Gwangalli Korean BBQ couple set: staff-grilled shoulder rack, Donbegi

When you look for a place for a team dinner or family meal in Busan, there are a few conditions you check first, right? Is parking easy, are there private rooms, will they grill the meat for you? Donbegi Gwang-an Branch in Gwangalli ticked all three, so I wanted to introduce it.

Where is Donbegi Gwang-an Branch? Hours and parking

Donbegi Gwang-an Branch is at 34 Millakbondong-ro 11beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan, on the 1st and 2nd floors, and it is open every day from 12:00 to 23:30 all year. One hour of free parking is available.

Parking is covered for 1 hour at the Seohui Starhills Centum Primo officetel lot right in front, so coming by car was no hassle.

What does 480-hour aged pork actually taste like?

The biggest feature of this Gwangalli BBQ restaurant is its meat, aged for 480 hours in 3 stages.

Long aging isn't automatically better. What matters is the skill to keep the juices while making the texture softer, and when I actually ate it, Donbegi's meat was really tender with no gamey smell at all.

What's in the Couple Mixed Set we ordered for two

Two of us visited and ordered the Couple Mixed Set (2–3 people) first. Unusually, the side dishes are placed on the edge of the grill, and with the table set this way there was plenty of room even with lots of dishes.

It was my first time at a BBQ place that gives a generous helping of myeongran (salted pollock roe) as a basic side! I liked the sides, made with fresh ingredients and no skimping.

Can you choose the cuts in the Couple Mixed Set?

The Couple Mixed Set let you choose first between shoulder rack and French rack, then between aged pork neck and aged pork belly! Even though it's a set menu, it isn't fixed, and being able to choose was actually even better.

After some deliberation, we ordered 400g of aged shoulder rack and 200g of aged pork neck.

When the meat came out, a staff member kindly explained that the aged shoulder rack is a cut trimmed from the rib bones and pork neck together, so you get the tenderness of pork neck and the rich meaty flavor of ribs at the same time.

How does the staff-grilled aged shoulder rack taste?

Another thing I liked at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch: the staff grill everything for you from start to finish!

Thanks to that, even the tricky-to-grill shoulder rack was eaten at its best moment, and we could chat and eat comfortably.

Seeing the shine on the almost-done meat, you could tell there was a lot of juice inside.

And maybe thanks to the 3-stage aging, a nutty flavor lingered the more I chewed.

Above all, being able to eat it at the perfect doneness was a big plus.

Personally, I understood right away why shoulder rack is Donbegi's signature menu.

Is the aged pork neck dry?

The aged pork neck was better than expected too. It wasn't dry at all; it was very moist and the juices were alive.

Pork neck is usually thought of as dry, but Donbegi's aged pork neck was really tender, a texture almost anyone would like. Eating it alternately with the shoulder rack, each had a clearly different charm, which made it even more satisfying.

Finishing with traditional doenjang jjigae and rice

After eating a good amount of meat, we ordered the traditional doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew). The broth was rich and earthy, and it went really well with the meat.

You can adjust the spice level when ordering, which I liked, and with one bowl of rice to eat alongside, it was just right as a closing meal.

It felt like it settled my stomach after the meat, and the flavor suited the meat dishes well.

Which Donbegi set suits team dinners and dates? Overall verdict

Donbegi has a range of sets, from the Couple Mixed Set I ordered to the Family Mixed Set, and for a team dinner the 800g Family Mixed Set looked like a really good starting menu.

There's also a Couple Wine Set to enjoy with wine, so I could see why it's popular as a date course. The rooms are well equipped too, so you can use them to suit the occasion. If you're in Gwangalli, Busan, and want a BBQ restaurant with rooms, a good place for a team dinner, or a pork belly BBQ spot in Gwangalli, this is a good one to visit.

• Tender texture from 480-hour aging
• Comfortable meal with staff grilling for you
• Private rooms, recommended for team dinners and family gatherings
• Parking support available
• Satisfying quality in both shoulder rack and pork neck
• A hearty finish with doenjang jjigae

When I want good meat in Gwangalli without any fuss, I think Donbegi Gwang-an Branch will come to mind again.