Gangneung burger restaurant with draft beer: Moana Burger

Handmade burgers in Chodang-dong

You can’t leave out Chodang-dong when you travel to Gangneung, right? There are so many great sundubu (soft tofu) restaurants and cafés that you end up looking up where to go one by one~ But did you know Chodang-dong has more than just soft tofu? There’s also a delicious handmade burger spot! 🍔 This time, I went to Moana Burger in Gangneung. The burgers are seriously good, but the Budweiser draft beer is absolutely amazing hahaha 🍺

A convenient stop on a Gangneung itinerary

It’s close to Gangmun Beach, Gyeongpo Lake, and the Heo Gyun and Heo Nanseolheon Memorial House, so it works nicely on a Gangneung travel itinerary. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with last orders at 8:30 p.m. It is regularly closed every Tuesday. There is dedicated parking right in front of the restaurant. For travelers visiting by car, it makes things much easier since you don’t have to hunt for a parking spot separately 😊

Moana Burger menu and prices

The menu is neatly put together. Moana Burger offers the Moana Burger, Moana Burger Double, and Hawaiian Burger. Fries come with every burger order. The Moana Burger is ₩13,000, the Moana Burger Double is ₩16,000, and the Hawaiian Burger is ₩14,000. Sides include buffalo wings, chili bean sauce wedge fries, and fries, while drinks and draft beer are available too. There is apparently an event that discounts draft beer when you order a burger, so beer lovers, keep that in mind.

An interior that adds to the seaside-trip mood

The black-and-white building with its bold sign is so stylish and cool~ With the awning too, it has an exotic feel, like a little burger joint abroad. I heard Moana Burger moved to Chodang-dong from Sacheon, and this location feels much more welcome for a Gangneung trip. Inside, checkerboard patterns and metal finishes come together for a clean yet distinctive look 🖤 Surfboards and skateboards are displayed all around the restaurant, too. They suit the Gangneung sea so well that you can really feel like you’re on a trip even indoors 🌊

Reflective mirrors are installed here and there, making it fun to take photos. It is not just a place where you eat and leave—there are little things to look at tucked away throughout, so I found myself slowly looking around the whole restaurant hahaha.

Burgers cooked to order

They start cooking your burger as soon as you order. Delicious smells drift out from the kitchen, and that is when my stomach started reacting hahaha 🤤

Wow!! Isn’t this burger presentation insane?? This must be why people seek out handmade burgers~ They already prove they’ll be delicious just by looking like this~

Moana Burger, fries, and draft beer

It comes with romaine, red onion, tomato, cheese, and Moana special sauce. The ingredients are stacked layer by layer, so the cross-section is quite generously filled. The staff also showed us how to eat the burger: press the bun down firmly so you can take a big bite all at once. So I put on the plastic gloves and pressed it down hard with both hands hahaha 😆 Handmade burgers have so many fillings that they can escape in every direction if you just pick them up and eat them. Giving it a little press makes it much easier to eat all those ingredients together in one bite. I tried the fries that came with the burger right away, too. Since they are cooked as soon as you order, they arrive nice and hot. They are crisp outside and fluffy inside, with a savory salty seasoning that makes you keep picking them up one after another without ketchup hahaha. And the Budweiser draft beer that I really want to emphasize!!! It is seriously delicious hahaha. I can’t tell you how refreshing a cold sip of draft beer is while eating a burger. Drivers should skip it, of course. But if, like me, you are in a position to enjoy draft beer with your meal at the restaurant, I would recommend pairing it with your burger~

Hawaiian Burger with pineapple and bacon

The Hawaiian Burger comes with pineapple and bacon. At first, I wondered what pineapple in a burger would be like, but after one bite, the sweet pineapple and savory bacon went together better than I expected!! I had the Moana Burger and Ureongi had the Hawaiian Burger. We traded bites, and it was great because we got to properly taste both menu items. If you visit as a pair, try ordering different items and sharing them like we did~ If there is delicious food and a dog, wouldn’t that be heaven~~ Yeoreum is so sweet and cute!!

A flower hair clip for your trip, too

And be sure to take one of the flower-shaped hair clips that bring out the Hawaiian feeling. Getting a flower clip unexpectedly at a burger restaurant is both cute and fun hahaha. It is a souvenir you can take with you, so it would be nice to use in photos during your Gangneung trip! After eating a delicious burger and leaving with a cute little item too, it feels like receiving a small gift while traveling. Even next time I go to Gangneung, I want to choose another burger from the Moana Burger menu!