Chilsimni Meatball in Seogwipo: A Rare Specialty Shop
I've been using Frip Camp inside the Heyy Seogwipo Hotel as a temporary office, so I've been grabbing meals nearby. Today, I had to eat in a hurry before a meeting, so I popped into a nearby place. It turned out to be surprisingly good and quite unique.
Usually, Western restaurants are categorized by regions like Italian or French, but this place uniquely focuses on meatballs as its main dish. They have an Instagram account with the handle "NICEMEATYOU." Curious about how confident they were in their meatballs, I decided to check it out. (Chilsimni is the name of this neighborhood in Seogwipo.)
Since the menu item shared the restaurant's name, I figured it was their signature dish and ordered the Chilsimni Meatball (Gogi-wanja). Seeing it written in English as "Swedish Meatballs" made the Nordic-style interior make a bit more sense. The price is on the higher side. However, considering they make the meatballs from scratch (I'm guessing, since they say they use Jeju black pork) and it's not a common dish, the price is understandable. I've seen franchise tonkatsu (pork cutlet) in Seoul go for anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 KRW, so I think it's roughly in that ballpark.
The owner is running around doing everything alone—cooking, washing dishes, taking orders, and serving. Because of this, the food takes a little while to come out, but time passes quickly while looking out at the open view and watching the cars go by. (To be honest, I only looked at the view for a moment and then played Pokémon GO.)
I finally came face-to-face with the Chilsimni Meatball. It was plated much more neatly and beautifully than I had expected. The color of the plate and the food harmonized so well that it put me in a good mood before I even took a bite. Out of all the meals I've had recently, this one had the best color coordination between the interior, the plate, and the food.
The meatballs had a soft, moist texture, and the taste is something I'd want to recommend to people around me. It would be even better if they sold wine instead of beer, but I imagine handling wine glasses on top of running the place alone would be quite exhausting. I caught a very brief fishy taste in exactly one meatball, but other than spitting out just that tiny bit, it was perfect. It doesn't even compare to Ottogi 3-minute instant meatballs. I'm sure some people would ask why anyone would spend that much money on meatballs, but in terms of texture and taste, it's definitely better than eating a serving of samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly). I just rushed in because I was in a hurry, but I really lucked out.
The most important thing to know when visiting this place is their business hours. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays, and only open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. On top of that, the last order is at 2:00 PM. Perhaps because of COVID, they gave up on dinner service. People from Seoul might think, "Do they not want to make money?" but if you actually travel around Jeju, you'll find many places that only open for a very short time. Almost all of them have break times, too. Even bunsikjip (snack bars) have break times. I've already had several instances in Seogwipo where I walked into a restaurant to eat and had to walk right back out. Given all this, I'm just grateful they open their doors at all.
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Sure enough, I had another urgent meeting today, so I came back for a quick bite. This time, I ordered my favorite: tomato spaghetti. The menu name is Meat Sauce Spaghetti.
The noodles seemed slightly more cooked than al dente, but since I can't even cook this well, I just ate it happily without a word. The meatballs were delicious, needless to say, and the spaghetti sauce was my absolute favorite, with a really great balance of tomato and meat. The bread was unique; usually, places give you a pretty stiff baguette, but this place serves a very soft one. I'm only calling it a baguette because I don't know any better, but I don't think it actually is one.
Once again today, I cleaned my plate so well there was nothing left to wash.
