Hairtail stew set for small appetites in Cheongju: Jeju Badang

A full spread of braised hairtail at Jeju Badang

Jeju Badang in Cheongju, where a small eater finished a full bowl of rice

I was in Cheongju after a while and stopped by Jeju Badang for a meal. I'm usually a pretty small eater, so finishing a whole bowl of rice isn't something that happens often — but that day, for some reason, I mixed rice into the hairtail stew sauce and cleaned the bowl right up, haha. It's boneless hairtail, so it's easy to eat, and the sauce is spicy-sweet in a way that keeps pulling you back for more rice. Even someone like me who doesn't eat much found it a satisfying meal.

What we ordered at Jeju Badang

I like grilled fish and braised fish dishes, so I decided on this place as soon as I saw the menu. That day I ordered the Jeju boneless silver hairtail stew + pot rice set (제주순살은갈치조림) for ₩24,000, and the half grilled mackerel + pot rice course. That's what I went with!

Six side dishes, spicy stir-fried pork and seaweed soup included

Every order comes with six side dishes, spicy pork (제육), and seaweed soup (미역국) as standard. It's not just the fish — the side dishes are pretty varied, which made the meal even better, and there's also a self-serve Korean bar where you can grab extra sides or wrap vegetables if you run out. Having spicy pork included as standard was a nice surprise. Eating a bite of pork between bites of fish gave a whole different flavor 🤭

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

The self-serve bar at Jeju Badang was better than I expected! At first I figured it'd just be a bit of wrap vegetables or extra sides, but there was surprisingly a lot to eat. Salad greens and wrap vegetables were unlimited refill, which paired well with the fish.

But the biggest surprise here was chicken 🍗 I never expected chicken at a grilled fish restaurant's self-serve bar, but the person I was with tried it and said it was good, so I tried it too. It was better than I thought, and I kept going back for more. There was also japchae (glass noodle stir-fry), which was a bit cold but had a salty seasoning and chewy texture that made it surprisingly tasty too.

And there was also mustard leaf kimchi (갓김치), which will be a welcome sight for anyone who's had it in Suncheon 🌿 Eating a piece of mustard leaf kimchi along with fish and rice was another little treat. Personally, the main dishes were delicious, but I really liked that this kind of self-serve bar was included as well. It was especially nice to be able to keep grabbing wrap vegetables or salad greens without worrying about it. Grilled fish + pot rice + wraps + mustard leaf kimchi + self-serve chicken — there was more to eat at Jeju Badang than I expected, haha.

Jeju boneless silver hairtail stew, 24,000 won

The dish I kept reaching for the most was, of course, the braised hairtail!! Being boneless made it so much easier. When eating braised hairtail, you usually have to stop and pick out the bones, but since this was boneless, I could just put the hairtail meat on rice and go.

And the sauce really suited my taste. It's a spicy-sweet sauce with a slight hint of pepper, but it wasn't a sauce that was aggressively spicy for spiciness's sake. I'd coat the hairtail flesh in sauce, eat a spoonful of rice, then another spoonful… and before I knew it, this small eater had cleaned out a whole bowl of rice 😂 Honestly, that was the biggest surprise of the day.

Mackerel set meal, 18,000 won

I also ordered the half grilled mackerel, and the skin was crispy while the flesh was moist and had a chewy texture. It's exactly the kind of grilled mackerel texture I like, so personally I was quite pleased with it. When it's too dry, I only take a few bites and stop reaching for it, but the moist flesh here made it easy to eat along with rice. If the braised hairtail is spicy-sweet, the grilled mackerel is on the milder, cleaner side, so eating the two together meant neither got tiring, haha.

Putting a bit of wasabi on a piece of boneless mackerel is another treat!

Is Jeju Badang in Cheongju worth it?

• ✔️ Boneless braised hairtail → spicy-sweet + peppery, rice thief 🍚
• ✔️ Grilled mackerel → crispy outside, moist and chewy inside 🐟
• ✔️ Pot rice → perfect match with grilled fish 🍚
• ✔️ Self-serve Korean bar → better stocked than expected 👍
• ✔️ Chicken → an unexpected highlight 🍗
• ✔️ Japchae → slightly cold but salty and chewy, tasty
• ✔️ Wrap and salad greens → unlimited refill 🥬
• ✔️ Mustard leaf kimchi → a nice treat with fish 🌿
• 💡 A small eater who finished a full bowl of rice here
• 💡 Recommend the grilled fish + braised hairtail + pot rice combo 🫶
• 💡 The self-serve bar alone will fill you up, haha
• Would return 🤍