Gwangju Gyeongan-dong grill with seafood doenjang stew: Jeju Oktop

A Jeju black pork spot you can enjoy right in Gwangju, Gyeonggi — Jeju Oktop!

Honestly I went in without high expectations, but for a black pork specialty restaurant the value for money was insane, and both the meat and the doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) were so good I left really satisfied.

Where is Jeju Oktop, Gwangju Gyeongan Branch, and what are its hours?

Jeju Oktop JEJU BBQ, Gwangju Gyeongan Branch is a Jeju black pork grill house located at 11-13 Gwangju-daero (Gyeongan-dong), Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. It's open 3 PM to midnight (weekends from noon), and you can book through Naver Reservations, with group bookings also available.

You can reserve ahead through Naver, but on weekdays (Mon–Thu) it seems fine to just walk in without a booking!

Right from the entrance, dol hareubang (stone grandfather statues) and hallabong (Jeju tangerines) give it strong Jeju-island vibes~

There were tons of celebrity autographs too! I didn't realize Jeju Oktop was such a famous place, haha.

The interior is on the dark side but pretty clean. There are inner seats too, which looked great for group diners — the front area is mostly 4-person tables.

I timed it right around end-of-work hours and there was no one there! Nice. But as I kept eating, plenty of people came in even though it was a weekday.

Jeju Oktop menu and the price of the set for two

Jeju Oktop's signature is the Jeju Meokguui grill! It's a great value way to eat black pork front cut, and there's even a 2-person set so going with a friend is no worry at all. The 2-person set is a whopping 39,900 won and comes with 2 bowls of rice and doenjang jjigae! The meat comes out at 500g, which is just right for two.

Even the single black pork menu items aren't that expensive, so you can eat well at a good price!

Aprons and coat bags: the extras Jeju Oktop hands out

Disposable aprons are provided as usual, and they also give you a plastic bag to store your coat so it doesn't absorb smoke smell! Getting meat smell stuck in a winter coat is such a low-key stressor, so this was nice~

Water served in bottled form too, love that...

What comes with the 39,900 won Baby Pig Set and its sauces

Just in case, I made a reservation through Naver, and sure enough the side dishes were all pre-set when we arrived! We came as two people and ordered the Baby Pig Set.

The default sauces provided are cream cheese, galchi sokjeot-myeolchi jeot (fermented hairtail-and-anchovy) ssamjang, seasoned sauce, wasabi, pollack roe Himalayan pink salt, steak seasoning, and pepper. The set menu comes with even more sauces on top, and there's already plenty in the basic lineup, haha.

Having myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves) among the side dishes is the best part — love it!

How black pork front cut tastes and how to grill it yourself

The meat comes out fast. The black pork front cut feels like a combo of pork belly and pork shoulder together!

You wipe down the grill plate once with the fat before cooking, that's it! Just a heads up — this is a self-grill spot.

So good while eating — you get the rich, savory fattiness of the pork belly and the leaner taste of the shoulder together.

Dipping into the sauces makes it twice as good. In order: cream cheese, spicy sauce, butter garlic, and galchi sokjeot-myeolchi jeot — these four sauces you simmer together while grilling the meat! Once it's boiling hard, push it aside. I liked the salt + wasabi and the butter garlic best, while my companion said the galchi sokjeot-myeolchi jeot was the tastiest.

Doenjang jjigae with crab and shrimp at Jeju Oktop

As you keep eating, the rice and doenjang jjigae come out too — a seafood doenjang jjigae with crab and ttaksaeu (sweet shrimp)! I'm normally more of a meat-doenjang-jjigae person, but this one was seriously good... very satisfying. And it arrives at the perfect timing, right around when you're about halfway through the meat.

Dried kelp comes served alongside the meat too, and grilling it up to eat together is great.

The portions are huge too, so we ended up super full and very satisfied — if there are two of you, the Baby Pig Set is exactly right!

The owner also told us about an app at checkout that gives you points for visiting partner stores! Since the bill at BBQ places tends to run high, getting some of it back as points seems worth it.

For dessert, they even give out Jeju tangerine candy! A black pork restaurant that was great to enjoy on a budget — Jeju Oktop JEJU BBQ, Gwangju Gyeongan Branch. Recommended if you're suddenly craving black pork.