Beef gukbap with sancho pepper in Nam-gu, Ulsan: Boksan Haejang

A hearty beef gukbap (rice soup) lunch recommendation 🍚 Today I'm sharing my review of Boksan Haejang, a lunch spot I visited near Gongeop Tower in Ulsan 🥰

• 📍 Address: 476 Munsu-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea (1F)
• ⏰ Hours: Daily 11:00–14:30 (last order 14:00)
• 🚨 Closed: Every Monday
• 🚗 Parking: ⭕️

Where is Boksan Haejang, and is it easy to find from Gongeop Tower?

Boksan Haejang sits right at the entrance to the road heading into Okdong, right next to the street, so it really wasn't hard to find!

And parking is such an important detail, right? Haha. There's space for about 3 cars right in front of the restaurant, so it was a comfortable visit 🚗💨

There was a wait the day we visited, so we booked through Table Managing and waited a bit! The turnover was good though, so we got seated faster than expected haha

And the waiting seats by the entrance were decorated so nicely 🤭💕 It felt like they put real thought even into the waiting area, which made me weirdly happy!

Inside Boksan Haejang: the mood and the baby chair

The first thing that caught my eye walking in! Isn't it just so aesthetically done? 😍

Little props are placed nicely all around, and best of all — they even have a baby chair ready! Such a thoughtful touch 👶🏻💕

Make sure to grab an apron too 😊

The place was almost fully booked when we first walked in, so I couldn't take photos right away. I quickly snapped some once a few people left 📸 Overall the interior felt very clean yet warm. The tables are rounded too, which gave it a more comfortable, stable feeling! And there were plenty of tables for two, so it seemed like a great spot for solo dining too haha

A menu board with a pretty corner around it

The area around the menu board felt so aesthetic too — everything was clean and nicely decorated, and I found myself thinking 'oh… they're really serious about the interior here?' 👀✨ lol. I personally love spaces that are neatly arranged but still show the owner's personal touch everywhere, so this vibe was really my thing 💕

What we ordered at Boksan Haejang and what it cost

Here's what we ordered!

• 🥘 Boksan Haejangguk (beef gukbap), basic ₩11,000 × 2
• 🥩 Boksan pork bulgogi, small ₩5,000

And on the table they had 🧂 salt, 🌶️ pepper, 🌿 sancho (Sichuan pepper) powder, and 🤎 perilla seed powder ready to go! I'm a big sancho powder fan, so the moment I sat down I thought, 'today I'm going all in on the sancho powder!' lol 🤭

How does Boksan haejangguk taste? Deep broth, plenty of meat

The food came out faster than I expected!

The presentation was clean and tidy right from the start ✨ I took my first sip of the broth, wondering how it would taste.

Whoa… this broth is seriously rich! Refreshing and spicy 😆

I was surprised by the deep flavor from the very first spoonful, and then surprised again by just how generous the ingredients were! 😳 Beef, radish, glass noodles, green onion, bean sprouts — everything was piled in without holding back. There was so much that I found myself thinking, 'is there anything left over for the owner after giving this much away?' lol 🤣🤣

Piling on the sancho powder: eating gukbap my way

It was plenty delicious as-is, but I went ahead and added a ton of the sancho powder I'd been eyeing earlier lol. Yep… this is the flavor 🤭💕

If you love sancho powder, I'd definitely recommend sprinkling it in to your taste!

Small Boksan pork bulgogi, 5,000 won, with shredded green onion

Time to try the side dish we ordered, the pork bulgogi haha! It passed the test right away with the generous pile of green onion shreds on top 🙆🏻‍♀️

The green onion shreds weren't spicy, so they paired really well with the meat. Eating it together, there was a subtle sesame oil aroma spreading through — not overpowering at all, just clean and mellow!

It's even better piled on top of rice lol 🍚🥩 Eating it, I thought, 'this would go over really well with kids too!' haha

Gukbap tastes best with the rice stirred in

Eating the rice separately is nice too, but I'm always team 'mix it all in' lol. Poured a full bowl of rice right in and stirred it up~ 🍚🍲

Among the side dishes, the pickled onion was especially delicious! Crunchy, sweet and tangy — I kept reaching for it alongside the gukbap 🤤

The glass noodles slurp right down, soft and chewy,

the beef comes in generous chunks,

and the well-braised radish slurps down too~ it was genuinely fun to eat lol

The real surprise at Boksan Haejang: the bowl never seems to empty

We were eating away happily, but no matter how much we ate, it just didn't seem to go down lol

The portion is seriously unreal 🤣 The haejangguk itself is so generous already, and once you mix in the rice, it becomes almost too much to handle lol. It's rare these days to find a place with such generous portions — this place really delivers 🥹💕 They even have a large size… I can't even imagine how much they'd give you with that 🤣

Yukhoe bibimbap next time, and Ulsan Pay is accepted

This place is also known for their yukhoe (raw beef), so I wanted to try the yukhoe bibimbap too! But… eating the haejangguk left both my husband and me way too full lol 🫠 In the end we couldn't order the yukhoe bibimbap 😭 Next time for sure! 👉 Yukhoe bibimbap 👉 Mungtigi — I'm going to try both 😋💕

Ulsan Pay accepted! Just a heads up haha

Final verdict on Boksan Haejang

A hearty meal that delivers on portion size, rich broth, and great value all at once! Above all, the haejangguk was packed with so many ingredients that we left the table really full and satisfied haha. If you're near Gongeop Tower looking for a filling, generous lunch, this Ulsan restaurant, Boksan Haejang, is well worth a visit 🥰 Next time, I'm coming back for the yukhoe bibimbap and mungtigi I missed out on! 💪🏻 lol