City Hall after-work burger spot: Hawaiian set, 1+1 beer at Bas Burger

Where is Bas Burger Gwanghwamun?

Bas Burger Gwanghwamun is a large handmade burger restaurant on the first basement floor of Dadong-gil in Jung-gu, Seoul. It's near Cheonggyecheon Plaza, so it works for takeout and for group dinners, and this time I came as a City Hall Station food find. It sits right in the middle of the square formed by four stations, Gwanghwamun, Jonggak, Euljiro-ipgu and City Hall, so it's easy to reach from any of them.

Is Bas Burger Gwanghwamun big enough for a group dinner?

The entrance looks small, but inside it's a big space. It's on the basement level, and from the entrance I assumed it was a tiny shop, but once I went down it was quite spacious.

Besides the area you can see from the entrance, there's another long-table space further in.

What are the perks at the 5 PM after-work time?

Bas Burger Gwanghwamun has an evening slot called "After work vibes FROM 5 PM", so we timed our open-run for it.

We were first in, but plenty of other people also showed up right at the evening opening.

There's 1+1 beer until 7 PM, and with "FREE James Gum" you can have free potato chips when you eat in, which I think is why so many groups come for company dinners.

One catch: takeout James Gum chips have to be ordered separately.

Following the instructions, we tried the James Gum chips first and then ordered.

How many handmade burgers are on the Bas Burger menu?

The core menu is 9 handmade burgers. It was my first time at Bas Burger, and this is the lineup:

• Bas (single, double, triple)
• Sriracha Cheese
• Hawaiian
• Mushroom
• Double Bacon Cheese
• Wasabi Mayo Shrimp
• Greed (탐욕)
• Bas Chicken (tartar, shishito pepper)
• Crunch Chicken Burger

On top of that, many burgers accept add-on options, so you can order to your own taste, which seems to be Bas Burger's strength.

The toppings are varied, and you can both add and remove them. I love this kind of personalization.

What did we order?

For burgers, we went with the Chicken Bun Burger set (chicken burger, barbecue sauce, shishito pepper sauce, French fries, Pepsi Cola) and the Hawaiian burger with sweet potato fries/ranch plus a drink.

Since the drinks, fries and sweet potato/ranch came with the burger sets, we picked our extra sides on the staff's recommendation: mozzarella chicken bites and bacon broccoli.

Wow, what a gorgeous spread that's right up a burger lover's alley! Sorry, I'm too excited~~

How was the Bas Burger Hawaiian burger?

The Hawaiian burger has a soft bun, well-balanced ingredients, and the sweet pineapple goes really well with it. It arrived neatly wrapped, just right, and I like that. The bun is soft and nothing in it sticks out; it's all nicely balanced.

Honestly, a handmade burger's roots are beef, cheese and bacon... haha. But the Hawaiian burger suddenly caught my eye and I ordered it, and it went so well with the sweet pineapple.

Which side dishes should you order at Bas Burger?

Both sides the staff recommended, the mozzarella chicken bites and the bacon broccoli, were insanely good. The chicken bites were new to me too, and the mozzarella stretched so far, like 40 to 50 cm! Haha. And they were super crispy outside and juicy inside, so what's there to say about the taste.

We also enjoyed comparing the French fries with the sweet potato/ranch, and the sweet potato was definitely sweeter. The light-colored fries looked like they were cooked in clean oil, and they were nice and tidy too.

The Smoky Bacon Grills were also new to me. You squeeze lemon juice over first, then dip the fresh broccoli and salty bacon topping, with its grilled flavor, into the dipping sauce, and it's so good. It's a highly recommended side that goes really well with the handmade burgers.

This place does burgers well. This place does sides well too~

Is Bas Burger Gwanghwamun worth going back to?

Bas Burger Gwanghwamun was delicious enough that I want to go again, a large handmade burger restaurant that's good for Cheonggyecheon Plaza takeout and group dinners. Hours are Mon–Sat 10:00–22:00 (break time 15:00–16:30), and it's closed every Sunday.