Gwangalli Korean BBQ: special pork cuts, mushroom wasabi at Donbegi

I had dinner plans with a friend who lives nearby, and while I was wondering where to go, I remembered a Gwangalli BBQ place I'd enjoyed before, Donbegi Gwang-an Branch (돈베기 광안점), and went back. It was an early evening, but there were already customers inside, and more kept coming while we ate, so it's clearly popular.

What kind of Korean BBQ restaurant is Donbegi Gwang-an Branch?

Donbegi Gwang-an Branch is a pork belly and special pork cuts restaurant at 34 Millakbondong-ro 11beon-gil, floors 1 and 2, Suyeong-gu, Busan. The staff grill the meat over strong charcoal for you from start to finish. It's open daily 12:00–23:30 (last order 23:00). Parking in front is tight, so use a nearby public car park.

• Features: clean, modern interior; a Gwangalli pork belly and special cuts place where staff grill the meat over charcoal for you
• Menu: order on the tablet at your table, with family sets, 2-person sets and other pork sets to suit your group size and taste
• Recommended combo: the 600 omakase with alm-moksim, gabrisal, daenamusal and salchisal, topped with mushroom wasabi, finished with roe bibimbap

Inside Donbegi Gwang-an Branch and its group rooms

The interior was pleasant and clean, without that greasy feeling BBQ restaurants often have.

There are group rooms too, so it looks good for end-of-year or new-year gatherings. Family get-togethers and company dinners look doable as well.

The meat was aging in a refrigerator, and wine and other drinks were kept separately in a cellar. It seems a lot of people pair the meat with wine.

Is the 600 omakase enough for two people?

The 600 omakase at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch is a set of four special cuts (alm-moksim, gabrisal, daenamusal and salchisal) totaling 600g. Two people will be full on the meat alone, and with a meal on top it's a very full stomach‼️ Each table has an ordering tablet, so the menu was easy to see at a glance, and there were plenty of good-value sets, such as family sets and 2-person sets, to match your group size.

We chose the 600 omakase so we could try a variety of special cuts in one go. We were actually going to order one more portion, but suddenly we were full.. so that was all we ate.

Self-serve bar and side dish refills

At the self-serve bar inside you can refill the side dishes and ssam (lettuce-wrap) greens yourself. Only the salted pollock roe costs extra to refill (₩3,000). I eat a lot of side dishes, so I'd feel awkward asking again and again🥺 and I liked that I could just fetch them myself.

This is how the side dishes were set out. The cold bean sprout soup was a bit salty, which looked great as a drinking snack (I didn't drink today😢 though it was so tasty I really wanted to).

How do the charcoal-grilled special pork cuts taste?

The best things about the 600 omakase at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch are the subtle aroma of charcoal rather than gas, and meat that melts in your mouth with nothing chewy✅ (all the meat dishes are charcoal, so no misunderstandings!) My excitement shot up the moment the strong charcoal came in. I much prefer charcoal to gas, so, good good.

The moment the meat arrived, the bright red color and tight marbling looked so delicious that my mouth started watering,,

Gabrisal and daenamusal

The staff member grilled the gabrisal (French rack) first, at the perfect doneness, and with the first bite the rich trapped juices burst out and it melted softly in my mouth 🤤

The daenamusal (bamboo-cut pork), which I'd never had before, also had a distinctive chewy texture combined with savory fat and softly vanished in my mouth,, Every cut had a good amount of fat, so, with a little exaggeration, it felt as tender as beef chuck flap. Maybe that's also because it was grilled so well,, as expected, meat should be grilled by an expert. The female staff member grilled it so well.

Alm-moksim

I knew alm-moksim as a neck cut and expected it to be dry or tough, but even the neck was full of tender juices, which surprised me.

Why try the mushroom wasabi at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch?

The basic side dishes at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch include green onion kimchi, salted pollock roe, gungchae pickles (pickled stem lettuce) and white kimchi. Overall they were salty and a bit strong in flavor. But that strong seasoning meets the heavy richness of the fatty special cuts and balances it out, so there's no time to get tired of it.

The mushroom wasabi was especially charming. Its sharp kick and sweetness wiped away the greasiness of the meat perfectly, and I refilled it so many times.. I probably ate half a tub, haha. With this mushroom wasabi combo, I felt I could eat meat endlessly.

Scallion salad, grilled white kimchi and mushroom wasabi, all in one big bite 😻

Finishing the meal: doenjang stew and pollock roe bibimbap

The doenjang stew (soybean paste stew) and roe bibimbap we ordered to finish at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch were better than expected. The stew tasted as if rich cheonggukjang (fermented soybean paste) had been blended in at a precise ratio, giving a deep, thick broth that's the textbook BBQ-restaurant doenjang stew. It also had a spicy kick that made it refreshing (actually, I chopped in the chili peppers myself).

The roe bibimbap, with salty pollock roe, seaweed flakes and plenty of sesame oil, had a nutty, salty flavor popping through every grain of rice, and topped with the leftover meat it made a clean, salty finish.

Tips for visiting Donbegi Gwang-an Branch and final verdict

• For two adults, the 600 omakase set, which lets you taste everything from alm-moksim to the other special cuts, was much more reasonable in quantity and price than single orders.
• The mushroom wasabi side dish goes best with the fatty cuts, so I strongly recommend piling it generously on the meat.
• If you're wondering what to have to finish, order the cheonggukjang-flavored doenjang stew and the nutty roe bibimbap together for a great ending.

From the excellent color of the raw meat and the charcoal aroma to the mushroom wasabi that multiplies the flavor and the hearty meal dishes, nothing was lacking at Donbegi Gwang-an Branch. I got to taste the very best of tender special pork cuts with nothing chewy. If you want proper grilling service and a no-fail meat omakase near Gwangalli, or a satisfying BBQ-restaurant doenjang stew, do give it a visit!