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We Tried The Only Halal Shabu-Shabu In Korea And Here’s Why We Loved It

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Faruq Senin •  Apr 19, 2018

We were invited by Jeju Tourism Organization for a media trip to Jeju last week and needless to say, it was such an amazing experience! Jeju is known for its gorgeous natural beauty and seafood but finding halal food could be a challenge. Lucky for us muslim travellers, the island's tourism board has compiled a list of muslim-friendly restaurants so we'll never have to go hungry when we're there☺️

When our guide told us we were having halal shabu-shabu in Jeju, I was personally in disbelief. "Halal shabu-shabu in Korea?" Wow, I didn't think I'd be able to experience that! But there we were at Cheonhaecheon, a muslim-friendly shabu-shabu buffet restaurant and I couldn't contain my excitement any longer?

Credit: giphy

Cheonhaecheon only serves halal meat and it's received a muslim-friendly certificate from the Jeju Islamic Cultural Centre. However, alcohol is still served in the eatery so do dine at your own discretion! At 34,000KRW per person, we personally felt the price was quite steep but for a halal shabu-shabu feast in Korea, why not splurge a little??

The main highlight would of course be its thin-sliced beef ? All the beef portions were stocked up in a section of the restaurant and there were signs to indicate that it's halal so you can eat to your heart's content without any worries!

Cheonhaecheon isn't just a meat lover's haven, it's also a seafood lover's dream come true! If you're a seafood lover, you'll love their wide selection of prawns, crayfish, crabs and ABALONE. Jeju is known for its fresh abalone, so if you're here to make your money's worth, you should definitely take all the abalone you can? Though we didn't try any abalone at this eatery, the ones that we tried at other restaurants were really fresh and yummy!

There were 2 soup bases prepared for us - original and kimchi. We preferred the kimchi base as it had a bit more kick than the original, and we added in all the seafood and vegetables first to let the taste sink in.

Credit: Cheonhaecheon on Facebook

Then, we dipped the beef slices and watched it cook in seconds! The beef was so succulent and it soaked up all the taste of the kimchi broth?

#HHWT Tip: We highly recommend adding in some ramen to your broth and enjoy it when it's rich in beef and seafood flavours!

And it isn't just shabu-shabu you should try at Cheonhaecheon. They have a section of cooked food which we loved as well, especially the Korean fried chicken! They have the original and yangnyeom flavours and both were done right? We also tried their tteokbokki and it was just as amazing.

Overall, it was really comforting to have shabu-shabu especially after a long day of being out and about. Not to mention that the service at the restaurant was impeccable too, the owner made sure we were comfortable and he even gave us free Jeju magnets as souvenirs? We'd give Cheonhaecheon a big thumbs up and if you're heading to Jeju, this is one restaurant you shouldn't miss. After all, it's not easy to find a halal shabu-shabu eatery like this in South Korea!

Here's how we'd rate our experience at Cheonhaecheon:

Food: 8/10

Ambience: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Price: 6/10

Address: 25, Halladaehak-ro, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea

Opening hours: 11am-10.50pm

Contact: +82-64-742-1101

Price: 34,000KRW per person

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