Nohyeong-dong galbi restaurant in Jeju: beef tartare at Jeju Udae

Jeju Udae in Nohyeong-dong: 10 minutes by car from Jeju Airport

Jeju Udae is a straw-fire udae galbi specialty restaurant in Nohyeong-dong, about 10 minutes by car from Jeju Airport. This was actually our very first meal after landing on Jeju — I'd been curious about udae galbi that's genuinely smoked over straw fire! Spoiler: it was a very successful first meal ❤️

We got there a little before noon on a Saturday. We landed at Jeju Airport, grabbed our rental car, and came straight here for our first meal haha. It's only about 10 minutes from the airport by car, so the route worked out really well. I thought it might be quieter before official lunchtime, but there were already quite a few people eating, and more kept coming in the whole time we were there.

Walking in, the first impression is modern and sleek! It's decorated cleanly in black and wood tones, so it feels a bit more like a dining space with atmosphere than your typical Korean BBQ joint. The tables were spaced pretty generously too, which was nice — no cramped neighboring tables.

And here's a genuinely thoughtful touch — there's a separate spot to store coats or bags. Since this place is near Jeju Airport, a lot of people probably come straight here with their suitcases, so having somewhere to put big luggage is surprisingly convenient for travelers! Good for hanging up outer layers too if you're worried about them absorbing that grilled-meat smell.

What we ordered at Jeju Udae: udae galbi and hanwoo beef tartare

The menu at Jeju Udae ranges from straw-fire tomahawk to udae galbi to black pork samgyeopsal — there's so much to choose from!! We debated between tomahawk and udae galbi... and finally settled on udae galbi, adding hanwoo yukhoe (raw beef tartare) as a side order!

You order via the tablet at each table. Browse through the photos menu by menu~

Add what you want and order is done right there! Nice that you don't have to flag anyone down.

There's also a section where you can see the meat up close. They said they don't just use the raw meat as delivered — the restaurant cuts and prepares the prime-grade udae galbi in-house, which made me want to look even more closely lol.

There was a good selection of alcohol including wine 🍷 The atmosphere is decent enough that if you came in the evening, having a drink with your udae galbi would work well too.

Five sauces and the side dishes at Jeju Udae

Once you order, the table fills up with side dishes 👏 Radish salad, coleslaw, lemon cucumber pickle, green onion kimchi, onion pickle, and even tortillas arrive, plus five sauces total — Maldon salt, perilla leaf chimichurri, cheongyang chili pesto, garlic sauce, and ssamjang! It's set up so you're not just eating the same udae galbi the same way over and over, but mixing and matching combinations.

The crunchy radish salad is that familiar pairing to have alongside a bite of meat! The coleslaw works as a side on its own, but really shines a bit later wrapped up with the galbi in a tortilla lol. The refreshing lemon cucumber pickle — staff recommended putting it on the meat instead of the usual pickled radish — did a great job cleansing the palate between fatty bites. The green onion kimchi is great with rice too.

There was also warm beef radish soup as a default side. The broth was pretty rich, and one spoonful really warmed you up~~ good for sipping in between bites of meat too.

The fire show at the table is the straw-smoking of your galbi

At Jeju Udae, the meat is pre-seared in the open kitchen, then straw-smoked right next to it. While we were checking out the side dishes, flames suddenly shot up over there and I was like oh what, is there a fire show happening lol 🔥 — turned out they were pre-searing meat right in the open kitchen!! Being able to watch the process, I kept glancing over wondering if that was ours lol.

After the pre-sear, the meat goes straight to straw-fire smoking right next door! Turns out the 'straw-fire udae galbi' in the name isn't just a name — it's literally what happens 👍

Looking underneath, there's real straw fire blazing away 🔥 Unlike regular charcoal, smoking once more over straw fire is Udae's signature — it gives the meat a distinctive aroma. And you could really taste that smokiness when eating it.

Hanwoo yukhoe first while the udae galbi is grilling

The hanwoo yukhoe (raw beef tartare) came out first! The vivid red color looked totally fresh, and it was piled high with crispy toppings — great visuals too ❤️

The yukhoe itself is seasoned, but it's not the sweet-forward style where sugar dominates. Maybe because the meat quality was so fresh, you could really taste the soft, savory flavor.

Mix in the crispy toppings on top and you're ready to eat! The crunch mixed into the soft yukhoe added a fun texture contrast compared to eating yukhoe plain.

Grab a big bite and dip it into the special sauce too! Adding the sauce brought even more umami — delicious again. The yukhoe was so good even before the main dish arrived that adding it on turned out to be a great call — we ate it very happily.

Straw-fire seasoned udae galbi arrives on the bone

Finally, today's star — the straw-fire seasoned udae galbi 🥩 It comes out with the meat still attached whole to a huge bone, and the visual presence alone is something else lol. It arrives already pre-seared and straw-smoked as we saw earlier, and staff grill it tableside from start to finish.

Before laying the meat down, they coat the grill plate with a bit of fat first~ then use scissors to separate the udae galbi from the big bone. Side note — this bone meat makes a comeback later lol.

Onto the thick grill plate goes the thick-cut udae galbi! Since it's already pre-seared, they finish it tableside to just the right doneness — we didn't have to touch anything ourselves, staff kept watching the meat and grilling it for us. They also explained everything super kindly along the way, from grilling to how to eat it, so we just relaxed and waited to eat 🤭

Once it's cooked enough, snip snip into bite-sized pieces ✂️

The meat is pretty thick, and you could see juicy moisture right from the cut edge. Once cut into bite-size pieces, a bit more grilling and it's basically done!

Ahh... looks like it's ready 🥩 The seasoning wasn't overly sweet or salty — more moderately savory with a nice umami balance!!

And of course, the most memorable thing was that straw-fire smokiness! You could really taste it once it hit your mouth — a totally different charm from regular seasoned galbi.

Once cooked through, they arrange the meat neatly on one side of the grill. It was soft but still had a good chew, texture-wise. My husband and I both agreed the straw-fire seasoned udae galbi ended up being the top dish of the day lol.

Tasting udae galbi with each of the five sauces

Staff suggested trying the very first bite with just a light dip in Maldon salt. Tasting it with just salt before adding any sauces let us taste the meat's own umami and straw-fire aroma first.

Next bite was the perilla leaf chimichurri 💚 The fragrant perilla aroma added a fresher edge to the salty udae galbi. My personal favorite, though, was the cheongyang chili pesto! I expected it to be really spicy given the cheongyang chili name, but it wasn't as hot as I thought — used sparingly on top of the meat like wasabi, it was just right.

Dipped into the garlic sauce too! The rich, savory garlic flavor was added and paired safely with the meat. And ssamjang — need I say more lol. After a bunch of new sauces, going back to familiar ssamjang for a bite hits differently and it's still just as good.

Putting lemon cucumber pickle on the meat instead of pickled radish added crunch and freshness that cut through the fattiness of the meat nicely! Good to alternate with while continuing on the udae galbi.

From here on, just mixing whatever I wanted lol. Put perilla chimichurri and cheongyang chili pesto together with grilled mushroom, all in one bite! Then another with crunchy radish salad and mushroom~ With so many side dishes and sauces, mixing up the combination for each bite of udae galbi was genuinely fun lol.

And then mayo sauce suddenly shows up! It's not just for dipping though — this one's prep for the tortilla combo lol.

Coleslaw and udae galbi wrapped in a tortilla, one bite 🌯 This is one of the ways the restaurant recommends eating it, and it's a completely different vibe from eating the meat alone. Soft tortilla, crunchy coleslaw, salty udae galbi all together at once — a fun way to switch things up midway through haha.

Kkakdugi fried rice made with the meat left on the bone

And after all that meat, you gotta finish with fried rice lol. Doubanjiang kkakdugi fried rice arrives! Doubanjiang is a Chinese-style paste fermented from beans and chili, and just from the name I wondered if it'd have a strong aroma or heat. Turns out the doubanjiang flavor wasn't overpowering or spicy at all!!! It was just a salty, savory kkakdugi (radish kimchi) fried rice, more familiar-tasting than I expected.

The meat we'd separated from the bone earlier makes a welcome reappearance right here lol. FYI, if you don't order the fried rice, they'll grill this bone meat for you tableside instead.

The rice grains weren't mushy, more fluffy and separate, so it went down easily right to the last bite. Took one big spoonful and suddenly it was gone!

Was Jeju Udae a good first meal in Jeju?

We ate really well as our very first meal on Jeju 🤤 Especially the udae galbi, genuinely smoked over straw fire with proper smokiness — that was the top pick of the day for both my husband and me 🥩🔥 It was also great that staff grilled it for us from start to finish, so we could just relax and eat. If you're looking for a proper udae galbi meal near Jeju Airport, I'd fully recommend this place :)

Jeju Udae Nohyeong main branch: hours, parking and address

• Address: 39 Noyeon-ro, 1st floor, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 12:00–23:00 (last order 22:00)
• Parking: Parking available in front of the restaurant; ask staff about nearby paid parking support