Fully booked Friday lunch at Odd Bird Oliver, Busanjin pasta spot

Odd Bird Oliver, a spot known for its focaccia and soup

I was looking for somewhere to eat lunch in Jeonpo-dong and ended up back at Odd Bird Oliver after a while. I'd been once before for coffee, but this time I came for a proper lunch brunch. I made a Naver reservation for around 1pm on a Friday, and when I arrived it was almost completely full. If you're on the hunt for a brunch or pasta spot in Jeonpo-dong, this one's worth keeping an eye on 🫶🏻

Odd Bird Oliver's location, hours, and parking

• 📍Location: 33 Dongseong-ro 15beon-gil, 1st floor, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea
• 📍Hours: 09:00 - 21:00 (break time 16:00 - 18:00, closed Tuesdays)
• 📍Parking: No parking support / use nearby paid parking lots

Exterior

There's no parking support, so you'll need to use a nearby paid parking lot.

It's near Jeonpo Station, so it's easy to get to. We visited during Friday lunch hour and there were more customers than I expected. So if you're planning to go, I'd recommend making a Naver reservation 🫶🏻 Seats seemed to fill up fast, especially around lunchtime!

What's the inside atmosphere like?

Odd Bird Oliver bakes its own focaccia, and the first thing you see when you walk in is the focaccia itself (haha). Personally, I also loved that it's an open kitchen, so you get a peek at the food being made!

With white tones and wood accents, the space felt clean but warm. Everything felt well put-together, so it's also a nice place to come with a friend for lunch. It's definitely a place that's popular at lunchtime.

The atmosphere was nice enough that it would also work well as a date spot in Jeonpo-dong.

The menu and what we ordered

The menu ranges from pasta to salads, steak, sandwiches, and soup — lots of brunch options. There are also set menus, so it seems ideal to come with a few people and try a variety of dishes.

We ordered: ✔️ Bottarga aglio olio ✔️ Bismarck focaccia sandwich ✔️ Carrot soup ✔️ 2 iced Americanos

They said both the sandwich and the soup are must-tries 🤔 But once I actually tasted it, I understood why the focaccia gets talked about so much...

How does the Bismarck focaccia sandwich taste?

The Americano is a solid, inoffensive coffee that most people would enjoy.

The Bismarck focaccia sandwich is made with focaccia baked fresh every day, filled with house-made jambon, ricotta cheese, and a rich poached egg 🫶🏻 On top of that, there's a hint of truffle! The aroma was better than I expected (haha).

You pop the poached egg and let the yolk spread like a sandwich sauce. As the yolk oozes out thick and rich, eating it together with the jambon and ricotta cheese was delicious.

But above all, the focaccia itself was delicious. Slightly crisp outside and fluffy and nutty inside — since they bake it themselves, the bread had a really good flavor on its own 🥖 My friend, who's currently dieting, said it tasted light, clean, and healthy rather than heavy, and ate it happily 🫶🏻

What about the bottarga aglio olio?

I love oil pastas, so this was an instant win for me! The bottarga aglio olio was salty with the seasoning well absorbed into the noodles. There's a subtle garlic aroma on top, plus the umami that's distinct to bottarga, giving it a bit more depth than a basic aglio olio. Since I'm partial to oil pastas, I really enjoyed this one (haha). It's one of the dishes I'd recommend 🤍💛

Is the carrot soup worth trying?

The carrot soup is a house-made soup made with carrot and butter, they said. It barely tasted like carrot at all — more of a gentle sweetness with a smooth, mellow flavor. (Clean and healthy-tasting, I'd say!)

There's also a slight buttery, oily note, so it's less a single flavor and more a mix of nuttiness, subtle sweetness, and smoothness...? So even people who aren't big fans of carrots might think, 'this is worth trying.' It went well alongside the focaccia sandwich, and also paired nicely with the pasta.

Final thoughts

I already thought the atmosphere was nice back when I came for coffee, but this time trying it for lunch brunch, the food was tasty and on the lighter side, which I liked 🫶🏻 Above all, the house-baked focaccia is great, so I'd recommend the focaccia sandwich, and if you like oil pasta, go for the bottarga aglio olio! The carrot soup also had more depth of flavor than expected, so I was glad I tried it (haha).

• ✔️ If you're looking for a brunch spot in Jeonpo-dong
• ✔️ If you're looking for a lunch spot in Jeonpo-dong
• ✔️ If you're looking for a nice-atmosphere date restaurant in Jeonpo

I think it's worth a visit at least once 🤍💛 A place I'd recommend in Jeonpo when you want a clean, light brunch that isn't too heavy...ᐟ