Ulsan Korean restaurant for tender pork bulgogi: Boksan Haejang

I ate so many delicious things on this trip to Ulsan. I really enjoy finding a great meal that you can only have in that particular area. This time too, while looking for somewhere to eat, I found Boksan Haejang Nam-gu Sinjeong Branch (복산해장 남구신정점). Friends who had been to Ulsan told me I absolutely had to try Boksan Pork Cutlet because it was delicious, and apparently this restaurant was created by the same Boksan group!!

That day, it suddenly felt like summer had turned into autumn, and it was chilly. So choosing haejangguk (hangover soup) made it taste even better!

Hours and parking

It is open daily from 11:00 to 14:30 and closed on Mondays. Parking is not available if you are driving.

I was even more curious because I heard it was part of the same Boksan group as Boksan Pork Cutlet. I heard Boksan Pork Cutlet is famous in Ulsan too, but after trying it myself, I thought Boksan Haejang was really delicious as well. What stayed with me most was the quality of the meat overall, from the meat in the haejangguk to the yukhoe (seasoned raw beef) and pork bulgogi. If you are looking for a good restaurant near Ulsan Industrial Tower or Ulsan Jungang Hospital, I would like to recommend it for a hearty meal.

Corkage is free, apparently.

Recommended dishes

I ordered the regular Boksan Haejangguk, regular Yukhoe Bibimbap, and a small Boksan Pork Bulgogi.

Regular Boksan Haejangguk ₩11,000

A haejangguk with delicious meat and a refreshing broth.

The broth was delicious too, but I was especially impressed by the meat inside. Depending on the cut, meat in haejangguk can sometimes be a little tough or dry, but here it practically melted away. It tasted like the meat in galbitang (beef short-rib soup).

When you picked it up with chopsticks, it felt like it would gently come apart. I kept saying how good the meat was while I ate. Not only the haejangguk, but also the yukhoe and pork bulgogi I had that day all felt fresh, so I wondered if this was a place that really pays attention to its ingredients.

Maybe because there were three? Four? big pieces of radish in it, the broth was so refreshing.

Regular Yukhoe Bibimbap ₩12,000

Yukhoe bibimbap with fresh meat and vegetables.

They had yukhoe bibimbap, which I love, so I ordered it too. Once I tried the meat, it was really tasty. It was not salty, and the seasoning was just right.

When you think of yukhoe bibimbap, you usually first imagine mixing it with gochujang (Korean red chili paste), right? But here, I did not want to add gochujang from the beginning. The yukhoe itself was fresh and nutty, so it had great savory depth even simply eaten with rice. I wanted to taste more of the meat first, so I ate it without the sauce, and that was actually more to my taste.

It felt like there was no need to cover the flavor with a strong seasoning because the yukhoe was good. Still, I was curious, so I mixed about one bite with gochujang. The gochujang was not overly salty or intense either, and it went well with the yukhoe. If you prefer yukhoe bibimbap mixed in the usual way, it would be delicious with gochujang too.

Small Boksan Pork Bulgogi ₩5,000

A side dish that is just perfect with rice.

Boksan Pork Bulgogi had a flavor I had never tried before. And it was an unexpected discovery of a dish. It was a style of seasoned pork bulgogi I had not had before, and it was delicious too.

With pork bulgogi, the sweetness or saltiness of the seasoning is often the first thing you notice, but Boksan Haejang's bulgogi did not lean too far either way. It was neither salty nor excessively sweet, just seasoned to be delicious. Having a piece of meat while eating the haejangguk, then having it with rice too, was such a good combination. At ₩5,000, it was not burdensome to order alongside a main dish. If ordering only haejangguk feels a little lacking, I think it would be nice to try Boksan Pork Bulgogi with it.

Side dishes and seasonings

Boksan Haejang is a place that provides generous food at reasonable prices through a direct-trade system with Boksan Meat, Boksan Yukgwan, and Boksan Pork Cutlet, which it operates itself.

Salt, pepper, perilla seed powder, and sansho pepper seasoning are set out. If you order bibimbap, they give you haejangguk broth. The side dish is kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), and it is delicious~

The only downside: lunch only

The disappointing thing is that they do not serve dinner. No wonder people kept coming in at lunchtime.

My mom does not usually eat much meat either, but she said this place was delicious and ate well. She said that if a place sells mungtigi (thick-cut raw beef), they must use good meat. I guess she was right. Everything was delicious!

These days, when you go around the Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk areas, they sell a lot of yukhoe mulhoe (raw beef in chilled broth), right? I was curious what it tasted like.

A place I would want to revisit in Ulsan

On this trip, Ulsan really made me realize that it has more good restaurants than I expected. And prices are really cheap..! Boksan Haejang is also one of the restaurants I discovered on this trip that I would like to visit again. If you are looking for a good restaurant near Ulsan Jungang Hospital, or want a hearty Korean meal among restaurants near Ulsan Industrial Tower, I think it would be nice to stop by Boksan Haejang.

There is also vending-machine coffee, so it would be nice to sit here and have dessert after your meal. It was hazelnut black coffee. If you like Boksan Pork Cutlet, I recommend this haejangguk restaurant too :)