Jeju set meal for two with a ₩4,000 hairtail swap: Jongdal Sudatteul

Not far from Seongsan Ilchulbong and Seopjikoji, I visited Jongdal Sudatteul, a home-style restaurant in Jongdal-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju City!

• Hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–21:00
• Parking: There's a big lot right next to the restaurant, so you can go without worrying about parking!
• Reservation: Available via Naver (10% discount event running now!)

What is Jongdal Sudatteul? The name and the parking lot

Jongdal Sudatteul is apparently a brand formed by small farming households in the Jongdal-ri area who cook with locally grown produce. When I first saw the sign that said "Jongdal Sudatteul," I thought the name was a bit unusual — but it turns out there's a story behind it!

If you set your navigation to Jongdal Sudatteul, you'll find a big parking lot right next door — just park there! The garden is nicely maintained too.

Inside Jongdal Sudatteul: is it comfortable for families?

Jongdal Sudatteul has clearly separated men's and women's restrooms, plus disposable aprons and baby chairs! There weren't many customers at first, but it filled up completely while we were eating!

A group of Chinese tour guests came in and filled up the inside — I thought a staff member spoke Chinese, but it turned out the staff themselves seemed to be Chinese! There were two of them, both kind, and communication was never an issue! As a Jeju home-style restaurant, a lot of families come here! It's a great place to bring your parents!

It was nice that you could grab extra side dishes freely from the self-serve corner! We already had so many side dishes on the table that we didn't bother getting more! If you love soy-marinated crab, isn't unlimited crab basically a dream?

Jeju set meal for two: the braised hairtail swap costs ₩4,000 per person

What we ordered at Jongdal Sudatteul was the Jeju set meal for two. The default is braised mackerel, but it seemed hard to pick apart, so since we were in Jeju anyway, we switched to braised hairtail! Just note it's an extra ₩4,000 per person!

It comes as a varied 13-dish spread: grilled hairtail, dombe pork, marinated abalone, soy crab, leafy greens, and braised mackerel (or hairtail) among others!

How the 13-dish set for two tastes: the radish in the braised hairtail steals the show

The visual of the 13-dish spread for two! I feel like I took some decent photos haha. The moment the table arrived, my eyes went straight to the number of side dishes. Several seasoned vegetable dishes came out, and each one wasn't over-seasoned — you could taste the ingredients themselves.

For the mains, braised hairtail, grilled hairtail, and dombe pork filled the table — being able to taste all three at once felt like the biggest perk of the set for two. Overall nothing was too intense, everything just worked together well. I'd recommend this to anyone who's been eating nothing but spicy food or black pork the whole time in Jeju!

The radish in the braised hairtail is seriously the kicker... you all know that feeling, right? It soaks up the sauce so well, goes soft and melty, and when you break it apart with a spoon and pile it on rice, the rice just disappears. Honestly it hit harder than the hairtail itself haha. They really know how to season!

The braised hairtail had thick flesh and the sauce soaked in without being overpowering, so it wasn't salty — the kind of dish that makes you polish off a whole bowl of rice! The grilled hairtail, in contrast, came out plainly grilled, so eating it alongside the braised version kept things balanced and you kept reaching for more! That said, they might use coarse salt, because a few bites felt a touch too salty!

And the dombe pork was more tender than expected with zero gamey smell, so it went really well with rice! It was enough to make us stuffed between the two of us, so don't worry about the portion size!

Both the braised and grilled hairtail were roughly half packed with roe! We got to eat plenty of roe too haha. A total hairtail massacre scene.

The carrot juice tastes like pure pressed carrot

Before going, I scored a carrot juice through a Naver receipt review event!! They seem to grow the carrots themselves on their own carrot farm. Wow, they juice it fresh on the spot, and it's genuinely just pure blended carrot — no water, no sugar, nothing added, just carrot itself, seriously ha...

Usually cafés mix carrot with apple, kale, and so on, plus sugar, which is why it tastes better, right? If you want to taste what real, pure carrot juice tastes like, I highly recommend this!

Honest verdict on Jongdal Sudatteul

• Delicious and the portions were generous!
• The staff were kind!
• They have a large parking lot!
• It felt like the food was made with trustworthy ingredients!
• The soybean paste stew was a little on the salty side!