Cheongju Korean restaurant worth bringing parents to: Jeju Badang

Last weekend for lunch, we visited Jeju Badang, a Korean restaurant in Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju. I was scouting for a good place to bring my parents, so this was really a family reconnaissance trip — but bottom line, my wife and I walked out saying we absolutely have to bring them here next time.

Where is Jeju Badang, and is there parking?

Jeju Badang, a well-known Korean restaurant in Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju, sits in a commercial building in front of Gagyeong Xi apartments, on the 2nd floor of the JB Building. It's famous for its braised and grilled fish with pot rice. There's fairly generous parking space both in front of and behind the building, so you don't really need to worry about parking.

Step out of the elevator on the 2nd floor and the restaurant is right there. The exterior looks a bit plain, but that gives it a clean, understated feel, doesn't it?

True to the name Jeju Badang (제주바당, meaning 'Jeju sea'), the interior is decorated to look like a Jeju stone path.

We came on a weekend at lunchtime, and it was nearly full to the point of a wait. Lots of people were clearly there with their parents or had made reservations. Once you taste the food, you understand exactly why it's a good spot to bring parents to.

Jeju Badang menu and where the fish comes from

You order at Jeju Badang via kiosk. The signature menu includes braised hairtail and a grilled black tilefish set with stone pot rice included. The lunch specials are:

• Grilled mackerel + rice or stone pot rice
• Grilled atka mackerel + rice or stone pot rice
• Boneless braised hairtail + rice or stone pot rice
• Braised mackerel + rice or stone pot rice

There are also separate kids' menu, side dish, and à la carte items, so keep that in mind!

The hairtail, black tilefish, and conch are all domestic, caught in Jeju. Even the boneless hairtail used in the braise is Jeju-sourced, so they clearly put real care into origin management. Everyone knows Jeju seafood is delicious, right!?

The side dishes that come with a meal at Jeju Badang

This is Jeju Badang's basic table setting: pickled radish, bracken fern, seasoned eggplant, sautéed mushrooms, perilla leaf(?), and braised zucchini. Not overdone, just clean, simple dishes — and honestly they tasted a lot like home-cooked banchan (side dishes).

The piping hot seaweed soup and the spicy stir-fried pork had that classic Korean-restaurant charm, and honestly, seeing our picky-eater kid drink up the seaweed soup told us how good it really was, haha.

What's on the self-serve bar at Jeju Badang?

Off to one side is a separate self-serve bar with all kinds of side dishes that go well with the grilled and braised fish — beyond the standard banchan, there's a whole spread of namul and vegetable dishes. The quality and variety are practically on par with a Korean buffet.

There's also boneless fried chicken and japchae (glass noodle stir-fry) ready to go — the boneless chicken was practically as good as Ashley's chicken. It's not too salted or seasoned, so even without sauce it was fine for the kids to eat. With so many side dishes and such good quality, honestly the banchan alone left us satisfied.

Boneless braised hairtail and grilled atka mackerel with pot rice

After a bit of a wait, the boneless braised hairtail and grilled atka mackerel arrived. Maybe because we ordered pot rice, or maybe because it was busy, the main dishes and pot rice took a little while to come out! Just a heads-up for anyone visiting.

This is the savory, moist grilled atka mackerel. It wasn't over-salted, so it was mild and clean to eat.

I have no idea how they grilled it so moist — it made me curious about the recipe, haha. Dipped in the wasabi and soy sauce served alongside, it got an extra kick of seasoning and was even better. Our kid seemed to like it too and ate a good amount, haha.

This is the boneless braised hairtail. There were about five or six neatly deboned pieces of hairtail, layered in a rich, reduced braising sauce — just looking at it made my mouth water...+_+

Piling the thick hairtail flesh onto fluffy pot rice — how are you supposed to stop at one bowl?!

The rice from the stone pot was also excellent quality, fluffy and really good on its own — a classic, perfectly cooked, chewy bowl of rice.

The radish in the braise was well cooked down too, and the combination of hairtail flesh in that spicy, punchy sauce with the fluffy rice was fantastic. My wife and I kept saying 'wow, this is so good' the whole meal,

and eating through the banchan and main dishes, I really came to understand all over again why Jeju Badang, a well-known Korean restaurant in Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju, is so popular and such a good place to bring parents.

Braised hairtail with no bones to pick out

With pot rice, you can't skip the nurungji (scorched rice), and we scooped spoonful after spoonful of savory nurungji topped with the seasoned braised hairtail. Everyone knows braised hairtail is delicious, but the reason people hesitate is usually the hassle of picking out bones, right? Jeju Badang's braised hairtail is so well prepped that there wasn't a single bone in it — genuinely easy and enjoyable to eat.

What made Jeju Badang easy with a child

From the seriously good banchan to the japchae and boneless fried chicken at the self-serve bar, not to mention the main dishes — braised hairtail and grilled atka mackerel — nothing felt like it was missing. Our kid finished a whole bowl of rice, and my wife and I left saying, with real conviction, that we have to bring my parents here — it was an extremely satisfying meal.

There's plum tea and peach iced tea on the self-serve bar, nice for cleansing the palate, and there's even a small indoor play area for kids, which honestly made us appreciate the owner's thoughtfulness, haha. I've made up my mind to definitely come back with my parents next time! Recommending Jeju Badang, a well-known Korean restaurant in Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju!