Whole pork belly grilled tableside with Maldon salt: Donsahyang Olle

If you've come to Jeju, you've got to eat black pork at least once!

That day we decided to explore Seogwipo's Olle Market and grab dinner nearby. After finishing our walk through the market, we headed to a well-known Seogwipo restaurant, Donsahyang Olle Market Main Branch!

It's right next to the market, so if you're looking for black pork near Jeju Olle Market, it's a great stop to combine with market browsing.

• 📍 Donsahyang Olle Market Main Branch
• 20 Cheonji-ro, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
• Hours 17:30 – 23:00
• Closed the second Tuesday of every month

Jeju Olle Market first, then Donsahyang!

We parked in the Olle Market public lot and browsed the market first. After checking out Jeju snacks and doing some shopping, we headed to Donsahyang for black pork!

Parking can be a bit of a hassle when traveling in Jeju, so if you're planning to explore Olle Market too, parking at the public lot and doing both together is a good move.

Retro vibes inside

The moment we stepped into Donsahyang, the unique atmosphere caught my eye! It felt totally different from the sleek new BBQ places popping up these days — retro vibes everywhere. Kind of a perfect spot for a drink and grilled meat on a Jeju evening.

What really caught my attention was all the wine bottles around the restaurant. Wine instead of soju or beer at a BBQ place — a little unusual, right? They sell wine and also offer corkage service, so it seems like a good fit for anyone who wants to pair black pork with wine.

Baby chairs were also available, so families with kids can eat comfortably too.

The menu

Looking at the menu, Donsahyang's signature dish is Manong-deuppeok Jeju Doldol Manongsal. 'Manong' means garlic in Jeju dialect, and it's their flagship dish that pairs pork with Jeju Daejeong garlic.

I was curious about it too... but hey, we're in Jeju! When in Jeju, you eat black pork! So without hesitation, we ordered the Jeju black pork belly.

A generous spread of side dishes from a solid Seogwipo restaurant

Once we ordered the meat, the side dishes started arriving one by one: seasoned marinated crab, scallion salad, steamed egg, wasabi, seasoned gochujang, barley doenjang, perilla leaf pickles, and radish salad! I loved having so many options to pair with the meat.

The soft steamed egg was great to spoon up while waiting for the meat, and the tangy-spicy scallion salad did a great job cutting through the richness of the black pork. Vegetables and extra side dishes could be grabbed from the self-serve bar, which was convenient.

But then, browsing the self-serve bar, I spotted something exciting!

Maldon salt. Personally, I like eating really good meat with just a light dip in salt rather than a ton of toppings, so having Maldon salt on hand was perfect for enjoying the black pork's natural flavor.

Cold draft beer with Jeju black pork!

It was hot out and we came for black pork, so cold draft beer was a must. First round — cold draft beer! Beer to wrap up a day of traveling... perfect.

And finally, the whole Jeju black pork belly arrived! Along with the thick belly cuts came mushrooms, shishito peppers, and sundae (Korean blood sausage).

Just looking at the meat — wow, this looks like quality pork! Thick, vividly colored, with a great ratio of fat to lean meat, super appetizing.

Grilled tableside, which made things so much easier

What I loved most was that the staff grilled the meat for us! Thick-cut black pork can easily end up burnt outside or undercooked inside if you're not careful, but they grilled it perfectly, so all we had to do was eat.

Watching the black pork belly turn golden brown on the grill, the smell alone was too much to resist. Taking a bite of a perfectly cooked piece — yep, this is Jeju black pork!

The skin part of the belly in particular was wonderfully chewy, great texture. The lean parts were juicy, the fat was savory, and one bite led straight to the next! Thick cuts also gave a real satisfying chew.

Recommended combos for enjoying black pork

With so many side dishes, it was fun to mix up the combos with each bite of meat. Piling on scallion salad made the meat taste cleaner thanks to the tangy-spicy kick,

and perilla leaf pickle + wasabi + black pork was great too! I also tried dipping it in melजeot (fermented anchovy sauce), a classic pairing for Jeju black pork, and yep, it worked well.

Still, my personal favorite was Maldon salt + black pork! Just a light dip in Maldon salt seemed to bring out the meat's savoriness and juiciness even more. I think the better the meat, the tastier it is with just a light touch of salt.

Cheonsa cheese kimchi fried rice

The black pork was delicious, but you can't stop there. If you're heading to Donsahyang, this is the dish I really want to recommend — the Cheonsa (angel) cheese kimchi fried rice, sent down from heaven itself. White cheese is piled onto the kimchi fried rice like snow, and it's a stunner just to look at.

It's kimchi fried rice topped with egg, dried seaweed flakes, and cheese — how could that not be delicious? And the cheese isn't just a light sprinkle either — it's piled on so generously that every spoonful comes up with cheese stretching along with it.

The portion was also much bigger than expected. Personally, if you're eating black pork at Donsahyang, I'd say the Cheonsa cheese kimchi fried rice is a must for the finish! I enjoyed this so much it stuck with me just as much as the black pork.

A tidy finish with dessert yogurt

After filling up on black pork and kimchi fried rice, we finished things off with a little yogurt for dessert! It brought back memories of getting a yogurt drink after meals at BBQ places as a kid, and it matched Donsahyang's retro vibe perfectly, haha.

From browsing Olle Market to Jeju black pork, cold draft beer, and cheese kimchi fried rice — a proper evening well spent!