Jeonpo-dong Korean restaurant for a mother-daughter lunch: Hyangtaek

I'd walked past Hyangtaek a few times heading from Jeonpo Station toward the NC Department Store. It looked like a clean, tidy Korean restaurant, so I'd been keeping an eye on it — this time I finally went with my mom.

My mom especially loved this place. If you like Korean food, it's a solid spot for lunch, and while the main dishes were great, the mushroom pancake I ordered as a side turned out to be way better than expected — I really have to recommend it too haha.

Where Hyangtaek is and when it opens

Hyangtaek is on the 1st floor of 42-1 Seojeon-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan.

It's about 417m from Exit 8 of Seomyeon Station, across from Busanjin Fire Station on the main road at the Jeonpo intersection, so it's not hard to find. It's a place I'd passed several times walking from Jeonpo Station toward the NC Department Store.

They're open daily from 11am to 8pm. Break time runs from 3:30pm to 5pm, and last order is 3pm for lunch, 7:30pm for dinner.

If you're visiting between lunch and dinner, definitely check the break time!

A hanok-style dining room

Maybe because it hasn't been open long, the whole interior felt really clean and tidy.

There are a lot of aesthetic restaurants in Jeonpo these days, but Hyangtaek's interior leans into a hanok (traditional Korean house) feel, which suits the Korean menu really well.

They say they use healthy ingredients — rice, vegetables, meat, and fish all grown or raised on Korean soil. Going with my mom, that kind of atmosphere felt comforting too.

Even the water had this nutty, roasted-barley-tea flavor instead of plain still water — small detail, but it won me over.

Each table has instructions on how to eat the dishes properly, along with paper cups, utensils, and tissues.

I wondered if the restroom would be outside the building, but it's actually inside! Nice touch haha.

Can't skip the receipt event and the delivery-available sign. Now let's take a look at the menu.

While waiting, I read through the how-to-eat guide too! Hahaha.

Menu and prices

Every table has a neatly placed paper menu. These days a lot of places use tablets or QR codes, but here you order by calling a staff member over.

I still like it this way, honestly haha. This Jeonpo-dong spot, Hyangtaek, has a menu that's mostly Korean dishes.

There's a cold raw fish soup (mulhoe) too, but what we ordered were the signature mackerel gondre rice for 14,000 won and the eggplant doenjang rice bowl for 13,000 won.

And after some back and forth, we added the mushroom pancake as a side. Really glad we did haha.

After ordering, the banchan (side dishes) come out — doenjang soup, gungchae (aster greens), salted seafood, raw gim, plus a sauce that pairs with the rice you ordered.

How the mackerel gondre rice and eggplant doenjang bowl tasted

After a bit of a wait, the mackerel gondre rice arrived.

The mackerel comes finely broken up and mixed into the gondre (thistle) rice. You add a bit of the special soy sauce to season it, and wrapping it in raw gim made this combo especially good. (I stole a bite haha.) The mackerel, gondre, and soy sauce worked really well together — not too strong-flavored, actually quite nice. My mom ate it happily.

The eggplant doenjang bowl had red pepper flakes mixed in, so for someone like me who can't handle spice well, it had a slight kick.

The accompanying sauce was vinegar, and adding it gave the dish another layer of flavor. Honestly, I hated eggplant as a kid.

But now that I'm older, eggplant is somehow so good haha. It's basically one of my favorite dishes now, and yeah, it was delicious.

They said you're supposed to tear up the eggplant and mix it into the rice, but I just ate it separately like a side dish. Still plenty good that way.

And then I wrapped it up neatly in the raw gim from the side dishes! That gim wasn't there for no reason — it's delicious.

Why the mushroom pancake side is a must

And then, the mushroom pancake! If you're on the fence about adding this side, I recommend ordering it.

The crispy outer texture was next-level, and it paired so well with the mushrooms that my chopsticks kept going back to it between bites of the mains.

Verdict: a good lunch spot to bring your mom

If you're looking for a place to eat with your mom in Jeonpo-dong, Hyangtaek is a solid recommendation!!

In a clean hanok-style space, you can enjoy Korean dishes like mackerel gondre rice or the eggplant doenjang bowl — the kind of home-style meal that's actually hard to make time for at home.

My mom especially loved it because it's Korean food, and I was glad I brought her along. It'd suit anyone looking for lunch in Jeonpo, or anyone craving a proper, well-rounded meal instead of something heavy or spicy.

I think I'll order the eggplant doenjang bowl again next time haha. And the mushroom pancake was another great call — try it together.

If you're looking for a Korean restaurant in Jeonpo-dong and craving Korean food, Hyangtaek is the place — I had a satisfying meal here with my mom.