Haeundae European restaurant with bring-your-own-wine dinner: Bueokgan

I was craving Western food on Dalmaji-gogae in Haeundae, so I went to Bueokgan Haeundae Branch. The 1st floor of the building has Bueokgan Chinese, a Chinese restaurant, and on the 2nd floor is the European restaurant Bueokgan that I visited. It was fun that two restaurants with completely different vibes operate in the same building — going up to the 2nd floor revealed a space much bigger and more atmospheric than the exterior suggested.

Where do you park at Bueokgan Haeundae Branch?

Since a lot of people drive up to Dalmaji-gogae, it's a good idea to check parking before you go. There's space for about 3 cars beside Bueokgan Chinese.

Going a bit further down toward Cheongsapo, there's also a parking lot behind the building — from what I saw, it fits about 6 cars. That said, entering or maneuvering into the back lot might feel a little tricky for less experienced drivers.

Passing by on a different day around lunchtime, I noticed cars parked in a line along the road in front of the building too, but whether roadside parking is allowed or enforced can vary, so it's better to check the restaurant's own parking spaces first.

A second-floor hall like a vintage British hotel

The first thing that caught my eye as soon as I got upstairs was the interior. Overall it feels like a vintage, classic British hotel.

They said the vintage furniture and props in the restaurant were directly imported from the UK and France. From the furniture to the lighting to the small props, you could tell a lot of care went in — it was fun to look around and take photos before the food arrived.

The space itself is spacious with quite a lot of tables, and the gaps between tables didn't feel cramped either. There are sofa seats too where several people can sit comfortably, so it looked good not just for dates but as a family dining spot with kids.

There was a small kid at the table next to us, and blending in with the interior it made me want to take photos for them. It's a space where photos come out pretty, like a well-decorated vintage photo studio.

Bueokgan's 51,000 won couple's set, 64,000 won with add-ons

What we ordered was the Bueokgan couple's dish set for ₩51,000. It's composed of

• Soup
• Salad
• Pasta or rice
• Pizza
• 2 drinks

which made it good for two people to try a variety of dishes evenly.

What I chose was

• Sweet pumpkin soup
• Cabbage caesar salad (+₩4,000)
• Shrimp anchovy oil pasta
• Arugula prosciutto pizza (+₩5,000)
• Grapefruit ade (+₩2,000)
• Apple earl grey ade (+₩2,000)

Adding these extras to the base set brought the total to ₩64,000.

Sweet pumpkin soup

The pumpkin soup came out first. It's a sweet, smooth, familiar flavor that's easy to like with little divisiveness. But this soup was even better paired with the pizza that came later — I'll get to that when I talk about the pizza.

Napa cabbage caesar salad

A warm caesar salad with grilled cabbage topped generously with sun-dried tomato, bacon chips, onion flakes and cheese. The taste is fairly rich, creamy and salty. It was fine eaten on its own, but personally I liked it better paired between bites of pasta or pizza. Since it's a warm salad, it felt more like a dish in its own right than a simple palate-cleansing salad.

Shrimp anchovy oil pasta

I usually like anchovy pasta so I picked the shrimp anchovy oil pasta without much hesitation. It has big, plump shrimp and a fairly wet, saucy style. The anchovy's salty umami really comes through in the sauce, so I'd recommend mixing the noodles thoroughly with the sauce pooled at the bottom. The noodles weren't al dente with a firm core in the center — more of a comfortable doneness with a bit of bite, easy for Koreans to eat. The anchovy aroma isn't too overpowering either, so even someone trying anchovy pasta for the first time could probably enjoy it without much resistance.

Arugula prosciutto pizza

Personally, this was the dish I was most satisfied with among everything we ordered that day. The pizza topped with arugula and prosciutto was overall fresh and light. The dough wasn't too thin, and it wasn't thick like bread either — it was exactly the thickness I personally like.

Adding a bit of the tabasco green jalapeño sauce that came with it added a refreshing spiciness that paired well with the prosciutto pizza. The edge of the pizza was slightly thicker than the center, and there I found an unexpected combination — dipping the leftover crust into the sweet pumpkin soup from earlier was sweet and nutty, and surprisingly good together. If you have soup left, try this.

Grapefruit ade and apple earl grey ade

For drinks I picked grapefruit ade and apple earl grey ade. They were refreshing to sip in between bites of pizza and pasta.

Bueokgan corkage: free for up to 3 bottles of wine

One of the things that stood out most at Bueokgan was the free corkage policy. They said corkage is free for up to 3 bottles of wine. This is a place with lots of dishes like pizza and pasta that go well with wine, so free corkage for up to three bottles felt like a really great deal. This time I drove so I couldn't drink wine, but next time I'd like to leave the car and have a slow meal with wine.

What was the service like?

Not just the food, but the staff's service was good too. When bringing our pizza, they let us know ahead of time that if we had leftovers, just say the word and they'd pack it up — and I noticed they were telling other tables the same thing, not just ours. It's a small detail, but letting customers know useful information before they even have to ask gave a strong impression of kindness.

Is Bueokgan Haeundae Branch worth a visit?

If you're looking for an atmospheric Western restaurant on Dalmaji-gogae in Haeundae, Bueokgan Haeundae Branch is worth a visit. Having eaten there myself, the food wasn't overly distinctive in style but leaned toward something anyone could enjoy comfortably, and ordering the couple's dish set let us enjoy soup, salad, pasta, pizza and drinks all at once, which made it a good choice for two people. What stuck with me most, though, was the space. The interior decorated with vintage furniture and lighting is quite striking, and the tables have enough space between them that it would suit dates as well as family meals with parents or kids. And free corkage for up to 3 bottles of wine is worth remembering if you like wine. Next time I'd like to leave the car behind and take my time pairing wine with the pizza and pasta.