5 Vegan Cafes in Jeju-do
Jeju Island, with its glistening beaches and rolling mountain landscapes, is recognized as one of the most beautiful places in South Korea. Along with its stunning sites, the island is also known for a number of specialty dishes including black pork, abalone, seafood stew, and sea urchin. These foods however, are obviously not vegan. But fear not! Just as Jeju-do is home to various seafood and meat delicacies, the island also houses a plethora of amazing vegan cafes and restaurants, all offering their own unique menus from cakes and teas to sandwiches, donuts, and more.
This post will cover the five vegan spots I visited during my trip to Jeju-do, including the places I most highly recommend. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Pengohoda
If I had to recommend just one place from this list, it would be Pengohoda. Located on the western side of Jeju City, Pengohoda is a small one-room café specializing in teas and cakes.
The shop’s décor is vintage-inspired with tiffany lamps, wood tables topped with doilies, and old newspaper clippings and books filling the space. They also a small outdoor pet-friendly eating area in the back.
Along with being vegan, Pengohoda’s desserts are all void of white sugar, refined white flour, GMOs, and food additives. They also have several gluten-free and nut-free options. While the menu includes items such as brownies, scones, and cookies, the café is most well-known for their decadent-looking cakes, offering a rotating list of flavors such as green tea chocolate, grapefruit earl gray, blueberry cheesecake, and hazelnut chocolate.
I ordered the sweet pumpkin pound cake and a hot peppermint j. apricot flower tea. I’ve eaten a lot of vegan “healthy” desserts before, but this cake by far was the best I’ve ever had; it was flavorful, moist, and had just the right amount of sweetness!
Between the delicious food, cozy and quaint atmosphere, and the kind staff, Pengohoda is a place I would highly recommend visiting when in Jeju.
Usual Coffee
Unusual Coffee is a vegan donut and coffee shop located in central Jeju City near the Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal. The café has a surfing theme with pictures of surfers and surfboards donning its walls.
It is important to note that while the donuts are all vegan, not all drink items are vegan. However, the menu does feature a soy latte and you can swap out the milk in many of their other drinks for soy milk. If you don’t want coffee, they also have an assortment of teas as well as a hallabong (Jeju tangerine) ade.
Onto the vegan donuts, the café offers several flavors including original (glazed), coconut lemon, oreo chocolate, injeolmi (roasted soybean powder) cinnamon, raspberry lotus, and mugwort chocolate. I ordered the raspberry lotus and mugwort chocolate donuts alongside a soy latte. While the donuts were a bit too sweet for my own tastes, I still enjoyed them.
Be mindful that they begin making the donuts from when they open, starting with the original. So, if you want a flavored donut, come a bit later in the day if you don’t want to wait.
Besides the food, the owners of Unusual Coffee were really kind during my visit. As I waited for my donuts I chatted a bit with the owner as well as their daughter who spoke English really well. Their kindness made the experience very memorable!
And Yu Cafe
And Yu Café is a vegan restaurant located on the western shore near Hyeopjae Beach, serving an assortment meal items, drinks, and desserts. They also have a small fridge at the front where you can buy various vegan ingredients.
The restaurant is decorated with a varying assortment of tables and chairs along with posters, plants, and macrame hanging on its walls which all give the space a homey feel.
I ordered their tangerine juice and a vegetable wrap with falafel which also came with a side salad. And Yu Café makes their food with as many local and organic ingredients as possible, guaranteeing the food to be incredibly fresh. Everything was delicious and just what I needed after a long day walking around the Ossulloc Tea Museum and along Hyeopjae Beach. I would highly recommend checking out And Yu Café if you’re in the area.
If you are considering ordering take-out, be mindful that there is a 500-1,000 won charge for containers and they don’t offer disposable cups for take-out drinks.
Jeju 901
Jeju 901 is a vegan café in Jeju City, located near the famous Jeju Loveland. According to their official website, Jeju 901 was opened in 2015 through the owner’s blooming interest in raw food eating, environmentalism, and issues of animal cruelty. From 2020, they began working as a director at the Jeju Vegan Food Research Institute and have traveled across the island giving talks on providing vegan and vegetarian menu options in restaurants and schools.
The café sits on the second floor of a larger building, the first floor being dedicated to hosting wellness classes including meditation and yoga. There is also another separate building which functions as as small hotel.
Stepping into the café, it has a cold and industrial yet somewhat comfy atmosphere with its combination of concrete walls, exposed ceiling pipes, various plants, and assorted furniture. The café also has an adorable pet mascot, a big white lab named Shinbi who sits outside the front entrance of the restaurant.
Jeju 901 has an extensive menu with an assortment of smoothies, soups, sandwiches, desserts, and drinks including teas and coffees. I ordered a purple power “detox” smoothie, mushroom sandwich, and an iced latte. While I didn’t find the purple smoothie to be anything too extraordinary, the sandwich I ordered was fantastic— made with various mushrooms and other fresh vegetables stacked on a fresh ciabatta bun. I would definitely return for the sandwich and perhaps one of their soups which looked equally as delicious. The coffee was also good.
Overall, I really enjoyed everything Jeju 901 was doing in terms of their food and their emphasis on wellness and nutritious eating.
Address: 제주특별자치도 제주시 1100로 2977-10 2층
Hours: Wed-Sun 09:00 ~ 18:00 (closed Mon, Tues)
Lou Lou Vegan
Lou Lou Vegan is a small café nestled in the corner of a Korean hagwon (private education school) building in Jeju City. They offer a variety of drinks including coffees and teas along with an assortment of baked goods such as character-shaped cookies, muffins, breads, and more. They also have a small selection of meal items like their pita sandwich, soups, and handmade soy yogurt bowl. Lou Lou Vegan particularly stands out for being not only vegan-friendly, but also macrobiotic-friendly. A macrobiotic diet focuses on eliminating animal products as well as chemicals and artificial ingredients while consuming a balance of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes.
The interior of the café is very small, with only a couple of tables to sit at, so if you want to dine-in, I recommend arriving early.
I ordered their macrobiotic pita sandwich, along with an ang butter and maple nuts iced latte. The sandwich came with green vegetables, an organic Jeju carrot and apricot mix, homemade hummus, and basil soybean mayonnaise on a whole wheat pita. The inside of the sandwich was good, though I did find the bread a bit dry and it crumbled rather easily. Besides that, the ang butter—a vegan take on the typical Korean-dessert of red bean and butter stuffed between a scone—and the latte were both good.
To be honest, Lou Lou Vegan didn’t leave the strongest lasting impression— especially compared to some of the other cafes on this list. However, I do appreciate the effort they’re putting into selling healthy vegan foods while following a macrobiotic diet. If I were to live in Jeju City, I could see myself visiting quite often. But, I wouldn’t call Lou Lou Vegan a must-try café when visiting Jeju for a limited time.
Address: 제주특별자치도 제주시 연북로 28 2층
Hours: daily* 10-17:00; Saturday 10-15:00 (closed Sun) *business days vary, check their Instagram for which days they’re open
That’s all for now! Overall, while there are some spots I’d recommend more than others, I had positive experiences at every place I visited. One theme I continually noticed at all the locations was the emphasis on environmentalism and conservation. While sustainability has been a growing trend amongst vegan cafes in Seoul, it seems to be more strongly emphasized in Jeju. Jeju is often called the ‘Hawai’i of Korea’ due to its similarly stunning waterfalls, volcanic landmarks and beachy sceneries. I further felt that parallel in seeing the efforts the locals put into caring for and maintaining the island. Visiting these cafes and restaurants is a reminder that rather than trying to get something from the island, we should aim to be appreciative and respectful, because if we’re not, who knows how much longer it will be there?
Let me know if you visit any of the places mentioned above and if you would like to find more vegan spots in Jeju, check out this Jeju Vegan Map[eng]. Happy travels!