"Requests for Egg Roll and Seasoned Gim Not on Menu"... Jeju Famous Restaurant Ultimately Declares 'No Kids Zone'

Jeju Restaurant's No-Kids Zone Declaration Sparks Controversy
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A famous restaurant in Jeju Island has become a hot topic after revealing the reason for declaring a 'No Kids Zone.'

Representative menu of a Jeju Island restaurant that declared a 'No Kids Zone' and explained the reason: Rockfish set meal.
[Image source=Online community capture]

On the 24th, an online community post titled 'The reason why a restaurant in Jeju changed to a No Kids Zone' was uploaded. The restaurant introduced in the post is famous for its fried rockfish. This place has been operating as a No Kids Zone since May 3, 2021. The restaurant explained the 'reason for inevitably operating as a No Kids Zone despite being a regular restaurant' through a notice.

The restaurant stated, "First, the signature dish, the rockfish set meal, is seasoned with raw onion sauce, which can sometimes be spicy. From the children's perspective, parents often request, 'Please cook the onions and remake the sauce so that the child can eat it,' due to the spicy red sauce appearance," adding, "Currently, the rockfish set meal sauce is prepared and aged in advance. There are many requests to remake the sauce using only soy sauce so it does not look red."

They continued, "Since it is a fried fish dish, even the small bones can be chewed, but occasionally thick bones may be felt, which can be dangerous for children," and appealed, "Parents insist on frying the fish to a degree safe for children to eat, and if an accident occurs because of this, it becomes our responsibility." They also said, "We serve a different soup every day, but some parents ask for the soup to be less seasoned, less salty, or less spicy for their children," and added, "There were even unreasonable demands such as 'Please remake the soup with a recipe for my child.'"

The restaurant explained, "Among the eight side dishes that change daily, if there are no side dishes suitable for children, parents ask for items not on the menu such as fried eggs, rolled omelets, seasoned seaweed, or raw seaweed," and said, "We stocked seasoned seaweed and others due to many requests, but providing them unlimitedly is burdensome for store operations." They added, "Parents with children also demand the fixed broadcasting of kids' channels regardless of other customers' opinions for a comfortable meal and leave their children unattended even while hot food is being served."

Finally, the restaurant stated, "We also have grandchildren and like children, but it became too difficult, so we had no choice but to set this policy," and asked for understanding, saying, "We are always considering when we can end the No Kids Zone policy and feel sorry to parents with children."

One netizen criticized, "When I see parents with so many demands like that, they never think about choosing a menu suitable for their kids. They could go to a pork cutlet, pasta, or seolleongtang restaurant, but they can't give up spicy and hot food," and added, "It's ridiculous that they want to eat delicious food themselves while their kids just eat fried eggs or seasoned seaweed." Another netizen responded, "I understand the owner's feelings. They must have been pushed to that point," "Why do people look for kids' food at a restaurant that serves adults?" and "It's very selfish."

In fact, a survey conducted last year by the Ministry of Health and Welfare targeting 205 business owners operating No Kids Zones found that the most common reason for operating a No Kids Zone was "business owners must take full responsibility in case of child safety accidents" (68.0%, multiple responses allowed). This was followed by "concerns about conflicts with other customers due to noisy children" (35.9%), "desire for a quiet store atmosphere from the start" (35.2%), and "fear of conflicts with parents who do not properly take care of their children" (28.1%). Additionally, the Jeju Provincial Council attempted to pass an ordinance titled 'Ordinance Prohibiting Designation of Child-Restricted Establishments in Jeju Province,' but faced opposition claiming it was an "infringement on business freedom," leading to a softened expression in the ordinance to 'Ordinance for Preventing the Spread of Child-Restricted Establishments and Improving Awareness in Jeju Province.'