Noraba offers stunning octopus ramen, richly garnished with whole octopus, crab, abalone, and various seafood. Although the flavor is not spectacular, the prices are reasonable. The iron box bento is simple and standard.
Due to high popularity, a number ticket is required at the entrance to wait for seating, but the waiting time is still acceptable. Each person needs to place an order upon entering the restaurant.
[Foodholic Nako @ Jeju Island, South Korea]
"Noraba" is a restaurant often mentioned by Taiwanese bloggers and YouTubers when introducing Jeju Island's cuisine, primarily because their seafood ramen/octopus ramen is very eye-catching and reasonably priced.
"Noraba" is located in the northwest of Jeju Island, near Aewol Beach, at the top of a small slope. We parked outside a supermarket below and walked up; I'm not quite sure if there are other parking spaces above.
The restaurant takes a break from 2 to 3 PM. We arrived around 2:50 PM and noticed that there were nearly 10 groups of customers waiting at the entrance, which was quite astounding! Upon arrival, we went straight to the machine at the entrance to take a number. They would call the numbers in succession once they opened at 3 PM. We waited about 10 minutes to be seated, which wasn't too long at all!
Each person needs to order a dish to be seated, probably to avoid a group coming in and just ordering one bowl of ramen.
Octopus Ramen ₩15,000
This is the ramen you see in so many pictures online, and seeing it in person was quite impressive. It comes with an entire octopus, a whole crab, abalone, a bunch of mussels, clams, and vegetables, all for around 350 TWD? No wonder so many people come to eat!
You can choose the spice level; my husband chose medium spice, but for me, it was quite spicy and I can’t handle that much heat! The ramen itself is really spicy~
For the seafood, I tried the octopus and abalone, and both were really fresh, probably just recently dead... The meat was very chewy, and dipping it in a bit of spicy sauce was also nice.
The price is quite outrageous, but in terms of taste, I didn’t find it exceptional enough to warrant the long lines.
Iron Box Bento ₩6,500
Since I’m not a big fan of seafood, and my stomach wasn't very hungry, I ordered a simple iron box bento, which included white rice, kimchi, and side dishes like fried egg and luncheon meat. It was pretty standard—nothing special, but eatable.