Vadada:Seogwipo (jeju Island)

In Jeju Island's second largest city Seogwipo, down a narrow road and hidden behind a new building development, you can find Vadada.

After coming to Jeju Island for personal reasons, my friend and I had the chance to stop by the ocean side café and lounge. Initially we thought the café was closed for refurbishments, however it was just concealed by a new development.

While there is a bus stop relatively nearby, on Jeju Island public transportation is notoriously unreliable. Therefore, driving is the best way to get to the cafe, and there is a small car park to leave your car.

The café’s exterior is a large concrete and glass mass. From the outside it’s quite imposing, and more like a modern art museum.

However this initial coldness is counteracted with the view. The stunning view of the ocean, complete with Jeju’s iconic volcanic rock, is warming and levels out the atmosphere of the café.

Since the cafe is called Vadada, which takes itself from bada, ocean in Korean, it's a perfect name for a place with such a breathtaking view.

The café’s interior has a chic feel to it and is reminiscent of a western cosmopolitan bar, with a lot of industrial features.

During the day, the space is a café that also offers meals, and during the night it is a lounge. The bar itself was wooden with Moroccan style tiles. These tiles were also seen on a small DJ booth to the side of the café.

The interior featured a lot of concrete seen in the floor, walls and ceiling. There were also three walls of glass, which let a lot of natural light. There were also metal ceiling fans, which is something I haven’t seen in a long time. Majority of the seating were bar style high tables and high chairs with silver finishes.

However there was also a large sofa and chairs, to the left of the café, as well as lower chairs and tables near the edge of the café. These were made of dark wicker and added a natural feel to the space. This also added a nice buffer between the industrial interior of the view, and the natural view of the ocean.

Since the weather was nice, all the bi-fold windows/doors were open, which let lovely light into the café. The café also had a large rooftop, which would be perfect for summer evenings.

My friend and I sat on a set of couches just outside the main part of the café, however there was also another area beyond the café that had more chairs. This area was reminiscent of a beach style resort, with woven style chairs and white shade umbrella’s for each table.

Regardless of where you sat, the beautiful ocean view was the main star of the café, which meant that the café didn’t have to do much for decoration.

Moving on to the beverages. I got a green tea latte and my friend got an americano. The green tea latte had a hardy tea flavour, and was more on the savory side, rather than the sweet, but was still tasty.

As for the americano. Now, while I’m accustomed to paying ridiculous prices for milk teas, paying almost 8,000 for an americano is a little excessive. This is especially since, as my friend said, the coffee didn't match its price. It’s flavour was average and had a slight burn taste to it.

This is a café with a view. In dead beat terms, this is a chic café where you can relax in front of a beautiful Jeju Island ocean view, but at a price. While the prices aren’t too appealing, this café lounge is worth it for the view. Because, in times of corona, maybe the drinks' price tag isn’t too bad, especially since this might be the closest thing that some might get to being on holiday.

Vadada Instagram