Busan trip dinner at a Marine City Chinese restaurant: Bueokgan

I had a trip to Busan coming up and remembered how good another Bueokgan branch was, so this time I stopped by Bueokgan Chinese in Haeundae's Marine City.

A recommended spot for dinner in Haeundae, Busan

The view alone was great, but it also felt like I'd finally found a proper Chinese restaurant again — very satisfied.

Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch hours and how to find it

Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch's weekday hours are 11:00–22:00, with a break time of 15:30–17:00. Last order is at 15:00 and 20:30.

It's right near Dongbaekseom and The Bay 101, so it's perfectly placed for a walk after dinner. I went in the evening — perfect for the night view!

Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch is right on the 2nd floor above the Suybeon Choego pork gukbap (pork bone soup) restaurant, with an open, unobstructed Marine City ocean view.

There's a big sign visible from the 1st floor and the elevator up to the 2nd floor is right there, so it's easy to find.

Where to park at Bueokgan Chinese in Marine City

Parking is supported at the Adelis Sangga parking lot, with 1 hour 30 minutes free.

Do you need to reserve a window seat? Inside Bueokgan Chinese

To eat at a window seat at Bueokgan Chinese Marine City Branch, a reservation is essential. As soon as you walk in you get that open ocean view Marine City is known for, and it's popular enough that people wait during the evening peak.

By the time I was finishing up, window seats started opening one by one — so annoying. Next time I'm booking a window seat for sure.

Overall it had a modern yet upscale Chinese restaurant feel, and the interior and mood kept me in a good mood the whole meal.

There are also private group seating areas, and since the whole place is about 330㎡ (100 pyeong), it was perfect for a quiet meal. It looked great for family gatherings or dates in Marine City too, and in fact I saw a lot of families and couples there.

What's on the menu at Bueokgan Chinese

Ordering is done via tablet at the table, so it was convenient not having to wait for staff.

Bueokgan Chinese's menu isn't just the usual jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles), ganjajang, tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), and jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) you'd find at any Chinese-Korean restaurant — there were unique dishes you'd find in mainland China too, and honestly a huge variety.

There were unusual items like pa-i-hyang and stir-fried bok choy with garlic, plus the classics that are hard to mess up like cream shrimp, black vinegar tenderloin tangsuyuk, yurinki (crispy chicken with sweet-sour sauce), and eohyang gaji (fish-fragrant eggplant) — a lineup with a lot of range.

Bueokgan Chinese's weekday-only lunch set menu looked like great value — if I'd come at lunch I probably would have ordered that.

When I searched, everyone said it's not the plain jjajangmyeon but the suran ganjajang that people come here for, so curious how good it was, I ordered the ganjajang! For reference, you can get it extra large for just 2,000 won more.

What we ordered for dinner

• Suran ganjajang ₩8,000
• Black vinegar tenderloin tangsuyuk (small) ₩28,000

Since Bueokgan Chinese is known for jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk, I went with the two most-ordered best-sellers.

Also, instead of plain water you get a savory tea, which was a nice touch.

Suran ganjajang at Bueokgan Chinese: how it tasted

The glossy, well-stir-fried ganjajang arrives — just looking at it you can tell it's good!

Look at those well-cooked, translucent onions. A proper ganjajang if I've ever seen one! And true to the name suran ganjajang, the poached egg (suran) on top was perfectly cooked and jiggly, with a runny yolk that paired perfectly with the jjajang.

The meat wasn't finely minced either — it came in thick chunks, so you really got that chewy bite.

Jjajang is usually heavy on salty-sweet MSG flavor, but Bueokgan Chinese's version was light and only mildly sweet-salty, so you keep eating without feeling weighed down. Living up to its reputation as a famous Haeundae eatery, the sauce and the chewy noodles worked really well together. These days most Chinese restaurants have gone downhill across the board, so finding a genuinely well-stir-fried jjajangmyeon like this felt like hitting the jackpot. Very satisfied.

Black vinegar tenderloin tangsuyuk at Bueokgan Chinese

Here comes the black vinegar tenderloin tangsuyuk — crispy tenderloin piled generously with tangy black vinegar sauce!

There was crunchy raw onion and wood ear mushroom mixed in too, which added texture and kept it from tasting like just tangsuyuk and sauce alone. The onion was surprisingly raw, but they'd taken out enough of the sharp bite that even a small child could eat it easily, and it cut through the richness nicely.

Even though it's the sauce-poured (not dipping) style, the batter was fried well — pale and crisp — and it stayed crunchy all the way to the last bite without going soggy. Tangsuyuk can easily feel greasy, but the tangy black vinegar sauce cut through the richness, so I kept reaching for more without getting tired of it!

They said the black vinegar is imported directly from mainland China, and maybe that's why — unlike tangsuyuk made with regular vinegar-based sauce, this one had real depth of flavor.

Overall, for Chinese food, it was clean and not greasy at all. The pickled radish and jjasai (pickled mustard greens) that came as side dishes were also great for cleansing the palate between bites.

Why Bueokgan Chinese is worth a stop on a Busan trip

Upscale interior, right in front of Dongbaekseom with a wide-open ocean view — Bueokgan Chinese is a genuine Marine City favorite. Personally I don't eat Chinese food often because it tends to feel greasy, but true to its reputation as a well-known Marine City spot, it was clean overall without that oily feeling, and my stomach felt comfortable afterward, so I could enjoy it without any guilt.

Since I visited during a Busan trip, it was also perfectly located to go sightseeing around Haeundae right after the meal. Getting to enjoy delicious Chinese food together with an ocean view was really satisfying. If you're looking for a good spot near Dongbaekseom or planning to visit Bueokgan Chinese, definitely try the suran ganjajang and the black vinegar tenderloin tangsuyuk!