Chinese restaurant near Dongui University Station, Busan: 2-person set

I was craving Chinese food with that smoky wok flavor, so I searched around and found Surabanjeom Gaya Branch, a Chinese restaurant in Gaya-dong that's popular with locals. It's usually near the top of the Baemin (Baedal Minjok) delivery app rankings and has a high reorder rate. Every dish had that smoky char, so it was spicy and delicious!

Location and parking at Surabanjeom Gaya Branch

• Tue-Sun 11:00-21:00 / last order 20:00 (closed every Monday)
• 143 Eomgwang-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea
• Group dining, takeout, delivery, parking

It's near the entrance to Gaya Park and close to Dongui University Station, so it's easy to get to. It's also convenient for people coming from nearby Gaegeum-dong or Danggam-dong, right in the middle of the neighborhood — good for a family meal or a casual gathering.

For parking, you can use Taeyang Parking Lot, the dedicated lot near the restaurant. If you spend ₩15,000 or more per table, you get a voucher for 1 hour of free parking.

Inside the restaurant and the self bar

A spacious, clean interior. The tables are well spaced apart, so it's comfortable to eat here.

There's also a self bar, and it's tidy. Rice refills are free!

The tables are well kept, too.

The menu and set options

The menu covers the classics — jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) — along with addictive mala jjamppong, crispy sirloin tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork), chili shrimp, and a really wide range of Chinese dishes. Beyond individual dishes, there are value-for-money set menus that pair two noodle dishes with a side dish, so it's easy to pick something to fit your group size and taste.

Join the receipt review event and they'll give you fried dumplings or mengbosha (shrimp toast) — worth doing!

Our 2-person set (shrimp ganjajang, sundubu jjamppong, mini tangsuyuk).

They start cooking the moment you order to get that honest smoky flavor, and they follow a same-day prep, same-day use policy for ingredients, so you can really feel the care that goes into the food.

How was the mini tangsuyuk?

Even though it's called mini tangsuyuk, the portion was generous. The batter looked clean, probably because it's fried in clean oil.

Since it's the sweet rice (chapssal) version, the outside is crispy and the inside is chewy. Dip it deep in the classic sweet and sour sauce and it's crispy, chewy, and free of any off flavors — delicious!!

Sundubu jjamppong and shrimp ganjajang

The sundubu jjamppong (soft tofu spicy seafood noodle soup) doesn't just rely on red pepper flakes for heat — the broth is built from various seafood and dried seafood, then slow-aged before cooking, which gives it a depth and savoriness that's a cut above. It's loaded with soft, fluffy tofu, plenty of fresh seafood like squid and shrimp, and a sharp, smoky kick that makes it perfect for curing a hangover, too.

I almost ordered rice worried it might be too heavy, but the shrimp ganjajang (black bean sauce with shrimp) looked so good I ordered it instead. Overall it wasn't greasy at all, so ordering it with two portions of noodles was a good call!

In the shrimp ganjajang, the onions and vegetables keep a crisp texture, and they pair well with the plump, springy shrimp. The sweetness isn't artificial or overdone, and the richness of the black bean sauce clings to the noodles nicely instead of sliding off — so good!! The ganjajang also has that smoky char, so it doesn't feel greasy.

Overall, everything had that smoky char and was delicious.

Final thoughts

Surabanjeom Gaya Branch is a Gaegeum-dong Chinese restaurant that proves itself entirely through the quality of its food. The smoky-charred ganjajang that makes the most of made-to-order cooking, the sundubu jjamppong deepened by aged sauce, and the top-tier tangsuyuk all came together well. The skill you'd expect from a No. 1 delivery-ranked spot comes through just as clearly when you eat in the dining room — if you want to taste proper Chinese food around Gaya-dong or Gaegeum-dong, don't hesitate to visit.