Family BBQ dinner with pre-grilled 3-person set in Gijang, Busan

The Barbecue 051: camping vibes in the middle of the city

This was a revisit for me. This is a great spot whenever I'm craving that outdoor barbecue feeling — a place where you can step out of a stuffy indoor restaurant and enjoy the thrill of a camping trip along with meat full of smoky charcoal flavor.

Business info

• Location: 62 Gijanghaean-ro, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, South Korea
• Hours: Daily 11:30 AM – midnight (last order 10:40 PM)
• Reservations, groups, parking, and pets welcome

Parking and exterior

We're repeat visitors to The Barbecue 051 — it's a great place to bring the kids, so we come here fairly often. When you go to a pension or go camping, kids love outdoor barbecue, right? But now that they're a bit older, grilling meat for four isn't so easy anymore. At The Barbecue 051 the meat comes lightly pre-grilled, so we can get that outdoor barbecue feeling without much hassle, which is why we keep coming back. There's a large parking lot beside the building.

The moment you step through the entrance, a vintage wooden fence and a big "The Barbecue 051" sign greet you and catch your eye. The exotic yet cozy interior makes you feel like you've wandered into a pension or a glamping site, so you get a little traveler's thrill before you've even sat down. The seating is spaced out generously too, making it a solid choice for family meals, gatherings with friends, or a date.

Indoor and terrace atmosphere

Weekends get busy, so we made a reservation before going. Everything was already set up when we arrived, so we could get started a bit faster. This place gets a lot of family and group visits, and since it was a weekend, the pre-grilled meat was being cooked nonstop.

The indoor tables are a reasonable size, and there's quite a lot of outdoor seating too. With fall starting to set in, the terrace seats are only going to get more popular.

Menu and what we ordered

We ordered the 3-person set along with mul naengmyeon (cold noodle soup), ramyeon (instant noodles), doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), and a bowl of rice.

Pre-grilled meat, skewers, and pork belly skin

As soon as we ordered, the charcoal came out, and the staff kindly laid the pre-grilled meat and an assortment of skewers on the grill for us. The freshly colored, thick-cut meat was crisp on the outside and juicy inside — every bite burst with juice. It carried that deep, smoky charcoal aroma, so it tasted rich and savory even with just a little dab of salt.

You can't have camping without skewers, right? These skewers alternate meat with fresh vegetables like bell pepper and green onion, so they're fun to look at and fun to eat. The mild sweetness of the vegetables paired with the rich, fatty meat made for a real treat. Dipped in barbecue sauce, even the kids ate them right up.

On top of that, the crispy-yet-chewy grilled pork belly skin rounds things out into a combo that would also make a great drinking snack. Pork belly skin is usually pre-seasoned or dipped in sauce, but here it's grilled straight over charcoal, and it was genuinely clean-tasting, nutty, and delicious on its own.

Going with kids? Ask for the ramyeon mild

The pre-grilled meat is definitely a plus — we grilled fast, ate like we were on a mission, and moved straight into the meal. My son loves ramyeon, so he ordered it, but they'd put in hot green chili, so it was delicious for an adult palate but too spicy for a kid — he ended up eating the mul naengmyeon instead. I heard the table next to us ask for theirs to be made mild, so if you're ordering for a child, I'd suggest requesting it not spicy. For me, though, eating meat and then spicy ramyeon was so good.

My husband ordered the doenjang jjigae, which came with several big chunks of meat and a generous portion — honestly too much for one person. Really, the stew alone would have made for a hearty, nutritious meal.

Finishing with icy mul naengmyeon

After meat, naengmyeon is basically the law. One sip of the icy broth with its floating ice shards instantly cuts through the heat of the charcoal and the richness of the meat. The chewy noodles come piled high with thinly sliced pickled radish, sweet-and-spicy dadaegi (chili paste), boiled egg, and nutty sesame seeds, so you can finish off that very last bite feeling completely satisfied. If you've got any barbecue left over, I'd recommend wrapping a piece in the noodles.

Who I'd recommend this to

• Anyone who wants a glamping or camping feel near the city without traveling far
• Anyone who wants to enjoy thick, juicy charcoal-grilled meat and colorful skewers all in one sitting
• Anyone who wants to finish their meal with a cool, icy naengmyeon

Good food and a relaxed atmosphere come together here, making it more than enough of a spot to create special memories with people you care about. If you're craving smoky barbecue this weekend, I think it's worth a visit.