Jeju City is the perfect base for exploring the larger than expected Jeju Island. Its proximity to both the airport and ferry dock (about a 10-20 minutes drive to either) make coming and going easy. In addition, because it is the largest city is possible to find a bus route to just about anywhere on the island. This makes checking out different parts of the island, and not getting lost in the process, no problem at all. Jeju City has a wide variety of restaurants, both Korean and Western, along with a happening nightlife that make it the perfect playground once your done with your daytime adventures.
If you’re deciding on where to stay in Jeju Island, I wholeheartedly recommend Jeju City. Take a look at some of my recommendations for Jeju City restaurants, bars, and hostels.
Eating
On our first afternoon on the island, Tara and I were flipping through the Lonely Planet trying to find some ways to spend a few hours in Jeju City. When I landed on the entry about Bagdad Cafe, an Indian restaurant near City Hall named after a movie, I was intrigued. Too much Masterchef Australia had me craving the cuisine, and after reading some spectacular reviews online, I was sold.
Bagdad Cafe lived up to the hype. The chicken in the curry was perfectly tender and the sauce perfectly spiced. The vegetarian dish we got (I wish I remembered the name) had potatoes and broccoli in a sort of spicy tomato sauce, and it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I think I would go back to Jeju just to eat here again.
The next night we checked out Zapatas, a Mexican restaurant that had been billed one of the best in Korea. I was slightly disappointed when I opened the menu and saw that it looked extremely similar to the menu of Dos Tacos, a popular Mexican chain in Seoul. The food, though, was slightly better. The chicken enchiladas, which were actually more similar to burritos covered in sauce, were tasty. And they use fresh cilantro, which was enough to sell me.
Drinking
The area around City Hall is the happening nightlife area in Jeju City. A couple blocks are filled with bars, hofs, and noraebangs of every style. It seemed like a mini Hongdae or Gangnam. We spent a few hours drinking pitchers of Cass and playing darts at something that was billed as an “Irish Darts Bar”, whatever that may be and then also hit up what happened to be a popular expat hangout for 5,000 won Long Islands. Take a walk around, and stop in just about any place for a good time on a weekend night.
For a really good time, try a luxury noraebang. We were unable to find a regular noraebang (노래방) so instead headed into a place whose name translated into something along the lines of ‘song practicing room’. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that this meant they served draft beer! And delicious chicken. And the room only cost 10,000 won for 2 hours. Perfect for groups. Or two people who like to drink and sing. Like us.
Jeju City also happened to be a place where another one of my Korea dreams came true. I’ve always wanted to visit a sticker shop, a store where you take photos in a photo booth dressed in costumes and then decorate them, and after a few drinks I forced Tara in with me. These are popular around Korea (and Japan) and taking these silly photos and decorating them turned out to be one of the most fun things I’ve done in a while.
Sleeping
We stayed a total of four nights in Jeju City, but because our original hostel reservation got messed up, we had to stay in two different places. The first place we stayed, Backpackers in Jeju, was located right in the middle of the City Hall action, nearby bars, restaurants, and the main bus terminal. We stayed in a private double room which was clean and had a comfortable bed. The hostel isn’t the most social, and sometimes it was hard to find a staff member to answer questions, but the location more than made up for that.
Halfway through the trip we moved to the HKJeju hostel and things started to go downhill. The location, closer to the airport and shore, wasn’t as great and was almost desolate at night. This place was also the first hostel I’ve ever stayed in that required guests to supply their own toilet paper! I will say, though, that the employees were very helpful and the place was clean. For about $15 a night in Korea, it wasn’t the worst.
Overall, Jeju City is a great base for a trip to Jeju Island, with fabulous restaurants, a lot of variety, and easy access to everything Jeju has to offer.
Have you been to Jeju City? What did you think? What recommendations do you have?
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Really awesome info. I have been craving Indian food SO much lately. Yum yum yum! And one of my dreams is to also take pictures in a photo booth. I’ve been trying to convince Johnny, but no luck whatsoever lol!
Sheryll recently posted..5 months down, 7 more to go
They are SO much fun. I really want to go again. Preferably to one where you can put on boas, sunglasses, etc. The tackier the better! And we should totally do a photo booth outing…
Wait, the hostel required you to supply your OWN toilet paper?! Nuh-uh! UNFORGIVABLE.
I will say that for others going to Jeju City, make sure you check out the Wa Bar there. The barman/manager…holy hell, that man looks like some kind of perfect drama-slash-model-meets-popstar with a jawline chiselled from stone. I was in swoon mode the ENTIRE time I was there.
The sticker photos are super cute, I LOVE the booths! I may try and convince some friends to go and do another set soon!
p.s. now I’m craving Indian food. AGH! Maybe when I’m in Seoul next weekend…
Tom @ Waegook Tom recently posted..Gaziantep, I’m Sorry But I Despise You
Yeah, it was slightly ridiculous and felt more like camping than a hostel.
I saw that Wa Bar! And almost went, but ended up playing darts for, literally, about 4 hours. The sticker booths are the best. I want to go to this huge one in Gangnam with a lot of awesome costumes.
Have you tried Everest in Dongdaemun (they might have another location somewhere in Seoul but I forget exactly where?) It’s my favorite Indian/Nepalese in Seoul!
Yay, I’m glad you had a good time in Jeju! It’s a little strange reading a travel review of where I live though
I LOVE Zapatas (but then I’ve never eaten proper Mexican food before. Bagdad’s is great but I prefer the Indian restaurant in Shin Jeju – Raj Mahal. Also, WHERE was that amazing noraebang with the chicken?! I must try it!
Jeju was great! The whole time I was there I thought about how awesome it would be to teacher there!
I never made it over to Shin Jeju. I heard there’s a good burger place there too.
OK, so the noraebang. It had a four syllable name that started with norae and then something else (really good description, I know). If you go down the street with Dunkin’ Donuts on the corner (right across from City Hall) and go maybe like a block or so it is on the right hand side, on the second floor. Near a dart bar. Above some other bar with, what I thought at the time, was a very memorable or unique name. But, obviously, now I can’t remember. If you end up finding it, best place ever. The garlic chicken was some of the best I’ve had in Korea!
Awesome. I will make it my mission to find it
Also wanted to say that the sticker factory is so much fun! Such a ridiculous thing to do but it’s so much fun ^^ Want to take my family there when they come, hehe ^^
My hostel in Beijing now doesn’t have toilet paper either… I wasn’t a huge fan of Bagdad’s to be honest. It was pretty good but not incredible. I really like though the Indian restaurant next to Burger King in Itaewon, Seoul, it’s called Agra.
Rachel recently posted..Delicious Inspiration for Today
Maybe it’s an Asian hostel thing?
My favorite Indian in Seoul is Everest. I haven’t tried Agra, though, so maybe I should do that soon!
Very nice pictures and information. I like to visit Jeju city soon. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! Jeju City is a great place for a visit!
I love those photo booth things! Sadly I haven’t been to Korea before but would love to check out Jeju City one day.
Natasha the Glampacker recently posted..Wanderlusting: a Cinque Terre Day Trip
They are so much fun! If you ever find yourself in this part of the world definitely check out Korea. It’s an underrated country!