Weekday mother-daughter brunch in Suyeong, Busan: Famous Benny

On a weekday while the kids were off at kindergarten and school, I went to Gwangalli for lunch with my mom, just the two of us, for the first time in a while.

When I go out with the kids I end up picking everywhere based on their menu and their pace, but that day I really wanted to sit somewhere pretty, sip coffee, and take my time over brunch. That's how I ended up at Famous Benny Gwangalli Branch (페이머스 베니 광안리점).

Every dish looked beautiful, and the lineup was a bit different from the brunch I usually eat, so it was fun just choosing. In the warm wood-toned space with sunlight pouring in, my mom and I kept saying "the vibe here is so good" over and over, haha.

We ordered eggs Benedict, Egg in Hell, and pumpkin soup — a proper weekday brunch.

Famous Benny Gwangalli Branch, a brunch café tucked down an alley

Famous Benny Gwangalli Branch sits down an alley, and if you like that aesthetic look, you'll probably want to snap a photo right at the entrance.

Gwangalli has plenty of flashy cafés right on the beachfront, but there's also fun in finding a place like this tucked into a side street. If you're looking for brunch in Gwangalli and want something a bit calmer and more atmospheric, this style fits the bill.

Hours and parking

• Open 08:00 - 18:00
• Last order at 17:00
• Parking: nearby paid parking lots

It opens at 8am, and since the menu is all brunch, it closes fairly early, at 6pm.

Warm wood tones from the first floor up

The interior was mostly warm wood tones, with white tables and natural-finish chairs, giving it a clean yet comfortable feel. It's not an overly decorated space, and I think that's exactly why it suits brunch so well.

You order on the first floor — whoever was working, staff or owner, was really kind!

Seating split across the first and second floors

The tables weren't packed too close together, and there were bench-style seats along the wall, so it looked fine for larger groups too.

Of course the window seats catch your eye first! Unfortunately someone else was sitting there, but the other seats were comfortable too, with a kind of travel-abroad feel — like I'd landed somewhere overseas — and with the sunny weather that relaxed atmosphere came through even more.

It felt like a good spot for a mother-daughter date like ours, or for a slow lunch catching up with a friend. If you're looking for a date spot in Minrak-dong or a brunch place in Gwangalli, Busan, the atmosphere here would suit you well.

What we ordered for two, and the prices

Honestly I wanted to eat everything, haha. So at first we tried to order three mains plus one side, but the staff said that would be too much, so we settled on The Famous Benny (₩18,000), Egg in Hell (₩14,000), and a side of sweet pumpkin soup (₩9,000).

Next time I want to try the açai bowl, French toast, bacon scramble toast, and smoked salmon toast — I hadn't had any of those, and after this visit I'm looking forward to the rest of the menu.

Our order came out faster than expected

What I especially liked that day was how quickly our order came out, and that staff brought everything straight to the table. We didn't even need to return anything after eating — they told us to just leave it on the table.

Usually I'm too busy managing two kids to really eat properly, so getting to sit comfortably with my mom and enjoy brunch made even these small details feel great.

A gorgeous-looking brunch spread from the moment it arrived

Once everything was laid out on the table together, the colors were genuinely beautiful.

The plates themselves were understated, which made the red of the Egg in Hell, the colorful Famous Benny eggs Benedict, and the yellow pumpkin soup really pop.

When I'm picking a brunch spot, taste matters, but so does whether I can eat something I wouldn't normally make at home. On that front, Famous Benny definitely gave off a "today I had a real brunch" feeling.

The signature The Famous Benny, ₩18,000

First up, the dish I most want to introduce: The Famous Benny, whose name alone screams "signature."

It's described as the café's own reinterpretation of eggs Benedict, and when it arrived I was surprised by the visuals — big leafy greens piled generously on top.

Underneath were layers of sauce, vegetables, and bread, with avocado neatly arranged on the side. Nutty, crunchy toppings were scattered around the plate too, so even though it was one dish, it delivered a lot of different textures.

Egg in Hell, ₩14,000 — totally my style

As the name suggests, it's poached egg with tomato sauce, and the plate full of red sauce alone is appetite-stimulating. Green vegetables, cheese and seeds on top made it look really pretty too. A long piece of bread comes stuck into the dish, and the key is dipping it into the sauce rather than eating it separately!

The sourdough for the Egg in Hell was lightly toasted on the outside, and dipping it generously in the tomato sauce was a great combination. The sauce alone can feel a bit rich, but eating it with the bread balanced things out naturally. We scooped up poached egg with sauce onto the bread, mopped the sauce with bread, and basically ate down to the last drop on the plate.

Iced americano and ginger lemon tea

No brunch without coffee. I ordered an iced americano, and my mom had a hot ginger lemon tea.

Since the brunch dishes were all fairly rich, the iced americano was refreshing to sip between bites. The ginger lemon tea came in a big colorful cup that was cute just to look at. With lemon in it and served hot, my mom could drink it comfortably alongside the food.

If coffee feels like too much, there are plenty of other options — teas, ades, smoothies — so you can pick based on your taste.

Glad we added the sweet pumpkin soup, ₩9,000

Both my mom and I were happy with the sweet pumpkin soup. At first we considered just ordering two mains, but we thought a soup on the side would be perfect, so we added it — and we were right to.

The soup itself was creamy, so it worked well eaten straight with a spoon or dipped with bread. To me, the pumpkin's subtle sweetness came through along with the taste and aroma of butter — really full of flavor.

A successful weekday lunch date with mom in Gwangalli!

These days I go out with the kids so much more often that this kind of time, just my mom and me over brunch, felt especially precious.

We sat together taking our time photographing the food, chatting about this and that, having brunch and tea, and just spending a relaxed stretch of time. So while the food was delicious, it's honestly the mood of the day that sticks with me most.

For anyone looking for a brunch café in Gwangalli to take their parents to, I'd say this is a solid choice. The space wasn't loud or chaotic, and we could sit comfortably at our table and eat properly. It would work well as a date spot for couples too, I think.

A brunch atmosphere that felt like a trip to Europe

If I had to pick one more thing I loved about Famous Benny, it's how naturally the space and the food's mood connect. The warm wood interior, bright sunlight, and colorful brunch dishes set on clean tables — looking back at the photos, that travel-destination feeling from that day comes right back.

Good days to visit

Personally, Famous Benny felt better suited to a day when you want to properly enjoy brunch, rather than just grab a quick coffee.

When you want lunch on a date, when you want to catch up slowly with a friend, or, like me, when you want a slightly special lunch out with mom on a weekday.

If you're looking for brunch in Gwangalli, Busan specifically, being able to enjoy eggs Benedict, Egg in Hell, and soup all in one visit feels like a real plus.

Since you can get a full meal rather than just coffee, it also works well as a stop in the middle of a Gwangalli date course.

There's also fun in pairing different breads with different dishes, so from start to finish it felt like a proper, real brunch.

If you're looking for a brunch café in Gwangalli

This Gwangalli date with my mom turned out great. The food wasn't just pretty in photos — everything we ordered suited my taste too, and the space was comfortable enough that we could eat slowly without rushing.

In particular, The Famous Benny, Egg in Hell, and the pumpkin soup each had such different flavors and textures that they were great for two people to order and share.

You don't have to travel far to feel like you've properly refreshed — just sitting in a pretty, sunlit space enjoying a brunch spread and coffee did the trick. And more than anything, spending that time alone with my mom after so long is what made it memorable.

Next time I want to try the French toast and smoked salmon toast I missed this time. I should bring the kids and my husband along too.