On our last day in Jeju, we decided to stop off at a cafe to plan the rest of our day. For the two days prior to that, we kept driving by a cafe so pink, it would make Barbie proud. We saw so many people stop by just to take pictures outside of it, we decide to stop there and check it out for ourselves.
Although the building is two stories, the small cafe only sits on the first floor. The exterior is a bright pink with light purple accents. It has hints of Spanish-esque architecture with balconies that have been overgrown with (faux) roses and a ceramic tiled roof.
The interior is a bit of a mishmash of several different concepts. You still get of bit of the “Spanish villa” feel with floor tiling, but then there are marble tables, chandeliers, baroque inspired paintings, head busts and wall ornaments and of course sea shells and other oceanic knick knacks (it is Jeju-do after all). It sounds random, but it somehow just works. I don’t know if it was the uniqueness of it all, but I can’t stress enough how much I loved the interior. It was really pretty!
There is only one small table on either side of the cafe for outdoor seating and a modest amount of indoor seating. Although the owner was ok with us bringing our fur baby inside while no one was there, we decided to sit outside. It made for prettier pictures anyway.
Villa de Ato is a brunch and dessert cafe. Their menu is a constant rotation of new and delicious items. Unfortunately, we were so full from the homemade abalone porridge (전복죽) we had had that morning. There was no way we could eat anything else, so we decided to stick to drinks.
I asked for the prettiest thing on their menu, so they recommended the Macaron Smoothie (카롱카롱해스무디). This smoothie comes topped with pieces of macaron and merengue cookies made in house. It also comes in a few different flavours, but I opted for the strawberry. It was really tasty and the macaron and merengue cookies were made to perfection. It really tastes as good as it looks.
My boyfriend wanted to try something a bit more unique than my smoothie, so he got a Baeknyuncho Blueberry Ade (백년초블루베리에이드). To be fair, this drink was also quite pretty. It came with fresh blueberries and had a sweet, fizzy slightly tangy taste. You can definitely taste the baeknyuncho, which is a type of cactus that grows in the northern part of Jeju. It bears violet fruits which are used in a lot of different Jeju dishes, especially chocolates.
Since we didn’t get to try any of the food there, their homemade dried tangerines and hallabong caught our eyes. So, we decided to buy a few bags to go. They turned out to be super delicious and made great little gifts to bring back for our family. Honestly we wish we had bought more for ourselves, they’re truly tangy and addictive. We went through a bag in a matter of minutes. Additionally, they sold really pretty bags of seashells. I bought a bag as a memento from our trip and it looks really pretty in our house.
Having only been there once, I don’t have as many photos to show of the various drinks and desserts as I normally do, but it was just to pretty to not write about. Next time I go to Jeju, I will definitely be going back to put their food to the test.
- Hours
- 10:00am~7:00pm, Everyday
- Address
- 제주도 서귀포시 태평로 413
- 413 Taepyeong-ro Seogwipo Jeju
- Phone
- 064-763-7374
- Website
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