5 top food to eat in Jeju Korea

As our base was at Seongwipo, most of you favorite restaurant haunts was centered around that area. The moment you arrive, you would want to taste the seafood that Jeju island is so famous for. But with so many to chose from, you will need a local to recommend their favorite haunt. The property owner of our hotel in Songwipo gave us a treasure hunt for food gold! Here are some of the must try ;

Abalone

Negeori Restaurant

네거리식당 https://goo.gl/maps/2Pztf3agt9Qdiwte6

20 Seomun-ro29beon-gil, Seogwi-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea

This restaurant is unassuming and low key but packed with locals. Generous amount of ban chan반찬

small appetizers, and they refilled them each time!

So much talk about the fresh abalone the Haenyeos, female divers harvest from the sea, this was definitely not it, I believe it was farmed abalone. For about 20dollars per abalone, it is not exactly cheap and I personally think it is just so-so! The thick aroma of the abalone is missing somehow!

Seaweed soup, Mom Guk

This this good. The seaweed is cooked in delicious pork broth that has been simmered for hours, freeze, and them fat has been skimmed. The taste of soup is so rich and there is so much depth, I think it would taste even better in winter!

Grilled Galchi

Galchi is better known as ribbon fish or hairtail fish. Long, silver eel-like fish. The ones in Jeju is really fresh and sweet, that is why the cook it with minimum seasoning. If you are a fish person I would recommend this, but personally I prefer the Galchi Jorim 갈치조림better, same fish but braised in a spicy sauce. Just thinking of it makes me salivate!! If you have tasted asian Asam Fish before, it has a similarity with it, spicy and sweet and yearning for more and more! Galchi jorim normally uses smaller hair tail fish to cook therefore it cost less than the thick, big grilled ones. Galchi does not come cheap so if you are on a budget, don't order so much otherwise 4 pieces will burn about 100dollars from your pocket!

Abalone Poridge

Fresh abalone must be abundant here in Jeju, this porridge has to be super comfort food! The rice is boiled with abalone and their guts and internal organs, thus the green hue in it. The taste of the abalone porridge is scrumptious as it is nutritious, I love it and just reminiscing the taste is motivating me to book my next flight to Jeju!! RESIST!!!

Jeju Black Pork BBQ / Heuk Dwaeji

Tam Gung BBQ Restaurant

32 Woldeukeom-ro, Beophwan-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea

This BBQ restaurant was so good we had to return on our last day. There is a long queue at dinner time and if you don't want to wait, do come before 1830 otherwise you will wait fro 30 minutes or more.

They gave us a generous amount of banchan and refilled the lettuce and salad leaves each time we finished. Although they have beef, delicious Gal

Bi on the menu but the black pork is the star! It is succulent, juicy, chunky and tasty, I believe the cooking method in this restaurant plays a huge part in the excellence! They constantly change the grill therefore minimizing charred bits that can get stuck on to the meat! Best to wash it down with Makgeolli ( a low in alcohol beverage) slightly milky but cools down the heat from the meat.

Gogi Guksu

국수의전설

Sinhyo-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do, South Korea

Gogi guksu, noodle soup with thick slices of pork on in pork broth is comfort food on a different level. The pork broth so laborious to make, first boiling for hours and then freezing it and then skimming the fats on the surface and reboiling again, to get that perfect taste! The cold spicy octopus noodles is a summer dish and totally scrumptious as it is spicy and it will leave you incredibly satisfied.

This particular restaurant specializes in only few dishes and everyone of it is mouth watering, scrumptious, satisfying!! Try not to come right in the middle of rush hour as you may need to wait for a long time.....although they do provide benches and a good cup of coffee at the end of the meal just as do most restaurants in Korean do!

You can't go wrong with this selection of food and you will keep wanting more!!

Date of visit: Early Summer May 2018