Seomyeon teppanyaki bar in Busan: wagyu and yakisoba at Teppan King

It had been a while since I went out for teppanyaki, so I visited Teppan King (데판킹), a teppanyaki specialist in Seomyeon.

A teppanyaki atmosphere in Seomyeon

The interior felt a little different from a typical meat restaurant. Maybe because it is a Japanese-style izakaya, it definitely had a Japanese feel. There were bar tables centered around the teppan and separate tables too; if you order teppanyaki, your food is cooked right in front of you. So just sitting there is entertaining in itself.

The lighting was soft and slightly dim overall, making it a nice setting for a bottle of soju too.

When I come somewhere like this, the food is great, but watching it being cooked is quietly fun too. With the ingredients cooking right before your eyes, the time between ordering and eating is never boring. What did we order that day??? Kobe-style wagyu rib steak, special yakisoba (Japanese stir-fried noodles), and of course a bottle of soju.

Wagyu rib steak grilling right in front of us

The Korean beef wagyu rib cut went onto the teppan. First came the sound of the meat grilling, then soon the aroma of beef along with that smoky fire scent. Since it was beef, it cooked quickly too.

And the truly impressive moment was when the flames suddenly shot up. It feels real when you keep it on video, but in person the flames rose much bigger than I expected, so I instinctively grabbed my camera. This is the fun of teppanyaki.

Instead of simply grilling the meat and bringing it out on a plate, they grilled it, flipped it, and even gave us flames right in front of us, so we could enjoy the atmosphere before even taking a bite.

The wagyu rib steak arrived nicely cooked and cut into easy, bite-sized pieces, which made it convenient to eat. Trying it, I could really taste the rich flavor of the Korean beef itself, and it was very, very tender? The ingredients were fresh. Getting to watch the whole teppan cooking process right in front of me made it especially memorable!

It chewed tenderly without being too tough or dry. It was good for eating slowly over a bottle of soju. The grilled onion, bean sprouts, and mushrooms were garnishes that went well with the meat.

Personally, eating only meat continuously can get a little rich, but having it with grilled onion made it go down much more easily. And of course, soju cannot be left out with meat like this. One bite, one sip of soju.

Let’s get straight into the special yakisoba too

I considered ordering only the meat, but since I had come to a teppanyaki place, it would have felt like a shame not to eat yakisoba, so I ordered the special yakisoba as well. Back into spectator mode.

What I felt while eating at Teppan King that day was that the food tasted good, of course, but the atmosphere of having it cooked right in front of the teppan was what stayed with me most.

It is especially nice for several people to sit together over drinks, and because the food is made right in front of you, it is fun to watch while talking. That day, rather than seeking out some grand famous restaurant, I went thinking we would just have a casual bottle of soju, and this Seomyeon Station izakaya bar, Teppan King, had an atmosphere I liked more than expected.

Maybe because it came freshly stir-fried from the teppan, the sauce had soaked nicely into the noodles, and since it was the special version, it had a variety of ingredients. Shrimp, squid, pork, and more made each bite fun, with different textures too.

In particular, lightly breaking the runny yolk of the fried egg on top of the yakisoba and mixing it into the noodles softened the sauce flavor and gave it a different feel. A forkful of yakisoba between bites of meat, then another piece of meat—the pairing worked better than I expected.

The yakisoba felt like a dish that could work as a main rather than just a side. The noodles were chewy, and each ingredient was cooked just right without being overcooked.

After the meat and yakisoba, I was quite full, and above all, the fun of eating food grilled straight from the teppan made it more memorable than an ordinary dinner. Teppan King is a Seomyeon Station izakaya bar with distinctive teppanyaki dishes, an atmospheric setting, and noise that is not overly loud. The room is dark and the lighting warm, so visiting in the evening feels good for having a drink and talking.