Haeundae Chinese restaurant with sauce poured over the pork: Bueokgan

Today I want to introduce Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch, a Chinese restaurant on Dalmaji-gil in Haeundae, Busan. It specializes in European-style Chinese cuisine, and there are two locations in Busan — Marine City and here in Haeundae. I visited the Haeundae branch since it's close to home, and I really loved it — the interior is pretty and clean.

Where is Bueokgan Chinese in Haeundae, and what are the hours?

Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch is at 200 Dalmaji-gil 117beon-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan, 1st floor. It's open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, with a break time from 15:00 to 16:30 and last order at 20:30.

The whole building belongs to Bueokgan. The basement floor is parking, the first floor holds Café de Bueokgan and Bueokgan Chinese, and the second floor is Bueokgan European Restaurant. Today we ate Chinese-style, but the European restaurant on the second floor has pretty good reviews too, so I want to try that next time!

Inside the first-floor hall: European decor meets Chinese dining

The first-floor hall at Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch has an interior that blends European and Chinese styles nicely. Even though it's the first floor, the basement level below makes it feel like a second floor. The greenery and the natural light were really lovely.

Bueokgan Chinese menu and what two people ordered for lunch

Here's the menu at Bueokgan Chinese, a well-known spot in Haeundae. There's a wide range of dishes, from stir-fried specialties to noodle and rice meals.

Since we came for lunch, my husband and I decided to keep it light — two noodle/rice dishes and one sweet and sour pork.

• Black vinegar sirloin sweet and sour pork ₩28,000
• Beef belly jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) ₩12,000
• Poached-egg samgyeop jjajang (black bean noodles) ₩10,000
• Basic side dishes: jjasai and danmuji

Because of the elegant atmosphere, most guests were family groups with parents in tow. There were also couples and guests around my parents' age. It's a Haeundae Chinese restaurant that people of all ages can enjoy.

Black vinegar sirloin sweet and sour pork, 28,000 won, sauce poured over

The black vinegar sirloin sweet and sour pork at Bueokgan Chinese Haeundae Branch is ₩28,000, and they served it with the sauce already poured on. I'm personally a sauce-poured type, so I was really happy — haha. But it wasn't drenched to mush; they kept the crispy parts separate, so you could taste both crunch and chewiness at once.

The black vinegar sauce was poured on generously, and it was sweet and delicious. Seriously addictive sweet and sour pork.

Raw onion strips came alongside to cut through the richness in between bites, and they paired really well. The meat was packed in generously too, so the texture was great — but above all, the sauce was just so good.

Poached-egg pork belly jjajang, 10,000 won: break the egg and mix

The poached-egg samgyeop jjajang is ₩10,000. At some point I started preferring ganjjajang (dry-style black bean noodles) over regular jjajangmyeon.

I do like the thick, saucy texture of jjajangmyeon, but I prefer the freshly stir-fried vegetables in ganjjajang more, so these days I always order ganjjajang at Chinese restaurants. True to its reputation as a Haeundae Chinese favorite, this was an authentic ganjjajang. The chunky vegetables and meat were properly wok-fried without excess moisture.

They told us to gently break the poached egg in the middle and mix it in. Ganjjajang can be a little dry on its own, but with the poached egg mixed in it became much softer and had a nutty richness.

The noodles were boiled just right and chewy, and best of all there was plenty of meat, which made me — a real meat lover — very happy, haha.

Beef belly jjamppong, 12,000 won: a spicy broth that clears the head

The beef belly jjamppong is ₩12,000. It's jjamppong topped with beef belly, and honestly, beef belly with jjamppong is an unbeatable combo!

We enjoyed the beef belly along with generous amounts of seafood. The broth was spicy and really delicious. Highly recommend it as a hangover cure, haha.

Three dishes for two people — was it too much food?

With two noodle/rice dishes plus one order of sweet and sour pork, my stomach really felt like it was about to burst. The portions were quite generous, so I'd say it's the right amount for two big eaters — haha. By the time we finished and left, guests kept streaming in until the place was fully booked.

With its elegant atmosphere fit for all kinds of gatherings, I highly recommend Bueokgan Chinese, a Haeundae Chinese restaurant favorite :)