Ara-dong, Jeju pizza restaurant packed on weekend nights: Cultured

My family lives in Seogwipo, so we finally took a trip up to Jeju City after a long while :) We caught a Nanta performance and slowly started getting hungry~ After a bit of back and forth, we decided to go to 'Cultured Restaurant,' famous in Ara-dong, Jeju for pizza and pasta!

How long is the wait at Cultured on a weekend evening?

It was a weekend evening, so the restaurant was already fully booked! There were guests of all ages — families, groups of friends in their 20s, groups in their 40s, haha. A restaurant has to be full like this on a weekend evening to really count as an Ara-dong, Jeju hotspot!! (Right after I arrived, the waiting line started.)

What's on the menu at Cultured in Ara-dong?

True to a family restaurant, there's a lineup of really delicious-looking dishes.

• Seafood tomato linguine
• Rosé pasta
• Cultured spinach cream risotto
• Aglio e olio
• Pollack roe and clam cream pasta
• Squid ink special risotto
• Margherita
• Pepperoni original pizza and more!!

There's such a wide range of menu items that anyone, of any age or taste, can easily pick something :)

Cultured's lunch set: 38,500 won for two

And if you come for lunch, you can order the 'lunch set'! Salad + pasta or rice + gorgonzola pizza + dessert — all for just ₩38,500. It seems like a great deal to enjoy over lunchtime.

Mushroom cream pasta, 16,000 won, with a soft truffle aroma

'Mushroom cream pasta' / ₩16,000 — the sauce comes out nice and runny, a style Koreans tend to like, and there was a subtle truffle aroma from the moment it arrived :) I've actually worked in a family restaurant kitchen before, so I can tell a good pasta the moment I see it!

Squid ink risotto at Cultured, 18,000 won

'Squid ink risotto' / ₩18,000 — this is Jiyul's favorite. Maybe because black food is such a novelty, she always eats it well, haha. It was loaded with fresh squid too, looking really appetizing.

Margherita pizza, 18,000 won, on pastry dough

'Margherita pizza' / ₩18,000 — a classic that lives up to its reputation! One unique thing is that the dough isn't the usual kind, but pastry dough, which made it a bit different. Instead of the usual chewiness, this pizza had that light, slightly crisp texture only pastry gives.

Is Cultured good for dinner with a child?

Our family, on a trip from Seogwipo~ I was hungry so I quickly went in for a bite, but Jiyul said she wanted some too and scooped a piece over for herself, lol. I didn't even get to properly enjoy my first bite, worrying it would spill, holding the plate this way and that!! Still, the thick, rich cream pasta sauce came through fully.

Jiyul eats pretty much anything well~ but she especially loves Western food like pizza, pasta, risotto, and burgers, so she gets so excited whenever we go out to eat like this haha. Officially recognized as an Ara-dong, Jeju pasta spot!

She happily dug into the squid ink risotto too, lol, even earning a thumbs up from my wife!! Squid ink is actually pricier than you'd think when you try to buy it yourself~ but this had so much real squid ink in it that we could properly enjoy its distinct flavor and aroma.

She ate the margherita pizza well too, sauce smeared all around her mouth, haha. It's clearly already known as a hotspot in Ara-dong, Jeju, because guests kept streaming in! Groups of neighborhood moms, groups of women friends — the bright, cheerful atmosphere was really nice :)

It had been a while since our whole family got to sit down together for a cozy, delicious meal at Cultured :) If you're traveling to Jeju, or you're a Jeju local, and you're looking for a good pizza and pasta spot in Ara-dong, come check out 'Cultured.'

Cultured location and opening hours in Jeju City

• Address: 81 Seungcheon-ro, 1F, Jeju City
• Hours: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
• Break time: 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Closed: None