Spending A Chill Winter Day In Jeju
Stay with Coffee
Our first stop of the day was coffee at Stay with Coffee. This massive shop is located in the countryside between Jeju City and Aewol Coast. Yemisi chose this spot because it seemed to have some of the best coffee on the island. Her suspicions were correct, as we were greeted to a wall of professionally roasted beans and carefully crafted flavors. From specialty coffee noobs to seasoned veterans, they definitely have you covered. The owner came out and had a lovely conversation with us, and even made us some extra coffee. While this had us a little late to our next stop, it was well worth the experience. If you’re interested in specialty coffee on Jeju Island, we have a full article about it with a lot more detail.
Cooking Class by TOTOatelier
Our first activity of the day was a cooking class. This location is famous in Jeju because it is very foreigner-friendly. You can choose from several options of bakery items and cooked dishes. I chose to make squid ink risotto, and Yemisi made a tangerine tart. We booked directly through NAVER, but Klook is also an option, making it easy for tourists.
When you arrive, they guide you out back into a garden to pick fresh herbs, veggies, and fruit for your dish. The garden was absolutely full of things to eat. They even have a photographer who followed us out and took pictures as we picked the food. Then, you go back inside where there is a workstation with every pot, pan, utensil, and ingredient you’ll need. What makes this experience great is a tablet mounted at the work station that has detailed directions in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese. Following the instructions was easy and a ton of fun.
The final products turned out amazing. The risotto was so creamy and rich, and the freshly milled barley, fresh octopus, and fresh herbs made the fish feel… Well, very fresh! Yemisi’s tart was simply divine. It was so smooth and had the perfect ratio of sour, sweet, and crunchy texture. If you’re someone who doesn’t usually cook, I can definitely vouch for TOTOatelier. They offer a very rewarding and easy-to-follow cooking class, great for all skill levels.
Slowboat
Another cafe I really wanted to check out is Slowboat. Ever since I saw the beautiful aesthetic on Instagram I wanted to visit. Thankfully, it more than surpassed my expectations. In my personal opinion, Slowboat is the most vibey cafe in Jeju, possibly all of Korea. Every area is intentionally decorated perfectly between minimalism and cozy contemporary. I was also shocked to find very delicious craft coffee that is small batch roasted at the shop. In all my haste to enjoy the vibe, I never realized they sell great coffee to match. If you’re looking for a place to chill in this area, Slowboat is genuinely one of my favorite shops in Korea.
Surico
Heading in from the north east coast, you’ll find a lovely little village with several great restaurants and coffee shops. Here lives one of our favorite places in Jeju: Surico. This adorable hut in the countryside specializes in the best sandwiches you’ve ever heard of. They have fresh-baked sourdough bread every day, and that alone makes it worth the visit. Their menu changes seasonally, and this time we got a Brussels sprouts sandwich and a mushroom and Prosciutto sandwich with mozzarella and pickled onions.
I know the idea of an open-faced sandwich might not be all that exciting. Jeju has so much amazing food, so why would you travel an hour outside of Jeju City for bread? Please believe me when I say this is my favorite sandwich shop ever. The fresh sourdough is simply unmatched. Every ingredient is the highest quality, with ratios of ingredients so perfect that it’s hard to believe it exists. So if you’re ever on the west side of the island, do yourself a favor and try out Surico. I’m sure you won’t regret it.
Yongmori Coast
Jeju is an island of world renown natural beauty. There are unique volcanic features everywhere, and Yongmori Coast is one of the most famous. Even though we had been to Jeju many times by this point, we somehow never made our way here. As the sun slowly set, we had to rush to make it before the coast closed for the day. The line was surprisingly long, and parking was hard to find. I really underestimated how popular this spot is.
Yongmori Coast is essentially a one way walk along a rocky platform at the edge of the sea. Here you can enjoy the incredible cliffs and odd formations resulting from lava rock being shaped by the waves. Older ladies will fish out mussels from the abundant waters, and serve them fresh on the beach with soju, the most Korean activity imaginable.
What is most shocking is just how exposed the trail is. At low tide, there is a decent amount of space to walk, but the rocks are obviously slippery and poor footing could easily send you into the ocean. There aren’t life guards or railings, so definitely come with proper shoes and watch your footing.
If you manage to not fall in the sea, the view is truly unique. There isn’t a place that looks quite like this in all of Korea. The cliff walls are dramatic, with odd outcrops and formations on every face. The walk itself isn’t too long or too difficult, but there is a wide variety of nature to see. One of the best parts is rounding the corner and seeing the large Sanbang Mountain in the background, it’s truly special.
Cafe The Other Side
We needed one more coffee shop to complete our Jeju trip. The west side of the island is very sparse, so Cafe The Other Side is pretty out of the way. We had the small cafe mostly to ourselves as the winter sun slowly set. Many cafes we’ve visited in Jeju are large and meant for lots of tourist, but here the vibe is different. It’s a single barista slowly serving craft coffee in a lovely seaside house that really feels special.
Songgaksan Mountain Trail
As the sun set, we made our way down the coast to Songgaksan Mountain. This is a small volcanic outcrop with an amazing trail circling the hill. I say hill because mountain is a stretch, there’s not much elevation change and the walk is pretty easy overall. The hope was to see a nice sunset, but the clouds had other ideas. Still, the mountain is very scenic, with great views over the island and Yongmori Beach.
Songgaksan Mountain is a popular spot on the island for a nice walk, with a simple trail looping the outcrop. This was our last day on our winter trip and we were so sad to leave, but I can’t think of a better place to finish. The trail weaves around the rocks and through the forest, with great views and plenty of space to walk.
Jeju Veggies
After a long day, we were starving. Yemisi found an interesting place called Jeju Veggies on our way back home. If you couldn’t tell, Jeju Veggies specializes in vegetarian and vegan menu items. We got the Jeju tangerine veggie tangsu and bracken perilla pasta. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical. I am happy to eat vegan food, but imitation meat doesn’t usually taste as good to me. Luckily, these dishes weren’t trying to taste identical to meat, and really leaned into the qualities that make the vegetables so good.
The tangsu was insane, with an incredible crunchy rice coating and a special Jeju hallabong sauce. Depending on the day, I might choose this over the best of the normal tangsuyuk. But the unsuspecting hero was the perilla noodles. I don’t know what they did to this thing, but these noodles were some of the most savory and intense I’ve had in a long time. With an amazing toothsome texture of the noodles, I was absolutely in heaven. We left the restaurant shocked that vegan food could be so good, and eager to try more.
Final Thoughts
Jeju never ceases to impress me. I think I’ve seen everything, yet there’s always something more to discover. I’m sure this wont be our last time back on the island. While I’m always down for an exciting adventure, sometimes it’s great to enjoy a nice slow day in Jeju as well.
