Yuxiang eggplant first taste, Haeundae Chinese restaurant: Bueokgan

I went to Bueokgan Chinese, a Haeundae restaurant known for its great atmosphere. It doesn't feel like a Chinese restaurant at all — more like a Western-style restaurant — and I had a really nice meal there. Here's my review after enjoying yuxiang eggplant, jjamppong, and fried rice, let's go~

Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch hours and parking

• Hours: 11:00 – 21:00
• Break time: 15:00 – 16:30
• Parking: Basement parking behind the building, roadside parking available in front and across the street

How to find Bueokgan on the Dalmaji-gil hill

A modern Bueokgan building visible along the hill road. The red accents and the view really catch your eye.

As you climb the uphill road, the café looks biggest at first, but this building's 1st floor actually has both Café de Bueok and Bueokgan Chinese.

The 2nd floor is home to Bueokgan European Restaurant.

Inside Bueokgan: bubble lamps and window sofa seats

Walking into Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch, you immediately see the spacious kitchen and dining hall. Once inside, the standout feature is the lighting — apparently these are George Nelson's bubble lamps. The various shapes create a great mood, looking like clouds or maybe hot air balloons! Very dreamy. Sunlight pours in through the windows, and the street trees outside are visible, giving a fresh, breezy feel.

The sofa seating running along the windows was really plush, and convenient for setting down bags and belongings. It's a bit dark in this photo due to backlighting, but the whole place is actually very bright thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

With about 12–13 tables, it's a spacious spot that looks great for gatherings or group visits. These lamps are unique and pretty too, and there are lively framed pictures to check out.

Tablet ordering and what we ordered at Bueokgan

You order via the tablet on the table. The best menu items are poached egg five-layer pork jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, and black vinegar pork loin sweet and sour pork — I remember enjoying those at another branch, but today I was curious about other dishes so I ordered differently.

After ordering, pickled radish, zha cai, and cold tea came out. We ordered seafood jjamppong rice ₩14,000, shrimp fried rice ₩10,000, and yuxiang eggplant ₩22,000.

Jjamppong rice came out first, then the crispy yuxiang eggplant, and finally the shrimp fried rice. Everything arrived quickly in cooked order, so we got to eat everything freshly made~!

Yuxiang eggplant, 22,000 won: crisp outside, soft inside

Yuxiang eggplant. It's a Chinese-style eggplant dish where fried eggplant is topped with a yuxiang sauce made from pork and doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste).

The eggplant, fried golden brown, was topped generously with a thick, rich yuxiang sauce stir-fried with pork and doubanjiang — it looked so appetizing.

This was my first time trying yuxiang eggplant — I'd seen it often on cooking shows and was curious, so I ordered it. A textbook example of crispy outside, soft inside, and the appeal of that sweet-and-spicy sauce! The spicy, sweet, tangy, and salty flavors combined into something really vivid, with the deep flavor of doubanjiang and the savoriness of pork pairing beautifully with the clean, mild taste of the eggplant.

The batter was thin and super crispy, and biting into the eggplant released hot, soft eggplant juice that just melted out — so delicious. Pairing it with the raw onion served alongside made it taste even more refreshing~!

Seafood jjamppong rice, 14,000 won: rice instead of noodles, full of wok smoke

Seafood jjamppong rice. Since we ordered rice instead of noodles, the rice came out separately. The seafood and vegetables inside weren't very visible at first, but once I stirred the jjamppong, it was packed with all kinds of seafood and well-cooked vegetables.

It had baby octopus, plump shrimp, and mussels, and the smoky wok aroma hit as soon as it arrived. From the first spoonful of broth, I let out a satisfied groan — a deep, spicy flavor~! A rich and deep seafood jjamppong.

The refreshing, deep umami drawn from the seafood was outstanding. Eating the delicious jjamppong broth together with rice made for a warm, filling, and easy-to-digest meal.

Shrimp fried rice, 10,000 won: how it pairs with egg soup and jjamppong broth

The shrimp fried rice had plump shrimp studded into golden, fluffy egg-fried rice. Every grain of rice was coated, keeping it light and fluffy.

The shrimp fried rice was really delicious. Chewy, and the more you chewed the more savory it got. Every grain of rice seemed coated in egg. You couldn't actually see the egg, but its rich, savory flavor came through strongly.

Egg soup came with it, and while it wasn't strongly flavored on its own, its mild, clean taste worked really well alongside the spicy jjamppong broth we'd ordered — a great combo with the boldly seasoned dishes. Fluffy rice infused with smoky wok flavor — this was a properly good bowl of shrimp fried rice from a real Chinese restaurant.

Is Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch worth a second visit?

It felt more like a pretty Western-style restaurant than a Chinese restaurant, with a really nice atmosphere. It was a great place to chat with friends while looking out at the high, blue autumn sky. I'll definitely come back with friends again. That's my review of Bueokgan Chinese — Haeundae Branch.