Gwangalli BBQ with Jeju wheat ale and 360g seasoned ribs: Myeongseung

What is Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi, a Gwangalli BBQ restaurant in Busan?

Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi is a long-running restaurant in Gwangalli, Busan, serving Jeju pork and Jeju-style food. Since the owner is from Jeju, you can taste Jeju food without actually going there.

24 Suyeong-ro 594beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan, South Korea — Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi.

• Address: 24 Suyeong-ro 594beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan, South Korea
• Hours: 17:00–22:00 (closed every Tuesday)
• Parking available / Jeju pork, pork ribs / Jeju beer

Near Gwangan Station, Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi captures the real taste of Jeju. It's about 1 minute from Gwangan Station Exit 1, toward Gwangalli Beach.

Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi menu and the Jeju wheat ale

All the meat is from Jeju, and everything you'd eat in Jeju — Jeju beer, Jeju pork kimchi stew, even Jeju pork noodle soup — is all gathered in one restaurant.

This place is officially certified as a Jeju pork restaurant, so both the pork and the Jeju beer feel genuinely authentic. We ordered 3 servings of raw pork belly, 2 servings of seasoned pork ribs, Jeju beer, and pork kimchi stew. I do slightly regret not ordering the pork noodle soup — I think I'll need to go back just for that.

We started with beer before grilling anything, just to whet our appetite. It had been a while since I had Jeju wheat ale — crisp and smooth, really tasty.

Ogyeopsal, Jeju-style side dishes and the downward-venting grill

The rule is to eat the raw meat first, then the seasoned meat, so we ordered the pork belly first. It was the right thickness with a chewy skin — really delicious pork belly.

From bracken pancake to rapeseed kimchi, there were so many charming, distinctly Jeju side dishes. The bracken in the pancake was especially chewy, and the rapeseed kimchi paired perfectly with the meat.

I really loved the grill — usually when the smoke extractor hangs above, it's hard to talk to each other and hard to grill, but here it's built in below, so there was no smell and it was so comfortable to grill. At first it was a bit tricky to adjust because you had to control the smoke vent to control the heat, but once I got the hang of it, it was really convenient. The anchovy fish sauce that came with it went perfectly with the pork belly, too.

My girlfriend said the raw meat tasted nutty, almost like peanut butter, and she loved the chewy texture of the pork skin.

Seasoned pork ribs, 360g for two: portion size and taste

If you come to Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi, you absolutely have to order the ribs. The thick score marks soaked up the seasoning so well that the seasoned pork ribs were incredibly tasty. It's 360g for 2 servings, and there was quite a lot of it — we seriously debated whether we needed to order rice to share.

Just the right amount of sweetness, sweet-and-salty and so delicious. The fat-to-meat ratio on the ribs was excellent, making the meat really tender. If you dislike overly strong seasoned ribs, this is the place for you.

Dipping it in the accompanying meat sauce brought the flavor of the meat to life even more.

Finishing with fresh pork kimchi stew

We finished with kimchi stew, but we were so full we only ordered one bowl of rice to share. It seemed like they simmer a big pot with all the trimmed leftover meat, then reheat and serve it per order. Personally, I love kimchi stew where the pork fat tastes like it's been sitting in the broth for a couple of days — and this was exactly that, a deeply meaty, delicious kimchi stew.

Is Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi worth it for Gwangalli BBQ?

Tucked into a quiet residential area right by Gwangan Station, Myeongseung Jeju Saenggogi is a meal where you can really feel the owner's skill, from the side dishes to the meat to the finishing stew. On top of that, it's in a great spot for a walk to see Gwangan Bridge after eating your fill — a Gwangalli restaurant I think I'll keep coming back to whenever I'm in the area.