchi. The mackerel had quite plump pieces of flesh, so it was easy to pull apart with chopsticks, and I could barely detect any fishiness. The mackerel itself was mild, and placing the flesh over rice with kimchi gave it a wonderful savory depth. The deeply cooked kimchi beneath the mackerel was also thoroughly infused with seasoning, making it great with rice. It was delicious wrapped in the greens with mackerel and kimchi, too, but personally, my favorite combination was simply mackerel flesh with kimchi alongside it.

I kept reaching for the side dishes, too

It was not just the main dish that was good; the side dishes that came with it were neatly prepared overall as well. I especially liked the braised anchovies and kept reaching for them. My husband tried the soy-marinated raw crab and kept exclaiming about how good it was, haha. Soy-marinated raw crab is also available as an extra order, so that is worth noting if you like it. Overall, rather than being intensely seasoned, the side dishes were good to eat with rice, so the meal did not feel burdensome with a child either.

Our six-year-old's first sea urchin roe seaweed soup

And the most fun part of this visit was that our child tried sea urchin roe for the first time. At first, perhaps because of its color, our child seemed a little hesitant. But after trying a little, it must have been better than expected because our child kept eating it.

Rather than having a strong flavor of its own, the sea urchin roe came through as soft and creamy in the seaweed soup, and our child ate it better than expected. If you are looking for somewhere to eat with a child in Jeju, having a soup dish like this on the menu is quite a nice point, too.

This menu combination works well with a child

If you visit with a child like we did, adding one sea urchin roe seaweed soup to the mackerel ssambap could be a good option. The adults can eat the mackerel and kimchi over rice while the child has seaweed soup and rice, so the meal works out without having to order lots of separate dishes. Of course, if your child eats fish well, you can also set aside small pieces of mackerel flesh.

It felt even better as a meal in Jeju

They were also running a review event, and we received some Jeju prickly pear crunch as a gift. When you travel in Jeju, you tend to look for dishes such as black pork or cutlassfish, but this time we started the morning a little differently with mackerel ssambap. We ate it much better than expected, though, which made it even more satisfying. A piece of mackerel with deeply cooked kimchi, wrap vegetables, and rice made for a hearty meal without needing to order lots of extra things.

If you are looking for breakfast in Hamdeok

Jeju Seom Godeungeo Ssambap is close to Hamdeok Beach and opens from 9 a.m., so it is a handy place to stop when looking for breakfast during a Jeju trip. Especially if you visit with a six-year-old like we did, it worked well to have the adults eat mackerel ssambap and add sea urchin roe seaweed soup for the child. The restaurant was tidy and parking was convenient, so it did not feel like a difficult choice for a family-trip meal.

If you want to begin a day in Jeju with a hearty rice meal from the morning, mackerel ssambap seems like a very good choice. If we visit again, I would definitely have the mackerel ssambap as a staple, and I would also like to try the braised cutlassfish or grilled tilefish that we missed this time.