Birthday date at a Haeundae restaurant with free dessert: Smith's Farm

I went on a date to Smith's Farm, a Western-style restaurant in Haeundae. It also happens to have parking, which made this Haeundae restaurant date even more convenient — here's my review :)

• Address: 31 Haeundae-ro483beon-gagil, Haeundae-gu, Busan, South Korea
• Hours: Sun–Thu 11:00–22:00 / Fri, Sat 11:00–24:00
• Parking: Available on both sides of the building
• Other: Corkage available (paid), pets not allowed

Where is Smith's Farm and how do you get there?

If you're taking public transit, Exit 4 of Dongbaek Station gets you there fastest — it's just a 5-minute walk from the subway station, so it's easy to visit by transit. By bus, get off at the Busan Munhwa Girls' High School stop, which involves a bit less walking than the subway.

Parking at Smith's Farm: free lots on both sides

Since this is a Haeundae restaurant with parking, it's even better as a date spot. There's free parking space on both sides of the building, so you can drive and still have an easy date. I was worried since I'd heard the lot was small, but there were open spots. It's not very spacious, so larger cars might have trouble parking.

Inside Smith's Farm: carrot decor and date-night mood

The place has a clean, upscale atmosphere. The little carrot decorations scattered around were so cute. Even on a weekday lunch, there were quite a few people — clearly it's already a popular spot for Haeundae's Western food scene.

There are plenty of tables further in, including large group tables, so it's also great for gatherings in Haeundae. The space is bigger than expected, so you can visit anytime, but booking through Naver Reservation gets you seated faster at a slightly more private table. Some tables are separated by partitions, which made it even better for a date!

Since this Haeundae restaurant does get waits, you might need to line up, but there's a separate waiting area so you can wait comfortably.

The restroom is inside the restaurant — nice and clean!

What's on the Smith's Farm menu?

There's a wide variety of Western dishes: octopus steak, pasta, gnocchi, pizza, and more. Smith's Farm has its own signature items too, so it was fun to pick and choose. Everything looked delicious in the photos, which made it even harder to decide ㅠㅠ

There's also coffee and tea, plus beer, highballs, and other alcohol, so you can have a light drink too. They especially have a lot of wine, which makes it great for setting the mood on an anniversary date.

We ordered the octopus steak, shrimp oil pasta, and grilled romaine.

Grilled romaine: an honest review

They brought water and pickles first.

Fresh grilled romaine topped with a special mayo sauce and green sauce. Perfect for anyone who loves a salad loaded with sauce!

The occasional bite of grilled bacon added great texture and saltiness. And the chili oil gave it a spicy kick that was a nice extra!

Octopus steak, 29,800 won: the carrot puree is the star

Here comes the octopus steak I'd been so excited about! Since it's a seafood steak rather than meat, I ordered it wondering if it would really be good, if it would really hold up as a 'steak' — but the result was hugely satisfying!

It comes loaded with stone octopus and grilled vegetables. There was more octopus and veg than the menu photo showed. It's so generous that ₩29,800 doesn't feel expensive at all.

The octopus is... seriously so tender. You can just glide a knife through it. It's boiled and braised in soy sauce, then aged, so the seasoning soaks all the way through — every bite is savory and delicious no matter which part you eat. Tender yet chewy at the same time — absolutely perfect texture!

The orange sauce underneath the octopus is carrot puree. You dip the octopus and vegetables into it.

Spicy seasoning is sprinkled over the sweet carrot puree, so even people who don't like carrots can enjoy it without hesitation! The octopus sauce itself is sweet, so eating just octopus alone might get a bit much, but thanks to the spicy carrot puree, you can enjoy it all the way through without getting tired of it.

Fresh wasabi, mayo sauce, and chipotle mayo sauce are served alongside, so you can enjoy even more variety of flavor. Personally, the octopus was best dipped in the carrot puree, and for the vegetables I'd recommend the spicy chipotle mayo!

There's also a lot of grilled vegetables — mushrooms, broccoli, corn, tomatoes — plenty for two people to share.

What does the shrimp oil pasta taste like?

The shrimp oil pasta is made with shrimp, roasted garlic, garlic scapes, and zucchini.

It's a red, slightly spicy oil pasta — a flavor I don't think I've had anywhere else. Having carrot on top was an unusual touch that's distinctly Smith's Farm's oil pasta.

The shrimp were seriously plump, so the texture was great. When you wind up the noodles and take a big bite, you get garlic aroma and seafood flavor all at once — so good >_< With so many different ingredients, the texture was really varied, and the portion was huge — I was seriously full.

Free dessert: banana brulee and vanilla ice cream

The owner gave us a complimentary banana brulee! Cracking through the crackly sugar coating and getting a bite with the banana — a combination that just can't be bad.

They also gave us vanilla ice cream topped with a cute little carrot. There was chocolate sauce on top so the sweetness was out of control >_< and crumble underneath for a crunchy, sweet finish. The mains were already generous, and getting a dessert course on top of that made me seriously stuffed. As full as I was, it was a genuinely happy meal!

Would I return to Smith's Farm for another birthday date?

I picked and chose carefully for my birthday to visit this Haeundae restaurant, and Smith's Farm made me so happy with both the delicious food and the complimentary extras. This visit left such a good memory that I'm planning to come back for the next anniversary or date! Hope they stay in business for a long, long time~