Gaegeum-dong Chinese restaurant, Busan: jjamjjamyeon + tangsuyuk set

I wanted some good Chinese food with my daughter, so we went to Surabanjeom Gaya Branch. I found it while searching for good Chinese restaurants in Gaegeum-dong, and after eating there myself, I was really satisfied with both the menu variety and the portion sizes.

Where is Surabanjeom Gaya Branch, and where do you park?

Surabanjeom Gaya Branch is a Chinese restaurant at 143 Eomgwang-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan. If you're driving, you can use the nearby Taeyang Parking Lot.

You get 1 hour of free parking with orders over ₩15,000, which was nice since it took the pressure off the parking fee.

It's on Eomgwang-ro, so it wasn't hard to find. The exterior has that classic Chinese restaurant vibe, so it caught my eye even while just passing by. If you drive, you just park and walk over to the restaurant, which made it easy for a family meal with my daughter.

Inside, it was clean and comfortable. It's the kind of place that's easy to eat at without any fuss, good for family visits or a casual meal with friends. We settled in comfortably and picked our menu.

What two people ordered: the two tangsuyuk sets

Surabanjeom Gaya Branch has all the basics — jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) — plus udon, jjamjjamyeon (half-and-half jjajang and jjamppong), tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), and more. We each ordered something different that day.

• My daughter — Jjamjjamyeon + tangsuyuk set
• Me — Seafood udon + tangsuyuk set

As the dishes came out one by one, the table filled up fast. It was a really generous spread for two people.

Jjamjjamyeon and tangsuyuk: how was it?

The best thing about my daughter's jjamjjamyeon was, as always, getting to eat two dishes at once. On days when you want both jjajangmyeon and jjamppong, it's a shame to pick just one — but with jjamjjamyeon you get to try both, which is satisfying.

The jjajang sauce was sweet with good savory depth that went well with the noodles, and the jjamppong side had plenty of seafood, giving the broth a refreshing kick.

And the tangsuyuk that came with the set was really generous. It wasn't the thin-cut style — the pork pieces were thick, so it had a satisfying chew, and the coating was crispy too.

They also gave us salt on the side, so I first tried dipping the tangsuyuk in that. It really let the clean, savory flavor of the meat itself come through.

After that I tried it with the sauce, and the sauce wasn't just sweet — it had good savory depth too, so it was delicious. I'm definitely a dip-the-sauce-separately type, so I liked it even more that way.

Seafood udon at Surabanjeom Gaya Branch

I'm not really into spicy food, so I went with the seafood udon. One sip of the hot broth and I thought, this is exactly the dish for this chilly weather.

It wasn't an intense udon — more the familiar, clean broth flavor I remember from neighborhood udon shops back in the day, which I liked. With seafood in it, the broth was refreshing, and eating the warm broth with the noodles felt comforting.

Verdict: a hearty, good-value meal in Gaegeum-dong

Between the two of us finishing jjamjjamyeon, seafood udon, and tangsuyuk, I really thought my stomach was going to burst.

You get to try a variety of dishes and the portions are generous, so above all I thought the value for money was really good. If you're looking for a good Chinese restaurant in Gaegeum-dong and want not just jjajangmyeon or jjamppong but a generous serving of tangsuyuk too, Surabanjeom Gaya Branch seems like a solid choice.

Just keep in mind that if you drive and spend over ₩15,000, you get 1 hour free at Taeyang Parking Lot. A hearty, delicious Chinese meal with my daughter at Surabanjeom Gaya Branch — next time I'd like to try some of the other menu items.