Gongcheonpo Sikdang: Mulhoe on Jeju Olle Trail 5
When walking Route 5 of the Jeju Olle Trail, there aren't many good places to eat. You usually have to go all the way to Wimi Port to find food, making lunch a bit tricky. Gongcheonpo Sikdang is almost the only option to grab lunch around here. But for an "only option," it's actually quite good. The prices are a bit high, but when you see the quality of the ingredients, it feels like a bargain. You can't always order everything on the menu, as some dishes are strictly seasonal.
I ordered the abalone mulhoe (cold raw fish soup). I figured fresh seafood would taste better than frozen, so I went with the abalone. Hanchi (swordtip squid) mulhoe is a seasonal dish, so the fresh version was off the menu.
When you eat grilled abalone at a good restaurant, it's usually soft and tender, but eating it raw gives it a surprisingly crunchy texture. There are cucumbers, radishes, and water dropwort layered at the bottom, so it's best to give it a good stir before digging in. People from Seoul, like me, will find the broth very unfamiliar. Everywhere in Jeju, they flavor this dish with doenjang (soybean paste) instead of gochujang (red chili paste). The doenjang isn't strong like it is in Seoul; it's mild to the point of almost tasting plain. Because of that, it has a refreshing, savory flavor rather than a spicy one, making it incredibly easy to gulp down. Still, I had to eat my rice with the broth, so I couldn't just pick up the bowl and drink it.
I ate the crunchy abalone in the refreshing doenjang-based broth alongside warm rice, making up for any lacking saltiness with the fish cake and anchovy side dishes. I should have asked them to leave out the cucumber beforehand, but I forgot, so I was left with a bowl full of the cucumbers I hate. Even so, I left feeling full and pleasantly drowsy. I haven't even had any alcohol recently, but it somehow felt like a great hangover cure.
I visited often after that, but because I went with someone who couldn't eat mulhoe, I tried the grilled mackerel for the first time. It's your standard grilled mackerel. It would make a great side dish to share alongside the mulhoe. The table next to us was eating braised cutlassfish, which looked like a real delicacy, so I'll have to try that next time.
