Seafood feast with Gwangan Bridge views in Busan: Gwanganda Jjji

A full seafood and sashimi spread in Gwangalli

Gwanganda Jjji (광안다찌), a great Minrak-dong restaurant for enjoying the flavors of Busan in Gwangalli. It is a place where you can try all sorts of seafood, fresh sashimi, and a variety of dishes at once.

Location, parking, and the Gwangan Bridge view

Gwanganda Jjji's Gwangalli main branch is on the sixth floor of Sanbada Hoe Town, in the building beside Minrak-dong Millennium Raw Fish Center.

The building itself was not hard to find, and I could use either the building's first-floor parking or the Suyeon Park public parking lot, so there was no parking stress. Gwangalli and Minrak-dong can be terribly stressful for parking on weekends, so having somewhere to park was convenient.

Above all, the first thing that caught my eye upon entering was the fantastic Gwangan Bridge view!! Through the huge windows, Gwangalli Beach and Gwangan Bridge stretched out beautifully, so it would be lovely to visit with friends who are traveling to Busan.

There were also separate private dining rooms, making it look like a nice place for a family meal or a meal with your parents.

A table-filling ₩55,000-per-person dacchi-style spread

Gwanganda Jjji: ₩55,000 per person.

Once I sat down, the food began to arrive, and there was an impressive variety right from the first dishes. There were even unusual things I do not normally come across, such as braised pufferfish skin.

Starting with dishes as light as a salad.

The spread is arranged so you can sample a little of many things: grilled eel, soy-marinated crab, abalone, jeon (Korean savory pancakes), seafood, creamy shrimp, cheese-baked clams, seasoned cockles, and more.

There was one big pancake, plus abalone sashimi and grilled abalone—I lost count of how many abalone came out.. Such a generous spread.

Personally, the fun of a place like this is that you are not eating only one dish the whole time; you get to taste this and that.

In particular, from seafood such as abalone and turban shell that lets you taste the sea of Busan, to live wriggling sannakji (live octopus), my chopsticks stayed busy even before the sashimi properly arrived.

What was in the assorted sashimi platter?

Several kinds of sashimi were beautifully arranged on a large platter. I liked that the fish names were engraved on little wooden tags, so I knew what I was eating.

For orders of three or more, the sashimi platter comes with a Gwangan Bridge decoration. It looked so cool that I thought,, if I visit a Gwangalli restaurant with three or four people, I should come here again.

The flounder sashimi in particular, closely scored with knife cuts, had a pleasantly springy bite that softened as I chewed, with a clean, nutty flavor. The best.

The precious red sea bream also had a texture that fit the mouth so nicely.

Finishing with crab stew and abalone porridge

The food just keeps coming. After having some seafood and sashimi, you naturally start craving a warm, spicy broth.

One hot spoonful of the rich, spicy crab stew broth really soothed my stomach, and the braised fish was plump and well seasoned, making it great with rice.

I finished feeling full with fried shrimp, fried small crabs, and abalone porridge.

When sashimi alone feels like a shame in Minrak-dong

When people say they are having sashimi in Gwangalli, they often buy it at a raw-fish center and then move to a chogochujang restaurant to eat it, and that is how I had always done it too. This time, at Gwanganda Jjji in Minrak-dong, I enjoyed not only fresh sashimi and seafood but also plenty of different dishes. It had a different charm from eating sashimi alone, and I found this way of enjoying it quite satisfying.

What is more, Gwanganda Jjji is a Gwangalli restaurant and drinking spot with a reasonable ₩55,000-per-person price and fantastic Gwangalli views. It seems like a good fit for a family meal with your parents or for getting together with a group for drinks :)