Hamdeok black pork with 10,000-won seafood doenjang stew: Jeju Samchun

Where is Hamdeok Beach black pork spot Jeju Samchun, and what about parking?

Jeju Samchun is a black pork restaurant right near Hamdeok Beach, close to Sono Belle Jeju. For parking, just use the free lot behind Hamdeok Olive Young, marked off with a green fence. Everyone heading to Jeju wants to see the emerald blue water at Hamdeok Beach, so I wanted to introduce a place with easy access that also lets you really enjoy that grapevine smoke aroma.

Coming to Jeju means you have to eat black pork, but these days there's plenty of good black pork on the mainland too — so if you're wondering "is there a way to make this a bit more special?", I'd strongly recommend Jeju Samchun.

How does Jeju Samchun grill its black pork, and what's the restaurant like?

Jeju Samchun ages good-quality black pork for 300 hours at low temperature, then grills it using grapevine smoking chips, they say. The taste is great, but the view beyond the restaurant is satisfying too.

Tables are spaced comfortably apart, so it's good for a family meal, and the interior is very clean. It seems to have already spread by word of mouth among foreign travelers too — I noticed people pairing black pork with kimchi jjigae, which was memorable.

What's the price and composition of the Jocha Set at Jeju Samchun?

The Jocha Set at Jeju Samchun is pork neck and pork belly, 500g, for 60,000 won. There's a proper lunch set menu, but we came around 4pm to really enjoy the black pork, so we ordered the Jocha Set.

At lunch, it's said to come loaded with black pork, kimchi jjigae, steamed egg, and rice, so it might be worth stopping by for a good-value lunch course. There's also an ongoing event where writing a Naver receipt review gets you a free kimchi jjigae, so keep that in mind. We happened to be craving a savory seafood doenjang jjigae that day, so we ordered that separately.

Jeju Samchun's side dishes: cucumber kimchi, scallion salad, and pollack roe specialty

Jeju Samchun's basic table setting was arranged so neatly that you could feel the care put into each side dish.

I'm not usually a fan of oisobagi (stuffed cucumber kimchi), but the seasoning had such good umami that I ended up eating even the onions down to the last bite. My friend who came with me loved the cool cucumber flavor and cleaned an entire plate.

The soy-sauce-based scallion salad in particular was excellent, bringing out great umami. It cleanly removed the sharp bite of scallions, so it wasn't harsh and went cleanly with the meat.

Jeju Samchun also gave us a special side dish mixing pollack roe, cheongyang chili, and sesame oil to eat with the meat. My own small plate came with a variety of things too — salt, ssamjang (dipping sauce), and shiitake wasabi. I'm always the type who has to have a place with shiitake wasabi when eating meat, so I was really happy to see it.

Does Jeju Samchun grill the meat for you?

Yes, at Jeju Samchun the staff grill the meat over charcoal for you. The uniquely shaped grill pan holds strong-burning charcoal. Grilling meat yourself on a trip is genuinely a hassle, isn't it? And when you're with family it can get chaotic too. At Jeju Samchun, since they grill it for you, you can just comfortably sit back and eat as it's handed to you.

The moment the meat, full of grapevine smoke aroma, arrives and the lid is lifted, a sweet yet subtle smoky scent spreads across the table — it's a performance that draws gasps.

Next to the vivid red meat, the dol hareubang (stone grandfather statue) decoration adds a real touch of Jeju atmosphere.

Maybe because the scent had been infused into the meat, even while it was grilling, a pleasant grape aroma kept wafting up, which I found fascinating. I've seen pork infused with straw-fire aroma before, but grapevine was a first!

Crunchy white kimchi is arranged around the edge of the grill pan. You all know it gets even tastier once it soaks up a little pork fat, right?!

How was the 10,000-won seafood doenjang jjigae at Jeju Samchun?

Jeju Samchun's seafood doenjang jjigae is 10,000 won, but it's loaded with crab and mussels, tasting like a seafood stew. As we chatted away happily waiting, the seafood doenjang jjigae suddenly appeared!

The visual of the seafood doenjang jjigae, packed with crab and mussels, was stunning — you wouldn't feel like the 10,000 won price was wasted at all. It had big-sized crab pieces too, so it was fun to pick the meat out.

First a sip of the broth, which already looked rich just by looking at it! Wow... with the crab in there, it was so deep and rich, full of seafood aroma, almost like a seafood stew?! Anyone who likes to drink alongside their meal would go crazy for this flavor.

Jeju Samchun black pork by cut: from gabrisal to pork belly

While we were enjoying the doenjang jjigae, the meat had finished cooking! Clearly grilled by an expert — it browned up beautifully and looked so appetizing.

Gabrisal that came with the Jocha Set

I thought the Jocha Set only consisted of pork neck and pork belly, but a few pieces of gabrisal (pork shoulder blade meat) came out too. So the first bite went to the well-grilled gabrisal!

It was thin yet incredibly chewy, and the more you chewed, the more the nuttiness spread out — so delicious. This is why everyone raves about black pork!

Eating it together with the scallion salad, it was clean yet the juices burst out, and I felt like it was worth coming to Jeju just for this. I dipped it right into melJeot (fermented sand lance sauce), which every Jeju meat restaurant seems to have.

Thick pork neck and pork belly

Meanwhile it was time to eat the fully cooked pork neck and pork belly! I thought the thick cuts might be dry, but they were so tender, and thanks to that thickness, they held onto the juices well, letting you really enjoy the meaty flavor.

The pairing with the white kimchi, made tastier after soaking up a bit of fat, was great too.

Owner's recommendation, pork belly and pollack roe kim wrap

Following the owner's suggestion, I put pork belly on a sheet of kim (seaweed) and topped it with the pollack roe sauce — such a special flavor. A proper meeting of seafood and meat!

The pork belly with the chewy skin still attached maximized the nutty flavor even more!

Coating it generously with breadcrumbs added a crispy texture too, letting you enjoy it even more fully.

Eating the nicely browned mushrooms alongside it too, and before I knew it, everything had vanished!

Jeju Samchun's aging room and certification

On my way out of Jeju Samchun, I noticed Jeju black pork being well aged. There's even a certificate firmly attached marking it as a certified seller — that builds trust!

Jeju Samchun, full of that grapevine smoke aroma that made the flavor even better! If you're looking for a proper Hamdeok black pork restaurant, why not have a delicious meal at Jeju Samchun and then take a walk right in front at Hamdeok Beach?