Jeonpo-dong curry restaurant for 10:30am brunch karaage: Sarugak20

When I was really little I wasn't a big fan of curry. Back then I preferred jjajang (black bean noodles) over curry. But sometime around elementary school curry suddenly started tasting good to me, and now I think I actually prefer curry to jjajang.

When there's a good curry place I make sure to visit and try it. Besides the curry I used to eat at home, there are all kinds of curry these days, lots of unusual variations too. It's fun having so many to pick from. There's a famous curry spot in Jeonpo-dong, so I went to check it out — "Sarugak20."

Sarugak20's location and hours

Sarugak20 is a curry restaurant in Jeonpo-dong, Busan. Just head a short way up toward the apartments from Exit 8 of Jeonpo Station. It's in the basement directly across from the entrance of Jeonpo Community Center. Being so close to Jeonpo Station makes it an easy visit.

Hours are 10:30am to 7:30pm (last order 7:00pm). There's no break time in between, and it's closed every Monday.

A basement that still gets sunlight: Sarugak20's atmosphere

Sarugak20 is technically in a basement, but the spot gets so much sunlight it barely feels like one.

The space is bigger than I expected. It's decorated in a cute, detailed way, and there's something kind of hip about it too.

There's a sink where you can wash your hands.

There are quite a lot of little props and decorations around, giving it a somewhat free-spirited feel. Still, it manages to stay clean and pretty. The atmosphere was really nice.

We came a bit earlier than typical lunch time, right in the brunch window, and there were already plenty of customers in the morning. Seems like a lot of people come here for brunch.

Sarugak20's menu — what we ordered

I went back and forth on what to order. Since it's known for curry, there are quite a lot of curry types, plus various add-on options that sounded good.

We ordered special curry and half-and-half curry. Special curry comes with poached egg + sausage + cheese added. Half-and-half curry is half cream curry, half specialty curry. We added scrambled egg as an option for the half-and-half, and also ordered karaage separately.

The half-and-half curry came out first. One side is specialty curry, the other cream curry. It looked really clean and neat. Since we added the scrambled egg option, a big pile of egg sat on top of the rice.

The special curry had a poached egg on top along with two hefty sausages. This one is the specialty curry.

The karaage portion was pretty generous. I love chicken in general, so I'm a big fan of karaage too. It was great getting so much for the price.

How the half-and-half curry, special curry, and karaage tasted

The specialty curry and cream curry that make up the half-and-half curry at Sarugak20 taste completely different, but each has its own strength.

The specialty curry had a richer flavor, savory and a bit sweet at the same time. The half-and-half curry, with the cream in it, was definitely smoother and delicious.

Personally, I think getting the half-and-half curry was a really good call. Both were so good, and this way you get to try them both. Piling the scrambled egg on top of the curry and eating it with the rice was really tasty.

The special curry's poached egg was the standout. It was my first time having poached egg with curry, and it went together far better than I expected. The sausage was also grilled well and really delicious.

The chicken karaage was crispy outside and tender inside — exactly the kind of chicken I love, in the best way.

Overall: a place to eat curry in Jeonpo-dong

Sarugak20's food overall was clean and really tasty. I already loved chicken karaage going in, so that goes without saying.

Especially the curry, the restaurant's main dish — it's genuinely delicious. If you want curry in Jeonpo-dong, this is the place to go. Personally, I really loved the cream curry. It tastes like something you can't find anywhere else, and it paired beautifully with the egg. I definitely want to come back again.