Late-night Gwangalli bar with sundubu jjolmyeon: Drunken Kitchen

I was looking for somewhere in Gwangalli to enjoy good food and drinks together, and that's how I ended up at Drunken Kitchen! My friend and I had already gone through a first and second round of drinks in Gwangalli that night, so we were looking for a place we could enjoy without pressure even on a fairly full stomach — that's how we landed here. Best of all, it's on the second floor with a great view of the Gwangalli sea, so it was a nice place to sip a drink and soak in the Gwangalli vibe even late at night!

Where is Drunken Kitchen? Hours and parking

Drunken Kitchen

• 21 Gwangan-ro 62beon-gil, 2nd floor, Suyeong-gu, Busan, South Korea
• 10-minute walk from Gwangan Station (Line 2), Exit 5
• Sun–Thu 12:30 PM–2:00 AM
• Fri–Sat 12:30 PM–4:00 AM
• Parking available (1 hour free in the building's underground lot)

Finding the entrance: past Drunken Bar, through the kitchen door

Drunken Kitchen has a pretty fun layout. You pass through Drunken Bar, then open a kitchen door that leads into Drunken Kitchen.

Live griddle cooking right beside your table

Another fun point here is the live griddle cooking you can watch right next to your table. You get to see the actual cooking up close, and apparently you can even ask for your preferred seasoning or doneness. Watching the food come together on the griddle makes the wait for food fly by, right? haha We came for our third round this time, but next time I want to come first round so I can watch the live griddle cooking from the start!

The blue sign and the ocean-view seats

Drunken Kitchen has a striking blue sign that catches your eye as you walk along the Gwangalli beach. Head up to the second floor and there are ocean-view seats looking out at the water — the vibe felt a bit different from a typical bar. In particular, true to its name, it felt less like a place for just drinking and more like a proper restaurant-bar where you enjoy cooked dishes alongside your drinks. I heard the chefs, trained at culinary school, develop their own recipes and use good ingredients, and that really came through in how much care goes into each menu item haha.

How Drunken Kitchen keeps upgrading its regular menu

Drunken Kitchen keeps upgrading its existing menu too, apparently. The already-popular kimchi jjim (braised kimchi stew) now gets aged for over a day to deepen the flavor, and the seafood has been switched to phosphate-free products. Butter has also been switched to French butter across all dishes, not just the griddle items, and the cheese used on the griddle has been upgraded from natural cheese to a premium blend that includes gouda. The cocktails are also being upgraded with a professional bartender to match the mood of the place, so it seems like they're continuing to develop not just the food but the drinks menu too.

Sundubu jjolmyeon: the third-round dish we ordered

What we ordered that day was

Sundubu jjolmyeon (soft tofu noodle soup)!

Since we'd already gone through a first and second round, we wanted something light to pair with soju rather than a heavy dish, and sundubu jjolmyeon was exactly right!

The soft tofu paired with chewy noodles felt like something between a meal and a bar snack, and the spicy broth went really well with soju. At first I wondered if I could even fit it in, but it was so good I ended up finishing it easily haha.

By the third round, anything too heavy or greasy can feel like a lot, but pairing this with soju let us wind down our last drinks of the night in Gwangalli without any pressure haha. My friend said it'd be great for a hangover the next morning too, and that she'll probably keep thinking about it — that's how satisfying a choice it was haha. Next time I definitely want to come back and try the other popular menu items too!

New menu tasting events and unlimited draft beer

At this Gwangalli restaurant-bar, the staff apparently run their own monthly menu development, presenting a winning dish each time. They also prepare seasonal-ingredient menus and run games with staff involving neighboring tables, so it feels less like a place just for eating and more like a spot where the whole night out is fun. There are also receipt review and 'like' events! During brunch hours there's a discount on the whole menu plus an unlimited Stella draft beer event, and during dinner hours there's also an unlimited draft beer opening event — so be sure to check the current promotions before you go. If you're looking for a place in Gwangalli to enjoy good food and drinks with an ocean view, remember this Gwangalli ocean-view bar, Drunken Kitchen :)