Yeondon — Restaurant in Seogwipo-si

These Korean reviewers are so critical for no reason ... Koreans are so negative in general and how can you have such high standards for a 12k won donkatsu?

For those complaining about waiting in line, what do you expect when you come to a store that was hyped by a Korean TV show and by Baek Jong-Won himself?

Now for the review: Arrived at 9:30am on a Thursday and there was a line even in the rain. Kiosk opens at 10am and we got to the kiosk around 10:07am and we were the 55th party. There's a sign that advised 41-80 to return around 1-2pm. (Store opened at 12pm). We returned by 1pm after exploring the area and entered around 1:30pm. The cheese katsu was sold out at around the 50th party. According to staff, they make 80 cheese katsu every day and they do not limit how many each party can order (this was the response given to us on 5/1/2025). We had the sirloin pork and tenderloin pork. I personally liked the sirloin pork. Curry was good standard curry. It wasn't a special tasing curry. The cheese balls (which was still available and different than the cheese katsu) was a good way to try their cheese but the cheese ball themselves were not my favorite. This is a "good" donkatsu place that offers soft meat and a noticeably crispy coating. It was GOOD! Was it mindblowingly amazing? No! But I don't expect donkatsu to be mindblowingly amazing. Coming from Japan and comparing it to Imakatsu's Chicken Katsu, they are both good but with different vibes. Coming from California and comparing it to Hako, Yoko, Joon Katsu -- Yeondon is absolutely better than these basic katsu places. Come to experience a GOOD donkatsu place that is hyped by Korean TV. Don't come to receive a Michelin experience. For those complaining about how you have to go pick up your own food and comparing it to a food court, thank God for their system because it would've taken MUCH longer for us to be seated and eat if it wasn't for their system. And other restaurants in Jeju also have similar service and many are much worse.

Major tip: if you don't care for the cheese katsu, you can come back later in the day (around 3-4pm) and try their sirloin and tenderloin with a much shorter wait.

If you don't want to wait to eat, or if you want to be served and pampered, or if you want to be mindblown by donkatsu, go somewhere else.

Parking: Looks like you have to pay for parking but it was free for April/May when we were here. The parking lot gets full really fast, however, there seems to be a good rotation so we were able to get a parking spot...

The restaurant is known for its long waiting times. My parents-in-law really wanted to show me the restaurant and had to make a reservation at 7 a.m. in order to get a table at 12 noon. In that time, they could have hunted a wild boar on Hallasan Mountain and made schnitzel themselves. In addition, the reservation is automatically cancelled if you are more than 5 minutes late, which can cause some people to rush if there is a traffic jam, for example.

Binding reservations should therefore be made online. To prevent abuse: link the reservation to the identity of the person making the reservation and charge a small amount for the meal in advance - in the event of default, the amount will not be refunded.

The food is delicious. But it's nothing special. In particular, the cheese-filled schnitzel can only be ordered once per table. This restriction is difficult to understand, as the dish arrived lukewarm and the cheese was already slightly tough, which can only mean that it was not freshly prepared. But then the restaurant can increase the number of portions, which it apparently prepares in advance, to meet demand.

The restaurant's décor is simple, orders are placed directly via a monitor at the table and must be collected by the customer.

All in all, the long wait is not worth it. You can eat whenever you like, but you don't have to, as you won't miss anything. Instead, use the time to explore this...

Had my cousin help but when I went the location was different, behind the Daiso nearby. You have to get there maybe two or more hours earlier to line up. We queue number 22 and took about 45 minutes before our turn. Food is self order at table, self pickup, and self return. In exchange price definitely seemed good. As for the food, first I would say skip the curry. It's definitely different but not necessarily better. Side Salad and dressing that comes with orders also looks and taste a little nonstandard but a familiar taste. The pork cutlet is the main attraction and it's good. I was pleasantly surprised at how not greasy the meat or the outer layer was. It has a great crunch and the meat doesn't seem like pork. Definitely need to sauce for the additional flavor though. The cheese cutlet were in my opinion a little meh. Maybe it also needs the sauce. It's also 1 order per group apparently. Definitely an experience and the food was good but maybe not necessarily so good to line up again. I didn't try another cutlets while here so don't have a comparison to evaluate. Maybe someday in the future I'll...