After-work date at a Dongbaek Island Chinese restaurant: Bueokgan

An ocean-view Chinese restaurant by Dongbaek Island in Haeundae, great for dates: Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch (부엌간 차이니즈 마린시티점)

After work I finally met up with my boyfriend, and we couldn't decide where to have dinner. Then I saw reviews saying this was a Chinese restaurant with a nice atmosphere in Haeundae and an ocean view too, so we headed to Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch!

What kind of Chinese restaurant is Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch?

Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch feels more like an upscale Chinese restaurant than an ordinary Chinese place, yet prices start at just ₩8,000 per person. It sits in front of Dongbaek Island in Haeundae. We both love Chinese food, but we don't like noisy places, so we usually order delivery or cook it at home.

Bueokgan, which I found as a Dongbaek Island restaurant, feels less like a regular Chinese joint and more like a fancy Chinese place... but it's not a full-on high-end Chinese restaurant either, since prices starting at ₩8,000 per person are really kind. Affordable Chinese food prices plus a great atmosphere and ocean view: I'd happily recommend it :)

Where is Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch, and how is parking?

The restaurant is on the 2nd floor of Adelis in Marine City, and if you turn right from the Adelis main entrance you can park in the shopping-complex lot. If you often walk or bike ("viking") around Haeundae and Marine City, it should be very easy to find.

Parking is available, of course, so getting there by car was easy. We went on a weekday evening, and since it's easy to reach from Haeundae, Centum and Suyeong, lots of people come straight from work.

What are the atmosphere and seating like?

It's a European-style Chinese restaurant of about 100 pyeong (roughly 330 m²), and the first thing I noticed on walking in was the luxurious, exotic atmosphere.

Soft lighting, stylish interiors and roomy table spacing make it feel quite different from an ordinary Chinese restaurant. So besides dates like ours, I think it would suit blind dates, family dinners, meals with parents, meetings between families before a wedding, and group gatherings :)

How to choose between a window seat and a room?

For reference, the hall's window seats look out on Dongbaek Island and the Haeundae seaside, and the private rooms can be booked for groups of 4 to 26 people.

Visit around sunset and the ocean view at the window seats is even more atmospheric, so I recommend evening hours for a date :)

I liked that you can take a window seat for a quiet date, or a room for private use when you have a group gathering planned!

What's on the menu at Bueokgan Chinese?

Besides jajangmyeon (noodles in black bean sauce), jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), the menu has plenty of unusual Chinese dishes.

• Five-layer pork mapo tofu rice bowl
• Spicy poached-egg octopus Chinese rice bowl
• Abalone shrimp fried rice
• Paihyanggwa (pie-style pork dish)
• Bok choy garlic stir-fry
• Pyogosha (shiitake dish)
• Yuxiang eggplant
• Jalapeño cream shrimp
• Dongpaori (braised duck dish)

The base is Chinese, but with different toppings and cooking methods, so the menu is packed with unusual Chinese dishes you can only taste at Bueokgan!

We were really hungry after work and wanted to try a variety, so we ordered chili ganjajang, beef brisket jjamppong and jalapeño cream shrimp. A receipt photo review gets you tasty yuxiang dumplings for free, so yes, I wrote the receipt review right away (shh, secret) 😃

How spicy is the chili ganjajang (₩10,000)?

Bueokgan's chili ganjajang (stir-fried black bean noodles) costs ₩10,000. It has Cheongyang chili peppers but was only mildly spicy, about Shin Ramyun level. I picked it because I wanted something spicy: glossy chunjang (black bean paste) with big pieces of pork belly and plenty of onion, and with the Cheongyang chili and scallion oil added, the flavor was much deeper than regular ganjajang.

It was the best jajangmyeon I've had lately. With the first bite a faint smoky wok aroma rose up and the chunjang tasted rich and savory. The noodles were great, and it's also perfect for mixing with a bowl of rice :)

Since it's ganjajang, the crunchy onions and thick chunjang went so well with white rice, omg..

At first it tastes sweetish, then the sharp heat of the Cheongyang chili comes in, but it isn't that hot, more like slightly spicy, I'd say?

There's Cheongyang chili in it, but it wasn't as hot as I expected. Personally it was about Shin Ramyun spiciness, so I could enjoy it without any strain :)

And it's not only about heat: the sweetness of the chunjang comes before its saltiness, and the Cheongyang chili aroma lingers faintly at the end, pairing really well with the nuttiness of the jjajang. If you were going to order basic jajangmyeon, I strongly suggest adding ₩2,000 and trying the chili ganjajang!

How does the beef brisket jjamppong (₩12,000) soup taste?

Bueokgan's beef brisket jjamppong costs ₩12,000, and its deep broth hits you with richness before any seafood aroma. The broth is thick and much deeper in flavor, so it really hits the spot for lovers of Korean-style flavors.

It's not just thick: it's refreshing enough while still rich, and it's topped with plenty of wok-smoky thinly sliced beef brisket whose savory flavor seeps into the soup. I thought it would make a perfect hangover jjamppong too. The base is noodles, so after scooping up the broth and ingredients, I went for the most important part, the noodles.

The smoky wok flavor is stronger than at an ordinary Chinese restaurant, yet the price isn't a burden like at a hotel Chinese restaurant, so I was very satisfied

I was a bit slow because of taking photos, but the noodles were still springy and chewy, and there was plenty of brisket too. Eating them together doubles the satisfaction compared to eating them separately! It's a broth I'll probably crave again on a rainy day.

Is the jalapeño cream shrimp (₩22,000) too heavy?

Bueokgan's jalapeño cream shrimp costs ₩22,000, with big shrimp topped with jalapeños, and I never got tired of it to the very end. It's a main dish, but I ordered it like a side, and the texture was great: crispy outside, plump shrimp meat packed inside.

The cream sauce isn't too sweet and has a pleasant tang, and adding spicy jalapeños on top was a stroke of genius!

Cream shrimp usually gets cloying after a few pieces, but at Bueokgan, a Marine City favorite, the shrimp are huge and the sauce is delicious, so I enjoyed it right up to the end of the meal.

Is it good for dates, family and group gatherings?

After eating you can stroll the beachfront road or Dongbaek Island right outside, so it works well as a date course, and I'd also recommend it for a meal with parents or a company dinner. The yuxiang dumplings I got for joining the receipt review event were grilled dumplings with the sauce soaked in deeply, jmt (insanely delicious)!

After the meal I understood why so many people recommend it as a Haeundae favorite and a Marine City favorite.

You can feel the care they put into everything, from well-made basics to smoky wok aroma, texture and the harmony of ingredients, and above all the atmosphere was so nice that I felt comfortable throughout the meal.

Chinese food often leaves you feeling bloated if you eat a lot, but not here at all, and even when you're full you can just walk the beachfront road or Dongbaek Island right outside, so it really seems perfect for a special-day date! Next time I plan to try the signature black vinegar sirloin tangsuyuk and dongpaori, and bring my parents along :)

The atmosphere is so good that I'd recommend it for dates, meals with parents, family gatherings, blind dates and company dinners!

If you're looking for a Chinese restaurant with a nice atmosphere in Haeundae, Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch is a Dongbaek Island favorite where you get a tasty meal in Marine City plus a bonus walk on Dongbaek Island. Highly recommended!