제주따이

【Foodholic Nako @ Jeju Island, South Korea】

"Jeju Dai" is an abalone restaurant located in the northern part of Jeju Island, about a 20-minute drive from the city center. It can be considered a hidden gem discovered during this trip to Jeju Island.

Why is it called a hidden gem? Because it seems that there are no Taiwanese food reviews introducing this restaurant yet. We stumbled upon it by chance, and there was no Chinese menu in the restaurant, only Korean, so we ordered using Google Translate with pictures. Overall, we were very satisfied with the meal!

Abalone Porridge ₩11,000
There are many places on Jeju Island selling abalone porridge. Although we’re not big fans of abalone, we thought we should give it a try. I heard that the porridge has a green color because it’s cooked with the innards of the abalone. I was really worried there would be a strong fishy taste from the innards, but it didn’t have that at all! It tasted quite light and refreshing. I personally thought it had a hint of tea fragrance (but my husband disagreed). There was a decent amount of abalone, and it had a bouncy texture and was very fresh!

Abalone Rice Bowl ₩14,000
This was served in a stone pot and was very hot when it arrived. From the introduction, it seems there are two ways to eat this rice bowl. First, scoop out some rice to wrap in seaweed and dip it in soy sauce. Then, add hot water to the remaining rice in the stone pot, and after steaming it for a while, it turns into something like tea rice. Both ways of eating were delicious! Honestly, it didn’t have a complex flavor, but it was light, and you could taste the restaurant's care and the freshness of the ingredients.

It’s worth mentioning that this restaurant’s side dishes even included a whole grilled mackerel, which was grilled very well. It was a great value and very satisfying meal!