Songjeong Korean restaurant with a reserved table for two: Songjeongok

Today I'm bringing a story about a Songjeong restaurant I visited with a friend after making plans to meet up for the first time in a while! This place used to be famous as a seafood stew joint, but I'd heard it did a full makeover this year into an abalone set-menu specialist, so I'd been curious for a while. My friend and I happened to be due for a catch-up anyway, so we booked a table and met up haha.

We spotted the tiled-roof building from far away and both went "is this really it?" — turns out it's actually a hanok building that's been standing on this spot for a long time. It's close to Songjeong Beach too, and the location is great for a meal if you're out on a course that includes the Dongbusan outlets or Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.

Where is Songjeongok in Songjeong, and what are its hours and parking?

Songjeongok Songjeong Main Branch occupies the 1st and 2nd floors of a hanok building at 54-1 Songjeonggwangeogol-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan. Weekdays (Mon–Fri) it's open 11:00–22:00 with a break from 15:00–17:00, while weekends (Sat–Sun) run 11:00–22:00 with no break. Parking is available on the road right in front of the restaurant.

Inside Songjeongok's two-story hanok building

Inside, Songjeongok is filled with antique furniture, white porcelain jars, and mother-of-pearl display cabinets. The moment we walked in the door, it felt like stepping into a traditional tea house.

Old-fashioned hanok pieces are scattered around in different spots, so there was plenty to look at even from our seats. Almost mistook it for a hanok museum for a second lol.

Songjeongok menu and prices

Songjeongok's menu centers on two dishes: the abalone pot rice set at ₩19,000 and the abalone seafood hinoki set at ₩23,000. A simple, focused single-menu setup.

• Abalone Pot Rice Set ₩19,000
• Abalone Seafood Hinoki Set ₩23,000
• Whole Octopus Blanched (add-on) ₩20,000
• Bossam (add-on) ₩9,000
• Extra pot rice ₩3,000
• Soju/Beer ₩5,000
• Handmade makgeolli ₩5,000

Prices are as of the visit and may change.

Abalone pot rice set for two: innards-mixed rice and hinoki-steamed pork

What we ordered today was two servings of the Abalone Pot Rice Set. The abalone came on top of the pot rice together with the abalone innards haha.

We ordered the Abalone Pot Rice Set, two servings! Haha. The bossam had all the fat completely rendered out, so soft, and wrapped in a lettuce leaf it's a taste I can't even put into words hahaha.

Side dishes at Songjeongok: seasoned raw crab, tofu, house-made green onion kimchi

The side dishes at Songjeongok — the seasoned crab, the tofu — every single one had that made-with-care taste. I heard the kimchi and green onion kimchi are homemade too, and you just keep reaching for more! You could really tell there was something different about the savoriness.

Is Songjeongok a good spot to eat with a friend? An honest review

The bossam and abalone pot rice combo at Songjeongok really worked well together. After we finished the rice, we even made nurungji (scorched rice) out of the leftover pot and ate it right down to the end — and that ended up being a real treat on its own. Chatting with my friend, I completely lost track of time and just kept eating lol.

The seasoned crab and green onion kimchi were the kind of flavors I kept going back to again and again, and eating inside the hanok interior made the whole meal feel unhurried and relaxed.

It was a place that worked just as well for a long, easy catch-up chat with a friend as it would for a quiet date-style meal. Next time I'm in the area, I want to try the abalone seafood hinoki set.

₩19,000! A satisfying abalone pot rice set, filled up all the way from the bossam to the nurungji finish — a Songjeong restaurant well worth the trip!