Byeonsan breakfast restaurant open 7am with clay-pot rice: Gyehwado

Gyehwado, newly opened two months ago in front of Gyeokpo's Sono Belle Resort, is a hotpot rice and grilled fish restaurant that serves breakfast from 7am.

Every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, they make 12 neat side dishes fresh and lay them out at a self-serve bar — hearty enough to rival a full Korean set-meal buffet.

The place is built around home-grown ingredients with nothing imported, offering both a satisfying hotpot rice and a spicy hairtail stew, plus a solid lineup of grilled fish.

• ⏰ Daily 07:00-22:00
• Break time 15:00-16:30
• Last order 21:30
• 🗺️ 46 Byeonsanhaebyeon-ro, 1st floor, Byeonsan-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeonbuk

Why Gyehwado was the first stop of a Buan trip

While planning this Buan trip, I was thinking about how to start the morning with a hearty meal that fit my route, and I wanted something comforting and properly Korean rather than anything too fancy for a travel breakfast.

That's when I noticed Gyehwado, newly opened right in front of Gyeokpo Port and Byeonsan Sono Belle! Since it's only been open two months, the whole place felt clean and well kept.

What really won me over was that it opens at 7am for breakfast — I couldn't think of a better place to kick off the first stop of a travel itinerary!

Parking, the dining room and baby chairs at Gyehwado

1. Easy parking and a clean, bright dining room

Being close to Gyeokpo Port and Byeonsan Sono Belle made it easy to find, and with generous parking space both in front and behind the restaurant, I could visit without any parking stress.

Right at the entrance there's a baby chair set up, and the inside is spacious and well maintained too.

What stood out most was the 12 different side dishes neatly filling the self-serve bar, rivaling a full set-meal buffet — the basic banchan are made by hand once in the morning and once in the afternoon every day, and you can just help yourself to more banchan or water at the self-serve corner as much as you like.

Hotpot rice hairtail stew set, ₩20,000 per person

What is Gyehwado's clay-pot rice like?

2. Freshly cooked nutty grain rice and what comes with it

The piping hot hotpot rice, freshly cooked the moment you order, is one of Gyehwado's biggest draws — apparently it's made generously with home-grown ingredients and nothing imported, for a genuinely healthy meal.

Colorful to look at — lift the lid and you'll find carrots, shiitake mushrooms, sweet pumpkin, and black beans arranged appetizingly and prettily over the rice, so you get to enjoy it visually first.

Hearty nurungji sungnyung (scorched rice tea) — once you've scooped all the rice into your bowl, they pour warm water into the pot in advance, so by the time you finish your meal you get a perfectly nutty, savory scorched rice tea, which was so nice for settling my stomach while traveling.

Braised hairtail, the main dish of the 20,000-won set

3. Spicy braised hairtail that wakes up your appetite

I love hairtail stew, so I'd already decided I had to have it during this Buan trip, and I chose it as my main dish without hesitation.

Rich, spicy hairtail stew — made with domestic hairtail, the pieces weren't huge, but the flesh was plump and full, and it tasted really good!

The pot was loaded with radish, potato, and zucchini, and mashing the well-cooked radish and potato into the broth and mixing it with rice was an absolute rice thief — I polished off a whole bowl of rice in no time!

Turns out it's a grilled fish specialist — Gyehwado is actually famous for its grilled fish too! They use live rockfish rather than the commonly distributed dried fish, along with pomfret brought in from Yeosu, plus tongue sole, yellow corvina, and flounder. A special menu piled high with rockfish, Chilean sea bass, sea bream, and Spanish mackerel also caught my eye, so I naturally started thinking I'll have to come back next time just for the grilled fish.

Buan sights to pair with breakfast at Gyehwado

4. Nearby Byeonsan attractions worth a stop

Buan's signature spots — Chaeseokgang, Naesosa Temple, and Byeonsan Beach — are all close by, so you couldn't ask for a better setup for your route! It's great for a light walk before or after a meal, and since Buan is famous for its sunsets, it's also perfect for catching one^^

While you're enjoying the open sea views on a full Buan trip, if you're looking for a place that will fill you up early in the morning, be sure to stop by! I recommend a satisfying meal at Gyehwado, near Gyeokpo Port and Byeonsan Sono Belle, where fresh home-grown ingredients and careful hand-made cooking await you.