Jeju-do (Day 3): Cafes, Sushi and Flying Home

On our final day in Jeju, we woke up, got ready and had our last serving  of homemade abalone porridge (전복죽). We seriously couldn’t get enough. After that, we packed our bags into the car and thanked the owners of the pension for a wonderful stay. This was quite possibly the most hospitable place we have ever stayed at. We wished we had had more time to just relax there and enjoy the view from the backyard.

Villa de Ato

Once we checked out, 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. You can check out my post on Villa de Ato HERE.

Feeling nice and refreshed, we hopped into the car to head to an outdoor hedge maze which was about an hour away. We had visited here the last time we were in Jeju and it was super fun! When you finish, there are boards where you can see what percentage you fall into according to your competition time. We finished in the top 5% (humble brag). Unfortunately as soon as we got there we were immediately turned away because of our pup. Luckily the lunch spot I had picked out for us was relatively close by, so off we went.

미오 제주에 살다 초밥

I had found us a little sushi spot out by the coast. The area was quiet with almost no people walking around or cars driving through. It was the perfect place for a peaceful little getaway from city life. There really wasn’t much in the area other than a couple of little restaurants, tiny homes and a few pensions. In fact, the restaurant itself was part of a pension.

When we arrived, it was early in the afternoon, the sun was high in the sky and it was ridiculously hot and humid. We were completely disheartened to find that there was no shaded outdoor seating and they wouldn’t allow us to dine in with a dog. Fortunately we had seen a little pagoda with seating by the ocean on the way over and thought it might be nice to eat there. The sushi chef gladly prepared our meal to go and was kind enough let us wait inside while he got everything ready.

We wanted to sample a little bit of everything so we ordered the “couple set.” It came with about 13 pieces of sushi, a pile of shrimp tempura, 3 small mounds of sashimi and 2 cans of soda. The sushi was delicious! The menu changes everyday according to the fish that is brought in every morning, so you’re always guaranteed fresh sushi. It was quite filling too! The perfect seaside lunch.

쪼끌락카페

Feeling a bit sluggish again we decided to go refuel our caffeine tank one last time at  쪼끌락카페. This tiny cafe was located right by the gorgeous Gimnyeong beach (김녕해수욕장). This beach is absolutely stunning! The ocean is translucent and colored in every shade of blue, while the sands are soft and almost white. It wasn’t too packed and it had a nice relaxed vibe. We were sad that we didn’t have time to actually enjoy the beach, but it is definitely on our to do list for next time.

The cafe itself was super packed and they were completely sold out of their signature cookies that I was dying to try… sadness. We did, however, get to try their Gimnyeong Latte (김녕라떼) and Jeju Latte (제주라떼). The overall taste wasn’t anything too special, pretty much what you’d expect from a regular latte and green tea latte, perhaps a bit sweeter. However, there’s no denying their visual appeal. The vivid blue, milky white and sandy coffee tones perfectly capture Jeju’s oceanside. While the lush green, milky white and soil colored coffee capture Jeju’s vibrant mountainous regions. It’s like drinking Jeju in cup!

Jeju Dongmun Traditional Market (동문재래시장)

Our final stop, before heading off to the airport, was the Jeju Dongmun Traditional Market for some souvenir shopping and snacking. We had been to the Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market (서귀포매일올레시장) and were a bit underwhelmed by our options (as tourists).

The Jeju Dongmun Traditional Market is on a much larger scale with tons of stalls that sell Jeju chocolates and snacks to take back home. There were also more interesting snacks to try, like octopus bread with is made with a sort of pancake batter sprinkled with dried octopus flakes, a special Jeju grown barley and filled with mozzarella cheese. It was so good I wish I had eaten 5 more.

We were running really short on time because looking for parking in the parking structure took about 15~20 minutes on it’s own. So, we quickly grabbed a lightbulb filled with fresh tangerine juice, picked up some Jeju chocolates for our friends an family and took off. I really recommend giving yourself lots of time to check out this cool market, especially if you like street food type stuff. Its also the best place to do your souvenir shopping before heading to the airport. The souvenir options at the airport are extremely limited and anything we bought that was available there was being sold at an obscene markup. Don’t buy stuff at the airport.

Jeju International Airport

After a quick and easy drop off at the car rental place, the shuttle took us to the airport. We were able to check in easily and even had time to take our fur baby for a quick walk. We found a nice grassy area right outside the airport where we were able to let him stretch his legs and do his business before the flight. It was a stress-free way to end our trip. Uyu did much better on the plane ride back (a bit whiney), and before we knew it we were landing in Seoul. Home sweet home.