Beef tripe restaurant in Seomyeon, Busan: Set A at Taepung Gopchang

I recently went looking for a good gopchang (beef tripe) restaurant in Seomyeon and ended up at Taepung Gopchang! There are days when you can't give up either grilled gopchang or gopchang hot pot, and this is the Seomyeon gopchang spot where you can enjoy both at once.

Where is Taepung Gopchang? Dongcheon-ro 107beon-gil near Seomyeon Station

Taepung Gopchang, the Seomyeon gopchang spot, sits near Seomyeon Station at 16 Dongcheon-ro 107beon-gil, Busanjin-gu, 1st floor! It was easy to find, and the entrance was pretty wide, so it caught my eye right away.

Weekday evening at Taepung Gopchang: outdoor yajang tables

I visited on a weekday evening — ran straight over after work — and customers kept streaming in the whole time. There are outdoor seats outside Taepung Gopchang with a real yajang (night market) feel, so I'd also recommend Seomyeon Taepung Gopchang as a Seomyeon yajang spot!

Beyond the outdoor tables, the indoor space is spacious too, so I'd also recommend it as a Seomyeon spot for gatherings or group work dinners! Since the gopchang is fully grilled in the kitchen before it reaches the table, there's no worry about smoke clinging to your clothes or oil splattering — I could eat comfortably in a clean atmosphere.

Set A vs Set B: what's the difference?

I couldn't give up either grilled beef gopchang or beef gopchang hot pot, so I ordered Set A! Set A comes with grilled gopchang plus beef tripe hot pot, while Set B comes with grilled gopchang plus nakgopsae (octopus, tripe and shrimp stir-fry). Pick whichever suits your taste.

Eating at Taepung Gopchang, the Seomyeon gopchang spot, I found the gopchang really fresh and delicious, and the price was so reasonable?!?! Two people eating both grilled gopchang and hot pot for under ₩50,000 — that's genuinely rare these days.

Side dishes: salted squid (ojingeo-jeotgal) and spicy green peppers

While I was ordering, they brought out the side dishes. The squid jeotgal (salted squid) with a drizzle of sesame oil on top... so good. There was also a pepper that looked like a cucumber-shaped chili but was actually spicy — eating it between bites of grilled gopchang and hot pot balanced everything out nicely.

Beef tripe hot pot: plenty of glass noodles, broth that isn't greasy

Grilled gopchang and gopchang hot pot are the same core ingredient, but the flavor and mood are totally different, so you get to enjoy two different appeals. Eating gopchang together with a warm broth is a different pleasure from grilling. Alternating bites of grilled gopchang with the soup dish in between made everything taste even better. The chewy gopchang paired well with the warm broth, and it was satisfying to eat all the way through to the end.

The gopchang hot pot also arrives fully cooked, so you just simmer it on low heat as you eat. There were plenty of glass noodles inside too, so my companion and I could share without fighting over them (haha).

Even for a single serving of hot pot, there was a generous amount of gopchang and daechang (beef large intestine) in it. And the perilla leaf aroma in the hot pot was so good. My companion at Taepung Gopchang, the Seomyeon gopchang spot, said it was the least greasy gopchang hot pot they'd ever had in their life! Even people who can't handle greasy flavors could easily enjoy Taepung Gopchang's clean, deeply flavorful hot pot.

The mixed grill: daechang, gopchang and beef heart

It's not just gopchang — the mixed platter lets you try several different cuts together, so you get more variety than sticking to just one part. I personally love daechang the most, and I appreciated how generous the portion was. You get to enjoy daechang, gopchang, and heart all together!

Eating the golden-brown grilled gopchang piece by piece, I really got to enjoy that chewy texture and nutty flavor. If you love gopchang, I think this mixed grill is a great dish to order and slowly work through while chatting. The whole cuts of beef gopchang had already been prepped and trimmed by the owner.

In what order should you eat it?

Since everything is mostly cooked before it arrives, once the kimchi, bean sprouts and chives on the grill are nicely charred, dig in right away! Heart gets tougher the longer it's grilled, so I ate it as soon as it came out.

It's full of fat but somehow not greasy — really nutty and delicious... If you're truly searching for a good gopchang restaurant in Seomyeon, I recommend Taepung Gopchang.

Verdict: grill and hot pot in one meal in Seomyeon

I also liked that they serve a good variety of vegetables to eat alongside the Korean beef gopchang! And since they use domestic Korean beef, the gopchang and daechang felt even fresher. If you're craving gopchang in Seomyeon and want to enjoy both grilling and hot pot together, I recommend trying Taepung Gopchang's Set A and getting two dishes in one visit!