Jeju Korean restaurant with kid-friendly soup: Hyeopjae On Ttukbaegi

When you travel, you somehow end up having a simple breakfast, right? I used to get by with hotel breakfast or a McMorning meal, more or less (?), then move on to the next stop—but I’m now at an age when I need a proper, filling rice meal first thing in the morning hahaha. Especially now that I travel with my child, I really prefer to eat a real breakfast before heading out. Otherwise, we keep looking for snacks!! So on the second morning of our Jeju trip, we looked for a restaurant near Hyeopjae. I visit the Hyeopjae area often whenever I come to Jeju each year, and this time, I chose Hyeopjae On Ttukbaegi (협재온뚝배기) for breakfast.

If you’re looking for breakfast in Hyeopjae

Hyeopjae On Ttukbaegi is a rice-meal restaurant near Hyeopjae Beach. Above all, it opens early, so it was a great place for breakfast during our Jeju trip.

It is open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is a break from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and it is closed every Monday. For parking, you can use the public parking lot right near the restaurant. Our accommodation was nearby, so we strolled over. The public lot was free and spacious, so it seemed like a good option for Jeju travelers getting around by car too.

Here’s what we ordered

We ordered bomal haejangguk (Jeju sea-snail hangover soup), Jeju black pork bulgogi, and children’s haejangguk. Looking at the menu, I saw a good variety of soup dishes besides bomal haejangguk, including abalone and dried pollock soup, soft tofu stew, Korean beef offal soup, and Korean beef haejangguk. I also liked that there was a separate children’s haejangguk on the menu.

When you’re traveling, it can quietly become a concern if there is nothing quite right for your child to eat, but I think you can worry less about that here.

Bomal haejangguk that settled my stomach in the morning

I ordered the bomal haejangguk. Since it is called haejangguk, I expected something automatically spicy and intense, but the broth I had was peppery yet clean-tasting. I hadn’t even had a drink the night before, but it still made me think, “Ah… this really settles my stomach.” Hahahaha.

A spoonful of warm broth in the morning definitely made it feel like the trip had begun. There was a generous amount of bomal in it too, making it great with rice.

Jeju black pork bulgogi with garlic

And the Jeju black pork bulgogi was personally one of my favorites. It came grilled with garlic, and that combination was so delicious. Have a bite of meat with a clove of garlic, a spoonful of rice, then a spoonful of haejangguk broth, and that’s it hahaha.

I wondered if it might be too heavy for the morning, but once I started eating, I actually loved how satisfying it was. I guess I really am at the point where I look for a proper rice meal from breakfast, even while traveling.

Children’s haejangguk for my child

For our child, we ordered the children’s haejangguk. It looked filling enough to make me think, “They’re going to finish a whole bowl of rice with this, aren’t they?” hahaha. The meat was shredded like jangjorim (soy-braised beef), with bean sprouts as well. Since it was a child’s dish, the flavor was mild and easy to eat, but honestly, I thought it was delicious too. The meat was tender and the broth rich, so I thought it would suit adults as well as children. With warm soup and rice from the morning, all three of us felt properly full.

A moment when I was truly grateful to the owner

Actually, our family had something a little difficult happen from the first day of this Jeju trip. Our child had an unexpected burn injury. I felt so upset from the very first day of the trip, and while we were eating that day, I ended up telling the owner about it. When she heard my story, her eyes filled with tears too… I can’t tell you how comforted I felt in that moment.ㅠㅠ

It may seem like nothing, but when you are away from home and carrying that worry with your child, simply having someone feel your pain with you can be such a huge comfort. The food was delicious, of course, but I think I will remember the warmth I felt that day for a long time.

When I come to Hyeopjae next year

I come to Jeju every year and always stop by Hyeopjae at least once. This time, we had a filling rice meal from the morning and received some warmth too. If I come back to Hyeopjae on another trip, I think I will stop in for breakfast again. On next year’s Hyeopjae trip too, I’ll be back at Hyeopjae On Ttukbaegi for breakfast.