Early dinner at a Busan Station hagfish grill: Gyeongbuksan

Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo is a Busan Station restaurant that the famous eater Hibab has recommended. I visited on October 10, 2026.

Where to eat hagfish after seeing Bukangi at Busan Station?

I had dinner at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo (경북산꼼장어) in Choryang-dong after seeing Bukangi. Isn't the hottest spot these days right around Busan Station? You can see Bukangi just a 5-minute walk from the station, so I went straight there after arriving. I came on purpose to see Bukangi, and this is my review of the dinner I ate at a Busan Station restaurant afterward.

The place I went after Bukangi is Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo, a Busan hagfish (kkomjangeo) restaurant that Hibab, famous for Busan Station eats, has visited, along with plenty of celebrities. It's a 10-minute walk from Busan Station, and since it's by Choryang Market, wandering the market before or after your meal is fun too.

• Name: Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo (경북산꼼장어)
• Location: 25 Choryang-ro, Dong-gu, Busan
• Hours: 13:00–24:00

Hagfish is a must-eat in Busan, so choosing a dinner near Busan Station was no dilemma. I just wanted live hagfish, no question. Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo is walkable from Busan Station and easy to find.

What time should you go to Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo for dinner?

On the day I visited, Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo was already full by about 5pm. I went a bit early for dinner, but wow, by 5 it was packed! If you pick this place for dinner near Busan Station, I recommend going early. Inside, the tables are spaced widely and there are two halls, so it's fairly spacious.

The walls are covered with photos of celebrity visits and TV appearances. With this much proof, it has to be a real deal, right?

Side dishes and the self-serve bar

The side dishes at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo come out very neat, and there's a self-serve bar where you refill extra sides yourself. The bangah namul (Korean mint, a leafy herb) especially stood out: it has a bitter, unusual aroma and flavor, and it goes so well with hagfish.

How much is the half-and-half at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo, and how big is it?

The half-and-half set at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo is half sauce, half salt-grilled, for ₩55,000. Let me show you the whole spread first. There's plenty of food, and for live hagfish, ₩55,000 felt very satisfying. Honestly, hagfish is an expensive dish, right? But for a Busan Station dinner, Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo was really good value.

The refreshing bean sprout broth also does its part alongside the spicy hagfish.

Charcoal-grilled, then stir-fried again with vegetables

At Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo, the hagfish is prepared as you order and grilled over charcoal, and the smoky aroma wafts up. They really give it that charcoal flavor.

It looks delicious just sitting there.

The live hagfish, properly smoked over charcoal, is stir-fried once more with onion, garlic stems, bean sprouts and chili peppers, and it makes for a spectacular-looking grill.

The hagfish, lightly charred over the coals, takes on the fire flavor, and the smoky scent is delicious.

How spicy is the sauce hagfish? Fine with kids?

The sauce hagfish at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo wasn't a heavy, stuffy gochujang sauce but a very clean-tasting one. It isn't spicy either, so even if you come with kids on a Busan trip, I think they could enjoy it.

Trying it with the hagfish, the bangah namul was honestly so good. I brought a pile of vegetables and made wraps, and hagfish with bangah namul was a combo I'd never had, so it was delicious.

I put sauce hagfish on top and took a big bite, and the fire flavor is just amazing.

Salt-grilled with sesame oil dip and perilla wraps

For the first piece of salt-grilled hagfish, I dipped it lightly in the oil dip (gireumjang, sesame oil with salt) and it was nutty and delicious, and it's great with fragrant perilla leaf wraps too. The nice thing about hagfish is that it has no fishy taste, so I enjoyed it. Or maybe the owner perfectly removed the fishiness with the fire flavor~

It's good with shredded chili peppers too. Don't agonize over dinner near Busan Station, just go to Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo.

Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo fried rice: how many servings to order?

One serving of fried rice at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo is based on one bowl of rice, and since the two of us were already full from the hagfish, we ordered just one serving. Yum yum yum, after a delicious meal, fried rice is a must, right? Don't eat all the onion, okay~ you need onion for fried rice to taste good, so be sure to leave some.

The hagfish portion is big, so I was already full. When I ordered the fried rice they gave us seaweed too, so I wrapped it up with the seaweed and ate it, really delicious.

I came to Busan Station by train, went to see Bukangi, stopped by Choryang Market, and had a tasty dinner at Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo, within walking distance of Busan Station. A short but intense Busan trip! Next time I'm at Busan Station, I'll probably visit Gyeongbuksan Kkomjangeo again. It's delicious.