I was satisfied with our first cuppa in the morning at Youdong Coffee. Nevertheless, the rest of the party were in the mood for something savoury next. Time check, 10+am, so we're still at the brunch hour! Went to a restaurant nearby the previous night's dinner place (CheonJitGol) and discovered that the name of the shop is called Seogwipo Chinatown.
shop front
interior
The restaurant was empty when we reached since it was not quite lunch time yet. While we were there, only one other table was occupied later on.
Staff was not in the mood for conversations, so we kept our interaction minimal. She took our orders of cold noodles, jjangmyeon and a side of tangsuyuk.
kimchi
tangsuyuk 탕수육 @₩18000
I think the version of tangsuyuk here was quite good. It is the non-glutinous flour batter kind of version so one gets a nice clean taste of the batter and meat without the extra chewiness. Meat was lean but not dried out. So nice as a savoury snack. The sauce was not too overpowering and not too sweet.
yummy deep fried pork
The noodles as expected, came in hearty portions.
cold noodles
jjampong 자장면 @₩6000
The meal at this place was rather inexpensive and I think 2 pax could share a bowl of noodles with a side of tangsuyuk.
Too bad they don't have menbosha (멘보샤) in their menu. And no, this wasn't our lunch place. It was just a pre-sightseeing snack.
Seogwipo Chinatown 서귀포 차이나타운
Address: 4 Jungang-ro 47beon-gil, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
Day 4 of our Jeju travel and it is now time to cafe hop! For our first cafe, I chose Youdong Coffee. No particular reason besides it being along our route of travel. However, this random choice turned out to be a good one!
first view of the cafe
let's chill on a Sunday morning
award winning barista
Arrived at about 920am, and the place was not too crowded. Probably Sundays are for sleeping in!
interior
We ordered our preferred drinks and shared some pastries. The drinks selection were pretty good but the pastries were somewhat limited. Not an issue as we wanted to have just a quick stop here.
mugwort latte (no coffee) @₩5000
cafe latte @₩4500
maple croffle and sammaebong pie @₩3900 and ₩4800 respectively
The croffle, looks somewhat different from what I had imagined. I think I haven't eaten enough croffle! Tasted pretty sweet, and actually can't remember much of its texture. But definitely more of a waffle than a croissant.
maple croffle
The Sammaebong Pie was interesting and I ordered it, just because it has an interesting name and we don't really know what to expect of it. The pastry was flaky as expected and its taste was somewhat familiar. I pondered on it and suddenly, I knew what it tasted like. Kaya! Hahaha, pretty much unexpected to find a taste of home in Jeju.
flaky
familiar tasting jam
And for my drink, I had the 'Tiramisu' coffee. Inside, was a cup of cold milk cream. Not frothy but like cream cream. I must say, it tasted awesome! Loved it!
Tiramisu Cafe Latte @₩5000
amazing cup of coffee dessert
Felt like that cuppa was a dessert on its own. Satisfying and totally recommend you to try the Tiramisu Cafe Latte.
Youdong Coffee 유동커피
Address: 406-1 태평로 Songsan-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
One of the must try traditional dishes in Jeju will be the dombe meat which means steamed and sliced pork served on chopping board. Tracy found one near our accommodation, so we dropped by for Day 3 dinner. It was a Saturday evening on our day of visit and we should've realised that restaurants in town areas should be busier than normal days. Hahaa, so we went and placed our name on their waitlist (there isn't any list per se but the staff did see us and knew we would like to dine there) and will call when there's a freed up table. So, we waited outside along with a few other chaps.
shop front
We were called in after waiting for 20 minutes. We noticed that the guests there usually comes in larger groups of 4 or more. Age range, I'd guess it's thirties and above.
interior
The menu was rather simple. Choose whether you'd like Jeju black pork or the normal one and the starting weight is 600gms. Add-on meat would be at 300gm each. So of course we got ourselves the black pork set to start and additional normal pork. 900gm to feed 4 pax, hence that's about 225gm for one pax.
The shop looked like it was run by a family. The young staff seemed to be the son, while the dad was busy delivering side-dishes to the tables and finally, the lady who performed the table-side service seemed to be the lady boss.
side dishes and lettuce
main course - Jeju Black Pork
lady boss slicing up the meat and teaching us how to eat it properly
The lady boss will enquire if we are first timers and if yes, she'll teach the table on how to create flavours using the sides given and which sequence works best. She'll slice up some pieces (one each per pax for the group), then shares which item goes with the meat (for example, a slice of marinated onion) and eat it. And she'll ask that you eat combi to ensure that you are enjoying the meat as it was meant to be. Hahaa, it was slightly stressful as her pace was pretty fast but glad she spent time to share with diners on how to enjoy the boiled pork.
sauce
The boiled meat itself was tender and tasted good even if it was just with a touch of salt. Our second round of meat came after the first was completed. Normal pork tasted good too although there was a slight difference in texture with a less premium feel. The fats in the normal pork felt a tad chunkier. But I enjoyed it all the same. Can't say no to meat!
normal pork (300gm)
The atmosphere in the restaurant is not unlike an izakaya, where guests enjoys small bites with their drinks, shares anecdotes with their friends and also shares some friendly banters with the staff. You'll see most tables enjoying their beer/soju/makgeolli. We had makgeolli because the carbonated rice wine with its slight sweetness, is the perfect foil for the boiled pork.
Overall, we spent ₩92,000 for the meal, which was roughly around SGD24 per pax (inclusive of makgeolli and some soda).
CheonJitGol 천짓골식당
Address: 294-10 Cheonji-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
We made it a point to visit local markets and Olle Market was one of them while we were at Jeju. Not that far from our second hotel and according to Hence and Ivan, they were there in 2018 but couldn't enjoy the place as that time, most stalls were closed due to Chuseok. This time round, we made sure we visited before the holidays.
let's go!
The parking at the market is similar to Singapore's style where one pays the parking fee when exiting. If there's a machine, then could use that. Otherwise, can pay to an actual person manning the exit booth, hence remember to keep some loose change handy for this purpose.
cutie
stalls
The entire market is like a long straight stretch with branches to its left and right. Some areas are more busy than the other, so it is a good idea to walk and look look see see what's available.
dried fish, anyone?
quieter area
vegetable stall
But of course, we were there to look for lunch food.
directions
seaweed
cutlass fish
squid
We stopped at a sundae 순대 stall and ordered some to try. The lady and the young adult manning the stall worked quietly to prepare our order.
They were both very nice and friendly. We got our bag of food and eager to try!
sundae 순대
with liver and stomach
Oh my goodness, the blood sausage (sundae) was so good! Soft, bouncy and not funky at all. The innards were very good too and easy to eat. So yummy with the salt, or on its own. If you're there, I will strongly recommend this stall.
Next, we stopped at a grilled meat stall. They were putting on quite a display so we stopped to watch. And of course, ordered something from there as well.
One of the staff was acknowledging the various tourists who were taking video/photo of them and was quite obliging to the camera! I called it, them doing their 'fireshow'. And yes, they will request for people who are standing too near when they are 'performing' to take a step or two away from them.
grilled shellfish
grilled/torched chicken
Kudos to the staff who worked hard to attract people to their stall. The food was decent, so can say hi to them if you happen to be there.
Ivan and Tracy wanted ttokbokki, gimbap and eomuk combo so we went to a sit-in stall in one of those alleys in the market.
visited by many
eomuk (fish cake), ttokbokki, corndog
It was a simple no frills setup, so order from the front counter, pay and get your food and bring it to your table. There's seats inside the stall as well as outside. When you're done, bring back the used utensils/plates/tray back to the staff at the front counter.
Then, we went to an airconditioned shop that sells coffee and dessert. I got myself a tangerine juice. The juice was freshly squeezed and so refreshingly sweet. The shop offers about 4 to 5 variety of the hallabong with some leaning more towards the sharper lime-like citrusy flavours. On both of my visits to this 'cafe' (yes, I liked the tangerine juice there!), they didn't have the specific ones (Red Hyang or the Hwangeumhyang) that I wanted as they were not in season, so I had the Cheonhyehyang 천혜향 instead. Fragrant and still sweet!
visited by famous mukbang-er Heebab
Cheonhyehyang juice 천혜향 (freshly squeezed)
tangerine coffee
The market is nice to walk around and we found at least 2 shops that we really liked!
Seogwipo Olle Market 서귀포 매일올레시장
Address: 18 Jungang-ro 62beon-gil, 특별자치도 Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
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