Domestic Trip to Taean, Day 1: Cafe M99, Pajeon Kalguksu, Taean Seobu Market

Fall is the perfect season for travel, with bright sunlight and a pleasantly cool breeze. Because of that, it naturally makes you want to head off somewhere. Today, I’d like to introduce the first day of a trip to Taean, Chungcheongnam-do, one of the domestic destinations that’s great for a 1-night, 2-day getaway. Since it takes a comfortable 3 hours from Seoul, it seems like a popular choice for weekend trips. Taean is a city by the sea, so when people look for places to visit there, they often recommend seaside cafes or dishes made with seafood.

Among so many places worth visiting, I’ve narrowed them down and will introduce the ones I chose now.

Cafe M99

Cafe M99 is located at 99-40 Mongsanpo-gil, Nam-myeon, Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, and you can think of it as a cafe right in front of the sea. I think that may be exactly what makes a seaside cafe special.

You can tell from the business hours that this is truly a tourist spot. From Monday through Thursday, it’s open from 10:00 to 16:40, but on Friday it’s open from 10:00 to 20:00, on Saturday from 9:00 to 20:00, and on Sunday from 9:00 to 15:00. Just looking at the hours, you can see why it’s recommended as a place worth visiting in Taean!!

Cafe M99 was very convenient for parking. From the outside, it’s hard to imagine what the interior looks like, but when I looked it up, I remember the atmosphere inside the store was nice too. At first glance, the large glass windows suggest that you can enjoy the ocean from inside the cafe. Of course, when opening a cafe right in front of the sea, it makes sense to make sure you can see the ocean from inside the store.

This is the view of Taean’s sea seen from inside Cafe M99. I could also see people who had come in camper vans. It made me think it would be fun to rent a camper van and stay overnight someday.

Since this is probably a place that gets very crowded at times, there was a self-order kiosk. They said the Americano comes with two shots by default, so there was no need to add extra shots.

The interior feels quite different from how it looks from the outside. If you go up to the second floor, the tables are only along the sides, with an open space in the center, so even if there are many people, it doesn’t seem like it would feel cramped. But the sound of people talking echoes more than expected, so if it’s crowded, it might feel a bit hectic.

The iced Americano I ordered came out, and I thought, what about the ice!!! Ice shaped like bear paws, so cute. Seriously, a single piece of ice can make such a difference in how something feels!!

After driving all the way to Taean and looking out at the sea, I relaxed the fatigue of the trip with a refreshing, cute cup of iced Americano from Cafe M99.

It would have been nice to have a delicious meal and then go to the cafe, but since I had changed the order and had eaten various tasty things at a rest stop on the way to Taean, I had coffee first and then went to take care of dinner.

Taean Pajeon Kalguksu

Taean Pajeon Kalguksu is located at 34, Market 1-gil, Taean-eup, Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, and its business hours are every day from 9:00 to 18:00.

There is various media information on the wall showing that it has been featured on television. Kalguksu was aired on 2TV Live Information in 2016 and on Live Today in 2018. I was surprised when I saw the price. Kalguksu at 4,000 won—I thought, well, that makes sense, but then I also wondered if the portion might be small. But the moment the kalguksu was served, all I could say was that it was amazing. And since the price is so low, cards and bank transfers are not accepted. Only cash!! But I understand. For that price and that amount of food, of course you should pay in cash.

As the name Pajeon Kalguksu suggests, they used to sell pajeon and kalguksu, but now they no longer sell pajeon.

Thanks to being near the sea, the clams were really fresh and plentiful. The noodles were thick, as you’d expect from handmade kalguksu, so they were a bit rustic, but isn’t that exactly the charm of hand-cut noodles? Since they added so many clams, the broth was refreshing, but the starch from the flour gave it a thick texture.

Taean Pajeon Kalguksu is located near Taean Seobu Market, so I also took a look around the market. Just as you visit supermarkets or night markets when traveling abroad, visiting a traditional market on a domestic trip can be surprisingly fun, and you can buy a variety of things at low prices. If you’re planning a domestic trip, make sure to include a market visit in your itinerary at least once.