Cheongju Korean restaurant worth the drive from Sejong: Jeju Badang

It's been a while since I found a truly legit local favorite. This place was perfect in every way — the food, the service, the parking — so I already rebooked for this Chuseok with my family while I was still eating. If you're planning your next visit while still eating the current one, that's a real sign of a great restaurant, isn't it?!

Cheongju restaurant "Jeju Badang"

Where is Jeju Badang? Gagyeong-dong, Cheongju, an easy drive from Sejong

Jeju Badang is on the 2nd floor at 28 Seohyeonnam-ro, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do. It's great for a meal or date in Cheongju, but it's also easy to visit from Sejong!

If you head toward Bugang from Sejong, it's right on the Cheongju side that's close to Sejong, so it's an easy trip for a meal. (Sejong-resident-jjomi note: I rarely eat in Sejong)

Jeju Badang hours and lunch last order

Jeju Badang is open daily from 10:30 AM to 10 PM, with a break time from 3 PM to 5 PM. Lunch last order is 2:30 PM.

They're open every day, and lunch last order before the break is 2:30 PM, so if you think you might arrive after 2, it's safer to call ahead first.

Parking at Jeju Badang: front, back and side

Wow... I really loved the parking here. Jeju Badang has parking available in front of, behind, and beside the building, so you can visit with zero parking stress!

What the Jeju Badang building looks like from outside

Park in the lot, take the elevator to the 2nd floor, and there it is on the left — Cheongju favorite Jeju Badang.

Inside Jeju Badang: wide table spacing and a kids' play area

At the entrance there's a cozy waiting area, and further in there's a separate kids' play space. The interior really feels like Jeju Island. It was completely full that day, so we waited a bit while they cleared a table!

The interior is fairly spacious, and what I loved is how wide and separated the table spacing feels, so it was really comfortable. Even at full capacity, there was enough space between staff and other diners that it never felt crowded — I really liked that.

What I loved even more was this — there's a play area for kids! Thanks to this space, I felt like you could visit with parents and children and eat comfortably without any hassle at all.

You could tell they put real thought into every detail of the interior, so it was fun to just look around too, not only eat.

Jeju Badang menu: kids' dishes, grilled and braised fish, and sets

They have a kids' menu, plus grilled and braised fish, and a Naver receipt review event is running too!

They also have set menus, so it looks great for a family visit too!

Here's what we ordered, haha! We wanted to try both the stew and the grilled fish! One odd thing — there's already pot rice, but we still ordered an extra bowl of rice. Why?! Because the banchan here is insanely good, haha. You'll polish off a bowl of rice before the main dish even arrives.

Spicy pork with the side dishes, plus wrap greens at the self-serve bar

Jeju Badang sets you up with basic banchan (side dishes) and gives you access to a salad bar! What's unusual is that spicy stir-fried pork (jeyuk bokkeum) comes as a standard side dish! There were wrap greens at the self-serve bar too, so we even wrapped up some pork bites, haha.

The staff member setting the table was so kind, from tone of voice to everything.

Look at this, haha — banchan that rivals a full Korean restaurant. How could you not eat rice first, haha.

We hit up the self-serve bar for extra side dishes too, haha.

Lunch specials: boneless hairtail stew 23,000 won, atka mackerel set 17,000 won

• Lunch special: boneless hairtail (galchi) stew + pot rice (1 person) ₩23,000
• Atka mackerel (imyeonsu) grilled set + pot rice (1 person) ₩17,000

Wow, seriously, isn't this wild?! This is basically a full Korean set-table restaurant (hanjeongsik), haha. I don't know why, but when there are tons of banchan, I'm just so happy!

But what's even better is that every single banchan is delicious, and whatever's supposed to be hot is actually hot. The seaweed soup here is amazing too — I even poured it over rice, haha.

How the grilled atka mackerel and boneless hairtail stew taste

The grilled atka mackerel had such a moist texture — nutty and clean-tasting.

The hairtail stew is boneless too, so there's no need to pick out bones — I ate it so easily. Hairtail is one of my favorite fish, but it always used to bother me because of all the bones, so having it boneless like this was so convenient, and I think it'd be great for kids too since it's not too spicy!

Placing a piece of grilled fish on top of pot rice that's already soaked up some liquid is basically heaven, right?!

For dessert, I also had some plum tea and snacks from the self-serve bar, which added an extra layer of refreshment after the meal.

This might look messy, but we finished it all, haha. We really left not a single grain behind. Even though we were super full, we just had to finish everything.

Why Jeju Badang works for a meal with parents and kids

Every dish at Jeju Badang is uniformly well made. I even overheard a diner at the next table telling the owner out loud how delicious the food was.

And the staff were all so kind, but the owner was extremely kind too. When the owner is kind and the food is delicious, there's no reason not to go.

I went there simply expecting grilled or braised fish, but I ended up feeling like I'd had an upscale full Korean set meal. So I'm planning to come back with my parents for the holiday.