Jeju Korean restaurant for mala pork noodles: Handam Guksu

Let me introduce Handam Guksu, a great Aewol lunch spot where you can enjoy a different kind of pork noodles while traveling. This pork-noodle specialist is right beside Handam Beach and Aewol Café Street, so it was easy to visit while exploring western Jeju—and I recommend it because every seat faces the sea! :)

Handam Guksu Gwakji Aewol Branch: location and parking

Most guests come to this popular Handam spot in a rental car or their own car, so it would be a problem if there were nowhere to park.

Parking was available in front of Handam Guksu, and at lunchtime the solo-drinking bar next door was not open, so parking was relatively easy 👍🏻

A convenient stop from Handam Beach

Located at Handam Beach in Aewol, Jeju, it is a nice place to come for a meal after swimming. Afterward, you can look around Aewol Café Street, so it was an Aewol favorite with lots of tourists stopping by.

It is also famous as a local favorite in Jeju, so there can be a wait at peak times. Catchtable waiting is available, though, and the tables turned over quickly, so we got in soon.

Can you see the sea from every seat?

🌊 As befits a Handam ocean-view restaurant, you can look out at the sea no matter where you sit.

The innermost tables were definitely closest to the sea and had the best view, while the sofa seats near the entrance were better than the middle seats for enjoying a wide ocean view as you ate. :)

* Pork noodles are a menu item that children can enjoy too, so there were especially many family groups—and plenty of high chairs to match.

Pork noodle menu and prices

Handam Guksu’s signature dish is, without question, Jeju pork noodles! The rich beef-bone broth is the charm of this dish, and at ₩10,000 it was great value. There were also mala pork noodles, lean-meat gukbap (rice soup), and dongchimi bibim noodles, so everyone could choose something for their taste.

💡 If you participate in a photo review, you can receive tangerine, prickly pear cactus, and green-tea crunch—Jeju specialties.

From mala pork noodles to dongchimi bibim noodles

Personally, I’m someone who gets a little tired of regular pork noodles after a while, so I ordered the mala version this time for a change—and it was an absolute gem!

At Handam Guksu, even the basic side-dish setup is self-service, so you can pick out the banchan (Korean side dishes) you want at the self-service bar.

And then you have a generous full table like this! Every dish was really plentiful for the price, so even big eaters should be very satisfied ☺️

Lean-meat gukbap when you want rice instead of noodles

Handam Guksu’s lean-meat gukbap is a great order when you are craving rice rather than noodles! As its name suggests, it is loaded with lean meat.

It uses the same beef-bone base as the pork noodles, so it was a dish children could enjoy too! It paired best with fresh kimchi, so if you prefer rice to noodles, I recommend trying the lean-meat gukbap.

Mala pork noodles if regular pork noodles feel too rich

If you have ever found pork noodles a little too rich as you eat, I strongly recommend the mala pork noodles!! The mala flavor was stronger than I expected.

As someone who loves mala, this unusual pork noodle dish was 100% my kind of thing.

The tingly mala and nutty peanut sauce went beautifully with the beef-bone pork noodles, and the plentiful thinly sliced meat topping made it a satisfying meal.

Dongchimi bibim noodles for hot days

When it is hot and a warm dish does not appeal, I recommend Handam Guksu’s dongchimi bibim noodles (mixed noodles with radish-water kimchi broth) ✨️

This comes with cool dongchimi broth. Although it is bibim noodles, the seasoning is more sweet than spicy, so I think it would be fine to share with children from elementary-school age onward 🤗

My overall verdict

Handam Guksu, a Handam Beach favorite where I could have a hearty meal for ₩10,000. It is a good place to visit when you are craving pork noodles during a Jeju trip, and its proximity to places worth visiting in western Jeju made it easy to add to an Aewol itinerary.