Busan Chinese restaurant free self-bar kimchi and rice: Surabanjeom

Surabanjeom Gaya Branch

What is Surabanjeom Gaya Branch, the Chinese restaurant near Gaya Park, like inside?

I visited Surabanjeom near Gaya Park in Busan. Surabanjeom is a Chinese restaurant! The inside was clean and comfortable, and it didn't feel awkward to come here alone. Plenty of groups were eating there too.

Surabanjeom set menu and prices: swapping jjajangmyeon for tray jjajang

The basic jjajangmyeon (black bean noodles) is really cheap. For a Chinese restaurant, they had a surprising number of options, plus set menus. All kinds of Chinese dishes were laid out. The set menu seemed like great value, so I swapped the jjajang in the Set for 2 for tray jjajang. I really respect anyone who goes to a Chinese restaurant and doesn't order tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork). I just can't quit it.. so delicious.

They even have summer menu items like cold jjamppong and Chinese-style cold noodles. I'm really curious about the cold jjamppong. Sounds like an upgraded version of buldak cold noodles~ Kind of reminds me of Japanese hiyashi chuka.

Free kimchi, rice and instant coffee at the self-bar

On one side there was a self-bar where you could grab free kimchi and free rice, which was great. There was even instant coffee, so dessert after the meal was covered too.. 🖤

Onion and pickled radish come as the basic side dishes, but I can't resist pairing jjajang with kimchi, so I grabbed some. It had that perfectly tangy, almost soda-like kimchi flavor.

Solo tray jjajang, jjamppong and mini tangsuyuk for 29,000 won

• Solo tray jjajang
• Jjamppong
• Mini tangsuyuk
• ₩29,000

Solo tray jjajang (jjajang noodles served on a wide platter)

The solo tray jjajang came out first. It was served heaped on a tray, so it looked appetizing from the start. The sauce was well soaked into the noodles, there were tons of toppings, and the noodles had a nice chewy texture — really good. There were so many vegetables that it leaned toward the sweeter side.

Not just vegetables — plenty of seafood too. It's a solo menu item, but the portion was massive..

Jjamppong made with a cold-aged sauce

And then the jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) I'd been curious about at Surabanjeom. Apparently they slow-age a sauce made from seafood and dried seafood for the broth, and it definitely had a rich, deep flavor with a generous amount of ingredients.

The ingredients inside the jjamppong were so plentiful that it wasn't just about eating noodles — there was fun in digging through all the toppings too. Since it's cooked to order immediately, you get fresh vegetables and seafood. Can you see the smoky char on the vegetables?

How big is the mini tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork)?

I thought, wow, this tangsuyuk is big, and the portion was huge and the pieces were large, which made me really happy. The sauce leaned more tangy than sweet. It didn't feel like a mass-produced dish — it felt handmade.

The meat was really thick, and the glutinous rice batter was so chewy and delicious.. The frying oil was clean too, so there was no greasy smell, and the color was a golden hue — honestly this is number one..

Fried dumplings from the review event

I also got to enjoy fried dumplings from the review event. The outside was crispy and the filling inside was packed full, making them a great side dish.

Finishing with free self-bar rice mixed into the leftover jjajang sauce

After finishing the jjajangmyeon, there was leftover sauce, and since the rice here is free, I couldn't just walk away from that. I mixed a bowl of rice into the leftover jjajang sauce and sprinkled a little chili powder on top to finish it off haha. With a solid event on top of everything, I left this Gaya Surabanjeom having eaten really well.

Is Surabanjeom Gaya Branch worth it? A Gaya-dong Chinese restaurant review

Since Surabanjeom cooks everything to order, I got to eat warm, freshly made dishes — jjajangmyeon, jjamppong, tangsuyuk, all enjoyed generously, one by one. It seems to get a lot of delivery orders too, since there was a delivery flyer posted on the fridge inside. I'd recommend this Gaya-dong Chinese restaurant, Surabanjeom!