Cheongju grilled fish lunch with peach iced tea dessert: Jeju Badang

The weather's been all over the place lately, and every lunchtime it's the same struggle — what do I eat today?! Especially since grilling fish at home means the whole house fills with smell and smoke, so it's basically off the table.

So today I'm bringing you an honest review of a Korean restaurant in Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju that I visited recently and was completely won over by — Jeju Badang's lunch special! Seriously great value and great taste.

What Jeju Badang looks like inside, and the seating

Jeju Badang is on the 2nd floor of a building at 28 Seohyeonnam-ro, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju. Take the elevator up to the 2nd floor and you'll see the restaurant — rough-edged but clean.

The moment I walked in, what caught my eye was the basalt stone wall interior, full of Jeju vibes. Thanks to the warm, tidy wood-tone interior, I honestly felt like I'd just hopped on a plane and landed on Jeju Island!

The interior is also huge, with 20+ four-person tables set up. The tables themselves are large and spaced generously, so you can eat comfortably without worrying about neighboring tables.

There are high chairs, of course, and even a well-decorated kids' play room where children can run around, so it looked perfect for a family outing with kids or a meal with parents.

What comes with the lunch special, and ordering single portions

We visited for lunch to go after Jeju Badang's famously great-value lunch special. We ordered the lunch special atka mackerel grilled, the lunch special mackerel grilled, and pot rice.

What I really loved was that you can order each portion separately! If you're torn between grilled and braised, just order both and share.

I peeked at the origin labels and the main seafood — hairtail, black tilefish, and horned turban shell — is 100% sourced directly from Jeju, domestic. That built a lot of trust right off the bat.

Side dishes and the unlimited self-serve bar at Jeju Badang

Once you order at Jeju Badang, the table comes set with six kinds of tidy homestyle side dishes — namul (seasoned vegetables), stir-fried mushrooms, eggplant salad — plus a hot seaweed soup and spicy stir-fried pork as standard.

But you know what's really amazing here? The seaweed soup and stir-fried pork are unlimited refills...♥ These days you get charged extra for a pork refill almost everywhere, right? Here you just ask a staff member and they'll kindly refill it — well-seasoned, well-seasoned all the way through, perfectly salted — you could finish a whole bowl of rice on this alone!

And you absolutely have to check out the unlimited self-serve bar set up on one side of the restaurant.

Wrap vegetables and salad are a given, but there's also delicious well-seasoned japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), and freshly fried, crispy boneless fried chicken. It's as crispy as a proper fried chicken shop and moist inside, and there's even seasoned chicken sauce on the side — I had to admire the owner's sense for good food, haha.

Pot rice and the scorched-rice tea that follows

Finally the main dishes arrived along with freshly made pot rice! The moment I opened the lid, steam rose up and the glossy, shiny rice grains appeared — just the sight of it made me feel full already.

You know the drill — scoop the rice out into a bowl, then pour warm water into the pot to make savory sungnyung (scorched-rice tea), right?!

How the grilled atka mackerel and grilled mackerel taste

Jeju Badang's grilled atka mackerel and mackerel had me gasping first at the golden-brown look of the fish! Crispy outside, genuinely moist and juicy inside — crispy-outside-tender-inside in its purest form.

You'd never get that crispy-outside-tender-inside texture grilling at home, sigh. There wasn't a trace of fishiness — clean and nutty-tasting — and dipped lightly in wasabi soy sauce and piled on top of the pot rice, it was seriously delicious!

Dessert at Jeju Badang: barley candy, peach iced tea and a deodorizer by the door

After finishing the meal, head over to the self-serve bar corner at Jeju Badang for dessert — sweet barley candy, cool plum tea, peach iced tea, and even a coffee machine!

With sweet barley candy and a cup of cool plum tea, it was such a perfect course I didn't even feel like I needed to go to a café afterward.

And at the counter there were mints to freshen your breath, dental floss, toothpicks, and — in case your clothes picked up a fish smell — a nice-smelling deodorizer spray, what a thoughtful touch! I left really touched by the owner's attention to detail.

When grilling fish at home feels like too much hassle, or when you want to take your parents out for a proper, tidy Korean meal, I highly recommend Jeju Badang, a Korean restaurant in Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju! Everyone should try the amazing-value lunch special and the generous self-serve bar at least once.