Reservation, extra samgyeopsal & bibim naengmyeon: Nopo Dwaeji Aewol

A truly unplanned weekend. My boyfriend finished work and we headed out to Gwakji Beach for dinner and grilled pork. Nopo Dwaeji Aewol, a well-known Jeju restaurant — Jinwoo had actually been here before with his parents.

Heading from western Jeju through Hamdeok, Gwakji, and Aewol toward the airport, I always see Nopo Dwaeji along the way. I'd been craving samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) anyway, so since we were out for a drive, we decided to go all in. (Pork party mode: on.)

Nopo Dwaeji Aewol

Does a reservation actually save you from waiting?

No real plan, but I still made a Naver reservation, haha — I really do love being able to book ahead. We reserved 6pm, though the notice said there could still be a wait even with a reservation.

There's a large parking lot behind the building, so no worries about parking. And since it's right in front of Gwakji Beach, it's easy to eat, park, take a walk, and come back.

Inside, there's a Catch Table kiosk for waitlisting. We had a reservation and luckily there was no line yet, so we got seated right away.

No wait for us, but the place was already packed. A few minutes later and we'd have been waiting despite the reservation! Clearly a popular Jeju spot — looked like a lot of foreign visitors too.

The table was already set for two. We arrived right at 6pm — not a minute early or late.

Is one geun of geungogi enough for two?

Cue serious menu study. My real dilemma: would one geun (about 600g) of geungogi (butcher-cut pork) be too much?? (Total misjudgment.) Should we also get hangjeongsal or galmaegisal — ok fine, I just wanted those too. In the end, we said let's just try the geungogi first and ordered one, haha.

My boyfriend said he'd check out the self-bar, so I said I'd go instead — and came back with nothing but photos, haha. Besides the pre-set items, there were lettuce and perilla leaves for wraps, and I didn't even grab any. Only realized after we'd finished eating — I should've wrapped the meat! Regret hit late.

There's a separate pre-searing station beside the kitchen where a staff member was constantly working. Because the meat is pre-seared in advance, it arrives already partially cooked as soon as you order. By the time I got back from my self-bar excursion, our samgyeopsal-and-mokssal geungogi was waiting for me.

It's not quite fall weather yet, but the air conditioning was blasting inside. The charcoal that came out was so hot the area warmed up the moment it arrived — the fire was so strong they had to mist it down with a spray bottle before laying the meat on and grilling it for us.

The bibim naengmyeon at this pork restaurant is actually a hoe naengmyeon

Ahem... I really love ordering bibim naengmyeon (spicy mixed cold noodles) alongside grilled meat. Yep, ordered it again this time. And at this Jeju favorite, Nopo Dwaeji, the bibim naengmyeon turns out to be hoe naengmyeon style (with raw fish).

Noodle and stew dishes can be earned free through the Naver receipt review event, so it seemed like most tables ordered one.

I need the meat cooked fast so I can top the noodles with it — but right as I thought "I'll finish the whole bowl of noodles before this is done!", the meat was ready and got placed piece by piece along the edge of the grill, haha. Mokssal (pork neck) came first.

Mu-saengchae, wasabi, breadcrumb salt, and melated

"It's great with mu-saengchae (spicy radish salad) and wasabi on top" — one suggestion and I obeyed instantly, haha. The wasabi was fresh and really good.

The salt is apparently fried together with breadcrumbs — gives it a crunchy texture. Dipped a piece of samgyeopsal in and it was salty, savory perfection.

The melated (fermented anchovy sauce) comes pre-boiled once, so unlike other places you don't need to keep simmering it down at the table — they told us to just dip right in. Sure enough, Jeju black pork and melated are a perfect pair. Dipping it and eating with the bibim naengmyeon together was an incredible combination.

An extra order of samgyeopsal, then sunset at Gwakji Beach

We debated ordering a stew or just going full-on meat party — the samgyeopsal at Nopo Dwaeji Aewol was so good we decided to just keep eating meat. Ordered an extra round of samgyeopsal and the pork party was officially on. One geun of geungogi? Child's play for us.

Genuinely the best samgyeopsal I've had in a while. Honestly, Jinwoo could've kept eating... ^^ STOP... ^^ But yeah, it really was that good. Let's go back for samgyeopsal again. Next time, galmaegisal or hangjeongsal for sure.

After dinner, straight to Gwakji Beach right in front. The sunset view was absolutely insane.