Basket Carrier · 22 stories
I write about restaurant visits, shopping finds, and beauty stops in Seoul and Busan–Gyeongnam. · Writes about: Hair & beauty salons · Restaurants · Shopping · Bars · Cafés
Zoblack is a salt bread bakery in Marine City, Haeundae, Busan. On the way to meet a bread-loving older friend, the writer packed four Zoblack salt breads as a gift (plain, pollock roe, almond and chive cream cheese), and the pollock roe and chive cream cheese salt breads they shared were crisp outside, soft inside and rich in savory flavor. For gift salt bread in Marine City, Zoblack is a great fit.
Budan Nampo Branch is a Korean-style pub on the 2nd floor on Gwangbok-ro in Jung-gu, Busan, less than a 5-minute walk from Exit 3 of Jagalchi Station. After raw fish in Yeongdo, the writer and a friend went to Budan Nampo Branch for a second round of cheese baby octopus and shrimp (33,000 won), draft beer and two cocktails. The indoor smoking booth and the big-window seats stood out most. Budan Nampo Branch is a good Nampo-dong bar for a casual second round with friends or a group get-together.
Yukganmyeongga (육간명가) is a fire-oven Korean set-meal (hanjeongsik) restaurant on the 2nd floor of 270 Hasinjungang-ro in Hadan, Saha, Busan. A family of four (Dad, my sister, my brother-in-law and I) ordered the pork galbi set for 2 and fire-oven mackerel for 2 in a private room. Dad, who has trouble with his teeth, ate the pork galbi easily, and my picky brother-in-law enjoyed the mackerel with a glass of soju. With 10 mild side dishes and lotus-leaf rice, Yukganmyeongga gave generous value for the price and was a satisfying choice for a family gathering with parents.
Second Face Myeongji is a Zeiss ClearMind specialist optician in Myeongji Ocean City, Gangseo-gu, Busan. The writer visited Second Face Myeongji with her father and sister for a precision eye exam and had only imported multifocal lenses made for a frame her brother-in-law no longer used. About a week later, Dad put on the finished glasses and was delighted at how clearly he could see.
Haemullae is a newly opened restaurant specializing in stone-plate seafood and pork bone jjim (braised spicy stew) in a shopping arcade in Myeongji International New City, Gangseo-gu, Busan. On a last-minute after-work meetup with a friend, the writer ordered Haemullae's signature stone-plate seafood bone jjim for 2 in mild spice, with abalone, shrimp, squid, fried squid and pork back bones alongside draft beer, then finished the leftover sauce with fried rice and nurungji (scorched rice). The gentle heat and 2 hours of free underground parking made Haemullae an easy pick for an unplanned dinner.
Songjeongok Songjeong Main Branch is a Korean set-menu restaurant on Songjeonggwangeogol-ro in Haeundae, Busan, close to Songjeong Beach. The abalone seafood hinoki set brings gabrisal pork, a seafood hinoki steamer, banchan such as shrimp salad and squid stir-fry, and abalone pot rice topped with abalone innards and crab cream sauce, with the pot finished in broth instead of scorched-rice tea. The flavors are clean and light enough that a friend undergoing cancer treatment ate well, so Songjeongok suits a family meal with parents.
Yu Iksang Sushi is a sushi restaurant known for its extra-long tail sushi, in an alley on Wausan-ro 23-gil near Hongik University Station in Mapo, Seoul. A weekend visit just after 2pm meant a 5-minute wait, then the 26-piece Couple A Plus set, which starts with salad, cold soba, soybean paste soup and fried shrimp before the flounder sushi with aged kimchi, smoky beef sushi and crispy grilled sushi. The fish at Yu Iksang Sushi is so much bigger than the rice that each piece has to be scooped onto a spoon and eaten in one bite — generous enough to make it a solid Hongdae date spot.
Viva Trade Eulji Dundaun Dongdaemun Branch is a warehouse-style vintage clothing store on the 5th floor of 264 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul. Stopping by while shopping around Dongdaemun Market, I browsed the Polo and Tommy casual lines and the Kitty Zone character goods, then bought a Tommy shirt and a Calvin t-shirt and gave the shirt to my sister as a gift. The clothes at Viva Trade looked almost brand new and the section discounts made it an easy add-on to a Dongdaemun day out.
Chopilsal Pork Grill Hongdae Branch is a pork grill restaurant on the first and second floors of 172 Donggyo-ro in Mapo, Seoul, and the Hongik Univ. Station branch of a Busan original. On a Seoul trip the writer ordered two servings of salted ogyeopsal (five-layer pork belly), one serving of jinjja dwitgogi (pork skirt meat) and chon-dwaeji kimchi jjigae, and found the myeongi namul (wild garlic leaves) with mu saengchae (shredded radish salad) the best bite of the meal. The dwitgogi tasted exactly like the Busan original, making Chopilsal an easy recommendation for Korean BBQ in Hongdae.
Esthetic Healingsu is a one-person, reservation-only esthetic shop near Dongdaesin Station in Seo-gu, Busan, offering bridal care that combines facial contouring with upper-body treatment. With sensitive skin, the writer had radiofrequency and microcurrent facial work instead of hard-pressure contouring, plus two hours of device and hand treatment on the back, decolletage and arms, ending with a 1.5cm reduction in arm circumference. A solid pick for brides-to-be who want their face and upper body line addressed together before wedding photos.
