Monkfish stew restaurant near Suyeong Station, Busan: Hanbada

Today I visited Hanbada Suyeong Main Branch near Suyeong Station — generous portions, and the side dishes were tidy and delicious to the very last one.

Where Hanbada Suyeong Main Branch is, and where to park

This Busan monkfish stew (아구찜) favorite is a 10-second walk from Suyeong Station exit 3, on the first floor of the Deon Place building.

There's free parking in the building's mechanical parking lot for up to 1 hour. Large SUVs and vans may have trouble entering or parking, so please use a nearby paid lot instead. (No parking support.)

What are Hanbada's signature dishes?

A real Busan monkfish stew favorite! Hanbada's signature dishes are the assorted grilled fish set, the raw monkfish stew (아구찜) set, and the raw monkfish boiled (아구수육) set.

You order through the tablet installed on the table.

After a cup of nutty roasted barley tea while we waited—

Side dishes and the complimentary makgeolli

Every single one of Hanbada Suyeong's tidy side dishes was genuinely delicious. Honestly you could finish a bowl of rice on the side dishes alone haha. Please refill the cucumber and quail egg konjac braise — it's seriously so good ❤️

Such a touching bit of service — they gave us each a chilled glass of Neurin Maeul makgeolli (rice wine)! A glass of makgeolli with spicy, savory monkfish stew — pure art.

Ordering the raw monkfish stew set

We agonized between raw monkfish boiled and monkfish stew, and when the owner warned the stew could be a bit spicy, my spice-pride kicked in and I ordered the stew anyway. (I'm actually spice-shy, but I love spicy food.)

A little after we started on the side dishes, the japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) arrived. As expected, 👍

Fish also comes with the raw monkfish stew set. Living up to its 50-year, three-generation legacy as a half-dried grilled fish specialist, it was just so good ⸜(•ᴗ•)⸝

Eating it with the grated radish on the side (wasabi flavor, chili flavor) was great 👍

The monkfish soup (아구탕) came out too. Bubbling hot — drinking a bowl of it really cleared my head.

We also dipped the monkfish meat inside in soy sauce.

How big is the raw monkfish stew, and how spicy?

Ta-da! The raw monkfish stew arrives. I was shocked at how overwhelming the portion was!!!!!!!!!!! And this was after refilling side dishes and nearly finishing the monkfish soup, so we were already more than half full.

But the eating show starts again!!!!!! It's generously packed with plump, meaty monkfish, so you can freely pick out the meat as you like.

The sea squirts (미더덕) were huge too!! The owner had warned us it'd be spicy, but us spice-proud spice-shy people got careless!!!

That day we sweated buckets and drank a whole bottle of water before we left.

We couldn't take it anymore, so the two of us spice-shy friends ordered rice too. Picking off the monkfish meat and wrapping it up brought our taste buds back to life.

The owner also brought us some banga-nip (Vietnamese mint leaves). Adding them and tossing it all together made it even more delicious.

We were so~~~ full that we decided to save adding noodles for next time. Even as a big eater, I'm only human — the overwhelming portion had me tapping out. Next time I'll come with four people~~~~~~

Inside Hanbada: seating and space for groups

Hanbada Suyeong Main Branch's dining room is clean and spacious.

We wanted the window seat, but it was already reserved.

We settled for this spot instead, and it turned out to be a perfect little corner for two total introverts. This Suyeong monkfish stew favorite, Hanbada, also seems like it'd be great for group gatherings or work dinners.

A blazing-spicy monkfish stew with a cold glass of makgeolli — Hanbada Suyeong Main Branch can blow off all your stress!

If you're craving something delicious, generous, and spicy, I'd definitely recommend a visit. (Just promise to put a little less spice-pride into your order!!!!) Next time, us spice-shy friends will come back for the grilled fish.