Dog-friendly Korean restaurant with citrus farm photo spot: Jungmun

Jungmun Godeungeo Ssam-bap — the mackerel table you have to try when you come to Jeju

A mackerel table in Seogwipo Jungmun: Jungmun Godeungeo Ssam-bap

One dish you can't skip on a Jeju trip is mackerel. On this trip I went to Jungmun Godeungeo Ssam-bap over in Seogwipo's Jungmun area. From braised mackerel to grilled mackerel to abalone hot-pot rice, the menu covers a lot of the Jeju classics, so it looked like a great spot for a family visit.

Jungmun Godeungeo Ssam-bap, Jeju branch 📍1240 Iljuseo-ro, 1st floor, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea ⏰09:30-20:00 🚘Parking available 🐶Dog-friendly

The flower entrance and the citrus farm right outside

Right from the entrance, the place was beautifully done up in pink flowers!! The parking lot is huge too.

It looked like the flowers would get even prettier a bit later in the season! The garden is well kept, so you can look around or take a stroll.

There's a citrus farm right in front too haha. Photos here come out really well — grab your life shot.

Inside and the group tables

The inside is genuinely spacious. You can reserve or just walk in! There were tons of seats, starting with the group tables.

What's on the self-serve bar

There's a separate self-serve bar here! It's got vegetables, wraps, all the side dishes covered.

Japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), pork bulgogi, abalone porridge and doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) are all unlimited refills haha. The abalone porridge here is genuinely delicious!

There's even sikhye (sweet rice punch) for dessert ⭐️

The basic side dishes

Kkakdugi (radish kimchi), abalone gourd, vegetables, sundubu, japchae, gim (seaweed), sweet pumpkin, wraps and more — the banchan (side dishes) come out generous too.

They especially give you abalone porridge and pork bulgogi — the porridge is packed with abalone and rich and delicious, and the pork bulgogi is spicy-sweet, an absolute match with rice...!

Old kimchi mackerel ssam-bap + abalone hot-pot rice for four

We ordered old kimchi mackerel ssam-bap plus abalone hot-pot rice for four people. It's ₩18,000 per person.

It comes out in a genuinely huge stone pot of braised mackerel, with a plump mackerel and a whole chunk of kimchi sitting right in it.

First up, the old kimchi mackerel ssam-bap was mouthwatering just from the look of it. The mackerel comes loaded with well-fermented old kimchi (aged napa cabbage kimchi), and the tangy, deep flavor of the old kimchi paired really well with the mackerel's clean, savory taste.

The mackerel flesh was soft and moist, so wrapping it with the old kimchi in a ssam (lettuce wrap) made a bowl of rice disappear in no time! The seasoning wasn't too intense either, and the umami that naturally came from the old kimchi kept me reaching for more.

Abalone hot-pot rice and the crispy scorched rice

And then the abalone hot-pot rice I'd been looking forward to 🐚🍚 The moment I opened the stone pot, the savory rice smell and the flavor of abalone hit me and really got my appetite going.

The chewy abalone paired well with the fluffy stone-pot rice, and thanks to the mild savory flavor soaked into the rice itself, it was tasty even eaten plain. At the end, scraping up every bit of the crispy scorched rice (nurungji) stuck to the pot made for a properly filling finish!

The deep flavor of old kimchi, plus the savoriness of mackerel, plus the clean richness of abalone hot-pot rice — a great combo if you want a properly filling meal in Jeju.

If you're on a Jeju trip and craving something filling with rice rather than something spicy or intense, this Jeju-style meal is one I'd recommend 🤍