Initially, I was a little grossed out when the food, a pile of raw chicken mixed with cabbage and other vegetables was placed on the hot plate right in front of me. I was eating out, celebrating the birthday of a fellow teacher, Kelly. But since I hadn't had any issue finding something that suited my vegetarian diet in my two years of living in Korea, I wasn't worried.
I inquired about what I could get from the menu at a popular Dakalbi place in Shin Jeju, Chun Ton Myun Tong Dakgalbi. And while the Korean women who were a part of the dinner party were busying themselves trying to find out what, if anything, was available for me to eat, I chatted with my friends.
All this time, the food was cooking at our table and it started to smell really good and every so often, a chef would come over and stir things up a bit. What was I going to do?
I love food!! I realized this when I went vegan for one month during World Vegan's Month last November. I would find these awesome recipes and make them my own by changing out vegetables or beans or grains to one that suited my appetite and omg!!! A vegan foodie was born. However, by mid December, I was back to my regular vegetarian diet.
With Korea being a veggie friendly country, it's easy to think that foods that look vegetarian are, but that's often not the case as most of the sauces used in the cooking process contains anchovy paste. Fear not! I've been living on the island for nearly a year already and I've mapped out several food spots that will satisfy whatever craving (within reason) you may have.
Things to Note:
- With the exception of The Loving Hut, each restaurant offers meat-based meals for the meat lovers.
- Be sure to see below for hours and a map on how to get there form Jeju-si City Hall (체주시청). If you are using a mobile phone, you will need to download the Naver Map App.
