I had read several books about Jeju, particularly the women of Jeju who dive to collect gifts from the sea. Their descriptions of seaweed, sea mustard, sea urchins, abalone, and the rare octopus did not make my stomach grumble. When I searched about Jeju food, most pictures were of whole fish on plates with eyes that could look back at you. So, I will admit that I was anxious about the food on Jeju. However, we were cautious when we searched for restaurants, and well, I ate some truly delicious food on this island!
On our first night, we didn’t get settled into our hotel until about nine. Not too eager to venture out at this hour, we did what the locals do. We found a convenience store and chose, among the wide selections, a ramen bowl. The hotel had hot water available as we were not the only ones who did this. Was it utterly delicious? No. But was it an experience we needed while in South Korea? Absolutely! 
Our first night at our seaside condo, we asked the host for suggestions. We opted for the Korean BBQ place that we could walk to. It was certainly a local place so we stuck out like a sore thumb. But our hosts couldn’t have been more excited. They helped us cook on the tiny central fire, knowing that we had no idea what we were doing. The black pork was delicious, along with the grilled kimchi and onions. Some sort of spicy salad was eaten alongside the pork, and it added lots of flavor. Then he delivered some sort of soft boiled egg. It had ballooned like a cream puff, but the flavor was mostly that of a scrambled egg. When our stomachs were near bursting, he brought us a hot soup with tofu. Despite the warm air outside, its simplicity was welcomed. Then, one waitress brought us some crab. Had we ordered it? Not to my knowledge. I don’t eat crab often, and when I do, it’s mostly just crab cakes. That’s not what this was. She brought us two different crab dishes to try. Through miming, and the plastic glove she brought us, we learned we were to tear off part of the crab and get the meat out of it. The first one, covered in a spicy red sauce was okay. The second one, recently caught and still freshly uncooked was absolutely terrible. It tasted like the salty sea just a stone’s throw away. But with her giant grin and eager expressions, we did our best to hide our disappointment, and like small children moved things around on our plates in hopes she didn’t notice. 
On our second night, we looked a bit like wet rats as we rolled up to Nansan Kitchen. We had been out most of the day, often in the rain, and so we decided to find a place on our way back to our condo rather than get out of the house again. A quick search on Google led us to this tiny restaurant in the countryside. Photos and reviews looked great, so that was all we had to go by. When we walked in, they asked if we had a reservation, which of course we did not. They asked us to wait a moment and went to talk to the chef. They came back and said we could join them for the set menu, but they’d have to make some minor changes to ours. Would that be okay? Sure thing. No clue as to what we were getting into. We later realized how truly special this opportunity was and how lucky we had been to show up when we did. Nansan Kitchen had five tables. Five. Most of them were for two people. We got to sit at the only open table. Then, seven divine and gorgeous courses were placed before us. First was a creamy mushroom soup rich with truffle flavor. Then, inside a treasure box the next two arrived: beef tartare and a creamy lobster served in a ceramic oyster shell. A salad with shaved egg appeared next, both beautiful and tasty. The breaded chicken with puréed carrot would have been good on its own, but with the tiny bites of fresh lemon, it was even fresher! The squid ink risotto was my least favorite of the dishes, but I still devoured every tiny piece and was glad for some local fish dishes. Before dessert, our last course was beef steak with some “seedy” mustard and grilled kimchi. It was the dessert that made me want to lick the plate though. I was thrilled to see “pavlova” on the menu when we sat down. It’s the national dessert of New Zealand, and I loved the stories about it when I was there. It is a meringue named after the a ballerina dancer for it resembled her skirt. Our pavlova had a layer of strawberry jam, one of cream, and tiny slices of kiwi on top. My mouth is watering as I type… This ended up being our most expensive meal of our trip so far, but the $37 each was well worth it. So, if you’re lucky enough to go to Jeju, go ahead and make a reservation at Nansan Kitchen. Eat whatever they put in front of you! 
Our seaside condo came with breakfast delivered to our room each morning. We were given no choices, so, again, we were a little anxious as the breakfasts eaten on this side of the globe are very different to what we are accustomed to. Each day, it was some new, unique, beautiful, and delicious creation. Our first one was a sort of bacon, egg, and cheese English muffin with a kind of sour kraut on it along with a sliced banana with a sweet shaving across it. Day two was fresh watermelon along with some savory breads and simple sandwiches. On our third day, well, aside from the sliced tangerines, I’m not sure I can really tell you what it was. Toast with grilled spam, grilled pineapple and some sort of sweet aioli sauce? I gobbled up every bite! 
For some snack items, we enjoyed trying the pancake sandwiches like the “fish desserts” we had enjoyed in Japan, these just had red bean paste as the center. They were lightly sweet and enjoyable. Udo, the tiny island off the coast of Jeju, is known for their peanuts. Well, peanut ice cream quickly became a favorite treat! 
On the 4th of July, we went searching for a burger, and well, we may have put all American burgers to shame. We went to Papaya (we learned it is Papa-Ya, not the fruit!), and I can’t recommend it enough. I chose the black pork burger. When it arrived, Jessica and I both marveled at its size and wondered at what all was on it. I’m still not totally sure, but there was a hash brown, a fried egg, some grilled pineapple pieces, crunchy peanut butter, grilled onions, lettuce, and of course, the meat. How did all of these flavors create such perfection, I’ll never know, but WOW! Not only was our food mouth-watering, but our host was so generous. She brought over a map of Jeju and marked special places we should see. Then, asking our names, she wrote them in Korean for us. If you’re in the area, don’t miss out on these burgers! 
At our next home away from home, on our first rainy night, we saw a sandwich place that we could walk to and decided that eating a sandwich while watching some TV sounded like a great night. The creamy mushroom soup and the apple, Gorgonzola, and honey panini did not disappoint.
The next night we walked to Seomgolae. We each ordered the salmon and avocado rice bowl. We did not realize it came with a side of seaweed soup. I tried it, and well, it tasted just like what you’re imagining right now. Our food tour host told us this is what his family ate every morning for breakfast. It made me even more thankful for the adorable host who brought us breakfast each morning. But the rice bowl was fantastic! It came with rice, fresh salmon, avocado, wasabi, sprouts, grilled onion, pickled ginger, pickled garlic cloves and soy sauce. It was a glorious mixture of flavors! 
As our second home did not come with our own chef, we decided to try some of the famous pastries for breakfast. Both mornings, we drove about ten minutes to the west to a cute little area stacked with restaurants and souvenir shops. On our first day, we waited for a solid half hour or more while one busy chef worked tirelessly to create perfect works of art. We had seen “jiggly pancakes” all over the internet, but we never tried them in Japan, so we decided this was the perfect opportunity! Tribe offered four unique flavors of “soufflés”, and I went with the tangerine one. The fluffy pancakes stood about four inches tall and were covered with a thick cream and shaved oranges. Atop the pancake sat a small macaroon in the shape of the tangerine. On the side were slightly grilled (?!?) and sugared tangerine slices that fell off the rind along with a sweet orange syrup. Yes, I started my day with a high sugar count, but man was it worth it! 
The next morning we went to Pick Up for a custard filled croissant topped with caramelized peanuts. Thinking perhaps we should add a small slice of health to our breakfast, we then went to Dotori Jeju where we had delicious yogurt bowls topped with nuts, granola, dried fruit and honeycomb! 
On our last night in Jeju, we went on a food tour in Jeju City. Our guide was adorable and the food we ate was delicious, but we were accustomed to multiple stops on a food tour, and this one fell a little short of that. However, the oranges and the freshly squeezed (while we watched) orange juice were fabulous. Our meal was a pork noodle bowl. Our guide told us that in Korea, they really think of ramen as noodles that have been dried and then recooked, so while this flavor filled bowl would have been ramen in Japan, here, it was called a noodle bowl. 
I went to Jeju a little fearful of the food, but I’m leaving with my stomach grumbling as I write. Wishing you all great food on life’s journey!
