Gaya-dong Chinese restaurant jjamppongbap, Busan: Surabanjeom Gaya

📍Closed every Monday📍 ⏰️Hours 11:00 ~ 21:00 🚙Parking available ⭕️ (Please use Taeyang Parking Lot right next to the restaurant!)

What is Surabanjeom Gaya Branch? The original behind the Seomyeon branch

Surabanjeom Gaya Branch is a Chinese restaurant near Dongui University Station in Gaya-dong, Busanjin-gu, and it's actually the original branch of the Seomyeon location. Today I visited a neighborhood I really love — Gaya-dong, near Dongui University Station, famous for having so many good restaurants.

I used to visit this area a lot back when there were great roast duck and pork gukbap (soup with rice) places near Gaya-dong... And it turns out the Surabanjeom in Seomyeon that I frequent actually has its original location here in Gaya, so I came for lunch! The Seomyeon branch, near Yeonggwang Bookstore, always has a huge line of office workers at weekday lunch, so getting to visit the famous original branch felt even more exciting.

How to get to Surabanjeom Gaya Branch and its yellow sign

This Gaya-dong Chinese restaurant is a bit of a walk from Dongui University Station, but the 110-1 bus terminus is right in front, so if you get off near Gaya High School, Surabanjeom is right there in front of you!

Unlike the Seomyeon branch, Surabanjeom Gaya has a yellow sign! (The Seomyeon branch has a green sign, haha.) The exterior already gives off strong local-favorite energy in Gaya-dong, and I walked in feeling a bit overwhelmed by the vibe. After I sat down, I noticed a self-bar corner off to the side!

The free rice self-bar at Surabanjeom Gaya Branch

One of the best things about Surabanjeom Gaya is that you can help yourself to free rice at the self-bar without any awkwardness. These days, rice often costs an extra ₩1,000 to ₩2,000, so free rice really felt like a win!

Weekend lunch wait and what the family ordered

Since it was weekend lunch, quite a lot of people were eating already, so I couldn't photograph the interior in detail, but there were plenty of tables, so we got to enjoy our meal without waiting. Even though it's starting to feel like fall, they were still serving cold jjamppong and Chinese-style cold noodles!

Today the kids insisted we absolutely had to have jjamppong and tangsuyuk, so we ordered sura jjamppong, seafood jjamppong, jjajangmyeon, and tangsuyuk!

A full Chinese table only Surabanjeom serves

Onion, chunjang (black bean paste), and pickled radish — the unshakeable basics of any Chinese restaurant — are the first things that come to mind, and you keep reaching for them while waiting for your jjajangmyeon and jjamppong.

Before long, the main dishes arrived! It was great having jjajangmyeon, which my kindergartener son loves, come out together with tangsuyuk and jjamppong.

Doesn't Surabanjeom's jjajangmyeon look glossy and delicious? Jjajangmyeon that everyone, young and old, loves is always the best dish no matter when you eat it! And tangsuyuk, one of my real favorites at Surabanjeom, has a look that's a cut above from the start, haha.

Glutinous-rice-batter tangsuyuk, dipped in seasoned salt

The tangsuyuk, made with glutinous rice flour batter, is crispy yet very chewy, and dipping it in the seasoned salt served alongside really brings out its true flavor! Doesn't it look delicious just from the photo?

Next up, Surabanjeom's jjamppong, famous for being really tasty, comes in a version with beef pork belly (usamgyeopsal) and a version with seafood — I personally love seafood, so I ordered the seafood jjamppong!

Smoky wok-fired jjamppong, then jjamppongbap

Surabanjeom's jjamppong, with its deep smoky flavor, is honestly the number one jjamppong I've had in Busan. Surabanjeom really is a top jjamppong spot in Busan! The noodles themselves soak up the broth so well that it's incredibly delicious ❤️

Actually, I like jjamppongbap (rice mixed into jjamppong broth) even more, so I grabbed rice from the self-bar and immediately mixed it right into the jjamppong broth 🤣

Free rice, love it 😀 It was so filling I felt like I was about to burst, and in between bites I kept sneaking in some of the tangsuyuk too. My family had both a salt-dip camp and a sauce-dip camp, so everyone enjoyed it their own way!

Is Surabanjeom Gaya Branch worth it in Gaya-dong?

Today I went to find Surabanjeom's original branch, a Chinese restaurant I really love, in Gaya-dong, Busan, and had a delicious lunch.

There are plenty of good restaurants around Gaya-dong, but among them, I really recommend Surabanjeom, one of the best Chinese restaurants in Gaya-dong.