Busan Korean restaurant for balanced rice bowls: Hyangtaek

Hyangtaek Jeonpo Branch location and waiting

This place is famous for being delicious in Daegu, so I’d been so curious about it—and when they opened in Busan too, I finally visited .. 💭

Hyangtaek Jeonpo Branch is directly across from Busanjin Fire Station, next to Kasina Jeonpo. It’s just a two-minute walk from the former NC Department Store, so the access was really great.

The interior had a cozy, clean feel overall with wood tones. There were around eight tables for four. I was lucky enough to get the very last seat .. 🍀 After that, the wait kept growing. For the waitlist, you write your name on the list at the entrance and wait to be called in order.

The kitchen is open too, so you can see the food being made at a glance. High chairs are available as well!

Hyangtaek menu and summer-only mulhoe

There are five main dishes made with ingredients grown and produced in Korea, plus three side dishes. The mackerel gondeure rice and eggplant doenjang rice bowl are Hyangtaek’s signature dishes and popular picks!

They also had pollock and raw beef mulhoe, a chilled seafood soup, as a summer-only menu! It’s Hyangtaek’s very first cold dish .. 🧊

They first brought out doenjang soup and the basic side dishes. The spread included jeotgal, a salted seafood condiment, gungchae pickles made with stem lettuce, curly gim seaweed, and the sauces for our ordered dishes, all explained as they were set down!

Sprite ₩2,000. The drinks came in cans—Coke, Coke Zero, and Sprite—so I ordered Sprite. They brought it with ice in a pretty glass too! Oh, and I loved that the water was nutty barley tea as well ..

We ordered raw beef bibimbap ₩14,000 and mackerel gondeure rice ₩14,000.

The food came out so neat and pretty that it was a joy to photograph too .. 📸

How I ate the mackerel gondeure rice

Mackerel gondeure rice ₩14,000. This is Hyangtaek’s signature dish, topped with a large piece of grilled mackerel and gondeure, Korean thistle greens.

It’s generously filled with sautéed mushrooms, scallions, sesame seeds, and gondeure, and you just mix all the ingredients well with the rice before eating.

I recommend tasting the ingredients’ natural flavors first before adding the house sauce! And rather than adding all the sauce at once, add more as you taste.

It’s delicious simply mixed evenly, but it’s even better wrapped in curly gim seaweed with the rice, or enjoyed with the mixed jeotgal. My favorite was wrapping it in gim with gungchae on top! The natural flavors of the ingredients came together so well, without being overpowering, and the seasoning was just right .. Mackerel gondeure rice .. my number-one pick .. 💘

The raw beef bibimbap was filling too

Raw beef bibimbap ₩14,000. A raw beef bibimbap topped with cute little round clusters of yukhoe, Korean-style seasoned raw beef.

Once I loosened up the clumped raw beef, there was more of it than I expected.

Inside, there were plenty of fresh vegetables too, including lettuce, pear, and bean sprouts. Add the egg yolk and red sauce, then mix it well!

Cleaned my bowl .. 🤍🤍 Even on days when I can drink three bottles of Cass beer by myself (?), it’s rare for me to finish a whole bowl of rice—but it was so delicious that I did .. As I ate, I thought, this is a flavor the head of our household would love, so I should bring my mom next time~ And there were really lots of older guests too! If you’re looking for a delicious Korean restaurant in Jeonpo where you can have a wholesome, filling meal that isn’t overpowering, I recommend Hyangtaek Jeonpo Branch.