Making Chocolate in Jeju Was a Slightly Cursed Experience

For Spring Break, I traveled to Jeju Island off the coast of Korea.

Short disclaimer: traveling around Korea right now is acceptable and safe, and I got complete permission from my school (in fact, they were confused why I even asked…).

So, double-masked, social-distanced, and covered in sanitizer, we headed to the weirdest part of our trip. Chocolate Land.

My friend told me this place had mixed reviews, so I had low expectations. What we found was a glorious cross between abandoned amusement park and low quality wax museum. It was a museum that was desperately trying to fill out its giant floorspace with anything (and I mean ANYTHING) chocolate-related.

It was the kind of slightly damp and off-putting experience only Jenny Nicholson could truly appreciate.

The building was cold, drafty, and architecturally looked straight out of Star Wars. Immediately, you could tell why this place had bad reviews. Koreans expect high-aesthetic, instagrammable, upscale attractions. Soap making in lux green tea fields, this is not.

We bought our tickets (10,000) for the 2:30 chocolate making class. While we waited, we pursued the exhibits. By exhibits, I mean:

A couple of cases of probably decade-old chocolate, crumbling and cracked in their molds
Three posters of Johnny Depp in Chocolat
Figure drawings made with chocolate
Arcade games with creepy carnival music that played on loop
Two life-sized statues of Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka

Pretty much everything was in Korean, but there wasn’t much Korean either. Really, all they had were some international chocolate boxes but you can find those in most supermarkets.

My favorite chocolate exhibit was the Kimchi chocolate pictured below.

kimchi chocolate...just a mold or...?

the beatles i guess

At 2:30, my friend and two families walked into the chocolate-making room. Our instructor was a nervous-looking older man who hurried to set up our tables. The whole class was in Korean and I didn’t understand much, so I just hoped the spirit of Willy Wonka would take the wheel.

I chose white, my friend chose milk, and we melted our respective chocolates in bowls over the hot water, bain-marie style. Once melted, we set up our pipe bags and began piping it (poorly) into the molds.

It was actually really fun trying to get the perfect swirl. We also attempted layers and yin-yang designs.

When we finished, we waited outside for ten minutes for the chocolates to cool. None of the kids played with any arcade machines; they just sat there while the staff stood around awkwardly. We popped our chocolates into the mold and took it home.

The chocolates actually tasted really bad. Like plastic.

I’d say it wasn’t a waste of money for me because telling my friends about this place later made me cry with laughter. But yeah, I don’t recommend. Unless you’re just….really into Johnny Depp.

Thanks for reading!