By now most foreigners in Jeju will be familiar with Bagdad Café. Since opening in 2006, the restaurant has established itself as one of the most popular expat haunts on the island, and has built a reputation for offering authentic Indian cuisine in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Bagdad owner and Jeju native Hyun Ju-Roung named the place after a 1987 West German film called Out of Rosenheim, about a group of people whose lives change after connecting in a rundown café in Bagdad, California. The movie was re-released in America a year later as Bagdad Café. The film is one of Hyun’s favourites, and helped to inspire her venture into the restaurant business. She says she wanted her own Bagdad Café to be a place for locals and out-of-towners to meet and connect in friendly surroundings here in Jeju.

Hyun places a strong focus on quality and authenticity. When she needed chefs for her fledging restaurant, she sent her business partner, Sobu, out to India to find them.

Meet Hayoung. She’s a typical Korean girl leading a not-so-typical life. She lives on Jeju-do with her father, who owns a restaurant on a bluff overlooking the ocean. He also happens to be King of the East Sea. Hayoung dreams of one day becoming the world’s greatest chef, but those dreams were recently shattered when judges at an international cooking competition called her cooking “trash.” She’s a determined young girl though, and one day she’ll make her dreams come true with a little …

It’s a cold day on Halla Mountain. Gnarled trees cast ghastly shadows on the forest floor. We’re hunting a group of Koreans who’ve taken cover on the far side of a ravine. I take up a defensive position with Zach and Pete on the opposite ridge. As the wind blows bitter cold through the leaves, we see figures in camouflage fatigues moving through the underbrush. I flip the safety off my AK-47 and watch in silence as they break through a tangle of thorn bushes. …

Fred Dustin is a Jeju institution. He’s lived on the island for nearly 37 years but has been in Korea for over 55. His life story, as well as his tales of a Jeju long since past are received by today’s ex-pats with a kind of respect that borders on awe.
You might find Dustin lounging in his offices at the Kimnyong Maze Park, the same park he created with his own hands. At 77 years old, Dustin remains as quick–witted and hard working as ever. On a cool, October afternoon …