Cheongsapo pho restaurant with spicy beef and water spinach pho, Busan

On weekends everyone heads to Haeundae Blue Line Park for the ocean views.

It's also known as a Haeundae lunch spot, but there's a place where you can enjoy smoky, fire-charred pho while looking out at the wide open sea, so let me introduce it right away.

Parking and opening time at Cheongsapo Rice Noodles

Cheongsapo Rice Noodles Main Branch allows roadside parking right in front of the store between 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Outside those hours, you can use the coastal street parking or the Cheongsapo public parking lot.

It opens at 10 AM, so it's a great course for your last day in Busan — have a hearty breakfast-slash-lunch and head home.

Order two bowls of pho and the banh xeo is free

Here's the best part about Cheongsapo Rice Noodles Main Branch — just order two bowls of pho and you get a free banh xeo (Vietnamese savory pancake)!

Plus, ordering one bowl per person gets you refills on noodles and bean sprouts, so you don't need to worry about portion size at all.

If you sit at a window seat, the blue Cheongsapo sea unfolds right in front of you — a real treat for the eyes.

Good news for cilantro haters! No dish comes with cilantro by default — you only add it if you want, ordered separately to your taste.

There are a few other things to note, so if this is your first visit, it's worth reading up.

What we ordered: water spinach pho, spicy beef pho and butter shrimp fried rice

They also have a solid lineup of day-limited items — beef tripe, morning glory, and chicken rice-crust pho. To try the limited menu, I ordered a morning glory pho (₩15,000) in the spicy version.

We also went all in and ordered the restaurant's signature dish, beef pho (₩15,000) spicy — said to be the ultimate hangover cure tuned to Korean tastes — plus butter shrimp fried rice (₩7,500).

After ordering, I looked around and the interior has a cute, distinctly Southeast Asian feel — great for photos.

Thanks to the friendly staff who can communicate in foreign languages, there were plenty of international guests too.

There's a Naver/Google receipt review event that gets you free ice cream, worth keeping in mind.

They say the pho here isn't the clear-broth southern-style version we usually know, but a northern-style broth reinterpreted in Cheongsapo Rice Noodles' own way. I was so curious what it would taste like.

My friend who came with me is a cilantro lover, so we added cilantro. If you want a more generous amount, you can order it for an extra charge.

Side dishes and sauces are provided upfront. If you need more, you can help yourself at the self-serve bar.

The free banh xeo is a full-size one

First up, the free banh xeo arrives!

I figured it'd come in a bite-sized portion since it's free... but it turned out to be the same size as banh xeo you'd pay for elsewhere.

Inside the crispy, golden shell was packed full of bean sprouts — great texture too.

Wet the rice paper that comes with it, wrap it around the banh xeo with the pineapple, onion, and chili on the side, and eat.

The two bowls of pho and the butter shrimp fried rice arrived quickly!

Butter shrimp fried rice, 7,500 won — eat it with the sauce poured over

I ordered butter shrimp fried rice thinking it would go well alongside the pho.

They told me it tastes great with the sauce that comes with it drizzled on top, so I did that right away.

The fluffy rice grains with the special sauce drizzled over them were mild yet exploded with savory flavor.

The red chili in the sauce cut through any greasiness at the end with a spicy kick — perfect with the pho broth too.

How does the limited-daily water spinach pho taste?

My friend, who loves morning glory (water spinach), ordered the morning glory pho!

And then piled a huge amount of cilantro on top, haha.

A little scared because of the cilantro, but I took a brave sip of the broth anyway! Oh...? With so much morning glory in it, it was refreshing and clean — a different kind of appeal from the pho we usually know.

The morning glory, wilted just enough to be easy to eat, paired with the thick noodles for a real treat!

Spicy beef pho: smoky broth built for a hangover

Now it was time to try the spicy beef pho I ordered! The broth looked clearer than I expected, so I wondered if it would actually be spicy.

But the moment I took a spoonful of the broth, that doubt vanished instantly. It's packed with smoky, fire-charred flavor and is spicy enough — truly the best for curing a hangover!

If you're out looking for a Haeundae lunch spot the day after drinking, you won't regret this one.

It's clean yet rich, hitting Korean taste buds squarely, so it'd also be great to bring your parents here. The noodles are thicker than regular pho noodles, giving it a nice chewy texture too.

How to wrap and eat the banh xeo

Having tasted the pho, let's dig into the banh xeo before it gets cold! It's generously packed with bean sprouts and meat inside.

Swirl the rice paper well in water to soften it, then wrap it around the banh xeo and assorted vegetables and roll it up.

The onion cuts through and cleans up the aftertaste really well, so don't forget to add it in.

Dip the neatly rolled wrap deep into the sauce and take a bite!

The crispy yet rich banh xeo, the clean vegetables, and the chewy rice paper came together so well. I almost couldn't believe this quality was being given away for free.

Since we're Koreans who need rice to feel full, I made sure to eat plenty of rice along the way too.

And enjoyed the generous amount of meat piled into the smoky pho.

Slurped down to the last noodle happily! The portion was so generous that I honestly couldn't even manage a refill.

Even most guys would be plenty satisfied without a refill, since a banh xeo is included too.

Is Cheongsapo Rice Noodles worth a Haeundae lunch?

If you're looking for a Haeundae lunch spot with an appealingly refreshing broth, how about Cheongsapo Rice Noodles Main Branch?

Ride the train along the coast for some romance, then fill up on smoky pho — it makes for a great combo, so I'd recommend it.