Vintage pub toast and cheese fire noodle platter in Nampo-dong: Budan

Today's recommendation: a Nampo-dong bar in Busan called Budan

Location and hours at Budan Nampo Branch

• 📍 Location: 6 Gwangbok-ro, 2nd floor, Busan
• 🕒 Hours: Daily 17:00–02:00 (Last order 01:00)
• ✅ Open year-round
• Reservations available

Second floor of Nampo-dong's main street, a neon sign entrance

Hi everyone, today I visited Budan, a great spot for anju (drinking snacks) in Nampo-dong, Busan hahaha. It's near the main street of Nampo-dong so it's super accessible, and right from the entrance leading up to the second floor, a hip neon sign welcomes you — made it really easy to find haha.

🪑 What's the inside atmosphere like?

The moment I walked in, what struck me was the mix of classic and hip. The overall vintage brick walls combined with dark wood and metal frames gave it a vintage-yet-modern pub feel. The soft warm orange light from what looked like bulb-style lamps made for a really atmospheric drinking spot haha.

Basic anju: toast and whipped cream

This is the golden toast that comes as a basic side, topped generously with whipped cream. Dipping the crispy bread in the sweet cream was perfect as a pre-meal appetizer haha. The cream is sweet, so it pairs really well with plain white bread~

📋 What's on the menu

Here's the range of menu items Budan sells haha. From cheese jjusaewoo to snow-cream bone hot plate, corn-cheese chicken, hanwoo suji hot pot, sundubu-dan, tako-nomiyaki, kimchi pork cutlet stew, dubdwaeji kimchi grill, corn cheese dakbokki, X-koba, and so many more varieties. I ordered fried noodles, grilled chicken, and mapdalgu — beef intestine topped with cheese! There were so many delicious-looking menu items, I was so happy!

Mapdalgu hot plate: a cheese-bomb visual

Eek, the mapdalgu I ordered arrived~ The visual of a cheese-bomb grill filling the whole hot plate is seriously insane. On top of that, cheese and ramen noodles were added, and just looking at it made my mouth water~~ The composition: beef intestine, grilled chicken, ramen noodles, and a cheese bomb on top~ The scallion aroma was amazing too haha.

I took a close-up shot of the glossy beef intestine and chicken thigh haha. Wrapping the smoky, grilled special sauce with cheese and eating it, the savory and spicy flavors spread all through my mouth.

Cheese-pull ramen noodles

The ramen noodles filling one side of the hot plate had the spicy-sweet special sauce soaked deep into every strand, so even the color looked delicious haha. When I lifted a big chunk with chopsticks, the slightly melted cheese on the outside stretched long, wrapping around the noodles, and the moment I slurped them up, the chewy-yet-bouncy texture was amazing haha.

Beef intestine packed with gop (fat)

The beef intestine I picked up with chopsticks had sauce well soaked into the outside, crispy on the outside and soft inside, packed full of gop (intestinal fat) haha. The spicy-sweet sauce cut through the fattiness of the intestine cleanly, it was genuinely delicious!!!

It wasn't greasy at all, and the savory flavor doubled the more I chewed haha. With a subtle smoky char added on top, it's a flavor that calls for a drink~ The buldak (fire chicken) ramen wasn't overly spicy either, and the combination was just right!

The chicken thigh, with its dark char that looked like it was grilled over open flame, had a chewy and clean texture that got better the more I chewed haha.

📝 Visit summary

From taste to atmosphere to value for money, Budan is a hotspot in Nampo-dong that has it all~~ The combo of smoky grilled chicken thigh and beef intestine with savory cheese ramen noodles is a flavor pretty much anyone would like, no exceptions — a 100% success rate for anju choices! Along with the sweet basic toast side, the spacious, atmospheric interior made it a great spot for catching up with friends or a date~~ If you're looking for a bar in Nampo-dong with great atmosphere and hearty anju, I highly recommend Budan.