Busan pork BBQ with staff grilling and window seats: Gwang-anmok

I recently took a late summer vacation trip to Busan. A trip isn't complete without at least one meat meal, so I searched carefully and ended up at Gwang-anmok Haeundae Branch.

Gwang-anmok Haeundae Branch

Where is Gwang-anmok Haeundae? 2nd floor of the Artbox building on Guam-ro

Gwang-anmok has two locations, one in Gwangan and one in Haeundae — since my stay was in Haeundae, I went to the Haeundae branch. It's on the main street of Haeundae, on the 2nd floor of the Artbox building.

9 groups waiting on a Tuesday evening — book ahead for a window seat

Since I'd booked ahead, they gave me a window seat 🫶🏻 Even on a Tuesday evening there were about 9 teams waiting ahead of me. If I hadn't reserved, it would've been a disaster...

You can join the line remotely via Table Ring or book through Naver Reservation, so definitely check before you go :D Pro tip ✨ book through Naver Reservation and they'll give you a free serving of neck meat!! (Honestly, not booking would be foolish...)

The tables weren't packed too close together, so it didn't feel noisy or crowded. Clean interior, and the floor wasn't slippery either — good 👍🏻

What we ordered at Gwang-anmok: the A Set and doenjang jjigae

You order right at your table using the table-order tablet.

I ordered the A Set (neck meat 370g + special pork belly 130g), Mom's Doenjang Jjigae, and a bowl of rice. I'm more of a neck meat (mokssal) person than a belly person, and since it's their signature dish here, I had high expectations.

How Gwang-anmok cross-ages its pork

There are plenty of aged-meat restaurants, but most just keep vacuum-sealed meat in a fridge — a fairly simple aging method. Gwang-anmok, on the other hand, uses a cross-aging process: 7 days of dry-aging exposed to air, followed by wet-aging in vacuum-sealed refrigeration.

During the moisture evaporation that concentrates the meat's aroma, about 30% of the total weight is lost — but it's exactly this process that brings out a deeper, richer pork flavor!

The self-serve bar, side dishes and chimichurri

The self-serve side dish bar was kept impeccably clean, and each item had a preparation date listed, which added a lot of trust.

A staff member with a certified grilling meister qualification grills the meat for you, so the doneness is genuinely perfect... 🔥

Side dishes included minari salad, aged kimchi, mustard leaf kimchi, pickled chili, pickled onion, and pickled young radish greens, with anchovy salt, chimichurri, and ssamjang as condiments. This was my first time seeing chimichurri served at a Korean BBQ place — pretty surprising.

Staff grill it for you: how did the neck meat and pork belly taste?

The meat comes out about 70–80% cooked.

The staff also finish the grilling for you, so all you have to do is eat 😊 A Korean BBQ place that grills it for you really is the best.

I'm a neck meat lover and kind of picky about it, but I fully certify this place as a mokssal spot ⭐ Grilled just right — not too crisp — so it stays maximally tender, it practically melts in your mouth... plus that subtle smoky charcoal aroma. Best neck meat I've had recently 🥇

The neck meat was just on another level, but the pork belly was plenty delicious too. Unlike the neck meat, the belly is grilled a bit longer, and you can really taste more of a chewy texture rather than the tenderness.

Of all the grilled vegetables, the basil steals the show

The grilled vegetable lineup — corn, baby potatoes, tomato, basil, asparagus, garlic — was all delicious, but the basil was seriously insane. It was my first time wrapping grilled meat in basil, and it was so good I was almost disappointed in myself for not trying it sooner 🥹 From now on, when I grill meat at home, I'm skipping lettuce and pickled radish for basil.

Was Mom's Doenjang Jjigae worth ordering?

Mom's Doenjang Jjigae (the actual menu name) lived up to its name — rather than a typical Korean-BBQ-restaurant style stew, it tasted like the nutty, savory doenjang jjigae your mom makes at home.

At first I thought the price seemed steep, but the earthenware pot was huge, packed with meat and tofu, so the price made sense haha. There's also a non-spicy version, though even the regular one isn't that spicy, so unless it's for a kid, you could probably just order the regular version.

Candy for dessert, and even a deodorizing spray on the way out — you could feel the owner's thoughtfulness in every little detail. There are plenty of great pork belly places, but a genuinely great neck meat spot is surprisingly hard to find, so I was really happy to discover one after a long time. Highly recommend Gwang-anmok to fellow neck meat lovers like me.