Hotel Shilla's Jeju food program triples sales for local gukbap restaurant

"Sales have tripled compared to before we received support from Hotel Shilla. We've gotten so busy that even our daughter and son-in-law have come in to help," said Kim Jeom-suk, owner of Yongdam Saeng-guksu.

Kim Jeom-suk and her husband Kim Taek-il reopened Yongdam Saeng-guksu in December 2023, after running the restaurant on Jeju Island for more than 30 years. With Hotel Shilla's help, they upgraded the recipe for their signature dish — gukbap, a Korean bone broth soup — and relaunched it. Word of mouth about the revamped Jeju-style gukbap spread quickly, drawing a surge of customers.

Kim spoke warmly of Hotel Shilla's role when met Monday in Jeju. Yongdam Saeng-guksu is the 26th restaurant in Hotel Shilla's community partnership program, "Delicious Jeju."

Park Young-jun, the Jeju Shilla Hotel chef who oversees the "Delicious Jeju" project, said the team upgraded the existing gukbap broth recipe and used it as a foundation to develop a new pork gukbap dish. "After sharing so many ups and downs with the restaurant owners over the years, we've become one family, one team," Park said.

The gukbap broth is made by slow-cooking Jeju-raised beef bones and pork bones, while the pork gukbap uses premium cuts of Jeju pork to enhance both flavor and texture.

Hotel Shilla's "Delicious Jeju" project works in partnership with the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and local broadcaster JIBS to strengthen the island's food culture and support small-business owners.

A selection committee run by the Jeju provincial government reviews and designates participating restaurants. Hotel Shilla then dispatches a task force of culinary, facility and service specialists to help each restaurant overhaul everything from recipes and customer service to kitchen equipment.

The program launched in February 2014 with its first stop, Sinseong Halmang Restaurant, and is now preparing to reopen its 29th location this year. "Delicious Jeju" has earned recognition not only for helping struggling small-business owners get back on their feet, but also as a model for a virtuous cycle of community contribution.

Hotel Shilla continues to visit participating restaurants after their reopenings, exchanging feedback on business conditions, customer responses and ingredient storage. To mark the program's third, fifth and tenth anniversaries, Hotel Shilla has invited restaurant owners to events at Shilla Hotel Seoul and Jeju Shilla Hotel, keeping the relationships going over the long term.

Restaurant owners in the "Delicious Jeju" network have also formed their own volunteer group and taken part in community service. The owner of Yongdam Saeng-guksu, for instance, provides free monthly meals to elderly residents living alone, earning praise from the local community for her active role in giving back.