5 Must-try Food in Jeju
12:23 PM
How could I wrap up on my trip Jeju without mentioning the food?
While my list is not even close to being comprehensive, I’ve listed 5 items which I felt was the must-try food when travelling Jeju, ranging from meat, seafood and desserts. If you do go there, do try it out yourselves. It will definitely get you drooling as it did to me.
1. Jeju Black Pork BBQ
Korea is famous for BBQ especially for Pork Belly. However, Jeju Island offers something even better – Black Pork BBQ.
Let me be honest, I am not a big fan of pork as pork generally have a porky taste that I dislike. But the black pork in Jeju brought my understanding and knowledge of pork to a whole new level.
Under the recommendation of my host, we went to this restaurant, 늘봄흑돼지 (Neul Bom), located at 늘봄흑돼지 한라대학로 12, 제주시, 제주특별자치도, KR (2343-3 Nohyeong-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea); telephone: 774 9001. For more information, here’s the website.
Upon sitting down in our seats, the servers started putting down a vast amount of side dishes on our tables, filling the entire table, except for the grill. My favourite was the spicy cold crabs. I think it was raw too, my favourite.
And here’s the main course: the Jeju black pork at all it’s stages (raw, cooking, cooked, and ready to be consumed). I can only imagine how good it taste right now.
It was delicious, I would go back just for it. (Says the person who doesn’t like eating pork).
2. Fresh Raw Seafood
From my last two posts, I’ve vaguely introduce you to the Haenyeos (해녀, 海女, female divers). Haenyeos are female divers who goes into the sea without any breathing equipment to catch seafood like clams, octopus, spoon worms, seaweed, etc. They are able to dive up to 20m below sea leavel for anywhere between 30 secs to 2 minutes each time. The ages of Haenyeos ranges from as young as 18 to 80. Currently, there are around 20,000 Haenyeos and mainly concentrated in Jeju. However, it is expected that Haenyeos will be disappear in 20 years as the younger generation are less likely to pick up these skills due to the harsh conditions of this occupation.
Mentioned in my previous post, this was a nice find near the Jeongbang Waterfalls. Yes, the lady cutting up the seafood is a Haenyeo!
Here's a sneak peak of how she prepared our delicious dish of fresh seafood!
I want some right now – craving for fresh seafood (Octopus, sea cucumber, sea snail, abalone, conch, etc.). If only…
3. Mackerel and Horse Mackerel
Under the recommendation of the host where I was staying in Jeju, she recommended us this restaurant, 덤장 (Deomjang) that was famous for raw and grilled Mackerel, among many other seafood. So I decided to try it out, as my love for mackerel is. I was not disappointed.
There’s two locations in Jeju, but the one I went to is at Seogwipo-si. The exact address is 덤장 예래동 2119, 서귀포시, 제주특별자치도, KR (2119 Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea); telephone: 738 2550. For more information, click here.
As soon as we sat down, the servers again piled up our table with many many Korean appetizers. My favourite was the kimchi cucumbers and the soya sauce marinated raw crabs. Why can’t the serve this in all Korean restaurants here?
Next up is the mix of mackerel sashimi. There is the original and the horse mackerel. This was my first time eating horse mackerel, it’s fish (not horse), but the texture is a more tough and has a more fishy taste. The colour of the horse mackerel is also darker compared to the normal mackerel.
Obviously, raw fish isn’t enough to feed my hungry tummy. I also ordered other foods to enjoy on a hot day. From the top left to the bottom right: (1) spicy seafood stew, (2) cuttlefish cold buckwheat noodles, (3) grilled mackerel, and (4) sea urchin seaweed soup.
4. Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon
Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon is one of the must goes if you are in Jeju Island. Here, you will enjoy the infamous sea urchin noodles, abalone congee and sashimi noodles. This restaurant is really popular in Jeju Island, so my suggestion is to go during off-hours (I went here when it as around 2PM. It was considered off-hours, but there were still a lot of people.)
The location of this restaurant is: 1506 Dongbok-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju, Jeju-do, South Korea; telephone: 783 5438
And now a sneak peak of all the delicious foods this restaurant has to offer!
First, Abalone Porridge (jeonbok-ju), 10,000 won per bowl. As with every meal in Korea, the servers will bring sever side dishes, and in particular with this one, you can refill what you like by yourself!
Next is the sea urchin noodles (seongge-guksu), 8,000 won per powl. while the sea urchin is fresh, it is cooked. So the texture might be a little different from the raw ones you eat in Japan.
Finally, my favourite dish was the sashimi noodles (hwoe-guksu), which is supposed to be a single serving, but it was a large serving. The dish has a combination of sashimi tossed with cold noodles with a mixture of a sweet and spicy Korean sauce. It was very refreshing and delicious.
Aside from the food, the restaurant also has a really nice view of the Pacific Ocean. Definitely worth the trip if you ask me!
5. Osulloc Green Tea Desserts
Built by AmorePacific, Osulloc Tea Museum is more than a museum. If you are familiar with Korean cosmetics like Innisfree or Laneige, this place is a must.
Inside this place, there is a shop that features a various different products made in Jeju Island. There is also a cafe, which serves various kinds of delicious drinks and desserts. Displayed below is matcha ice cream in matcha latte, matcha latte with red bean and genmaicha ice cream.
And if you want you could also walk outside onto the tea farm between the rows and rows of bushes.
Jeju, I will come back for more. I promise. The vast amount of delicious food on this island is worth the trip even if it’s on the other side of the world.
GPS Coordinates to amazing restaurants in Jeju Island
Below are the telephone numbers of the restaurants I’ve visited in Jeju Island:
- 늘봄흑돼지 (Neul Bom): 774 9001
- Fresh seafood by Jeongbang Waterfall (Jeongbang Waterfall): 733 1530
- 덤장 (Deomjang): 738 2550
- Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon: 783 5438
- Osulloc Tea Museum: 794 5312
Hope you enjoy reading about my posts in Jeju! Thanks for reading!
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