Family-packed outlet mall restaurant in Gijang, Busan: Bueokgan

On the weekend I was trying to figure out where to take my kid to eat, so this time we headed to Shinsegae Premium Outlets in Busan. When you're moving around with a kid, a place with easy parking and something to do after the meal is way more convenient than just going somewhere for great food. Especially with a kid, it's actually pretty important to have somewhere you can eat, shop, and look around all in one spot. So this time we stopped by Bueokgan Restaurant inside Shinsegae Simon Busan Premium Outlets.

Where is Bueokgan in the Gijang outlet, and where do you park?

Bueokgan is inside Shinsegae Simon Busan Premium Outlets, on the first floor, so it wasn't hard to find at all. The outlet itself has plenty of parking, so getting there by car with a kid wasn't a hassle.

Shinsegae Premium Outlets has a bit of a different vibe from a typical shopping mall, right? There's an exotic feel to it and plenty of spots to wander around, so it was nice to walk around with my kid too.

Inside Bueokgan: 5 tables, all with kids on the weekend

Once I got inside, Bueokgan was bigger than I expected. As you can probably tell from the photos, the wood-toned tables and chairs gave off an overall warm feel, and the lighting wasn't too bright or cold either, so it felt comfortable. The tables were spread out in a few different areas, so families could sit comfortably. When I visited there were 5 tables, and every single one had kids with them, haha.

Baby chair and pink kids' tray at Bueokgan

Most of all, as someone visiting with a kid, I loved that they had a baby chair and kid-sized tableware ready. As you can see in the photos, they even set out a pink tray and cup just for my kid, and she was so happy that it was 'her own' dish. It might seem like a small thing, but it makes eating out with a kid noticeably easier. At places that just give you adult dishes, you end up scrambling to sort everything out while feeding your kid, but with a kids' tray it was easy to portion out food, and my kid seemed to enjoy having her own spot to eat from.

The three dishes we ordered at Bueokgan

Bueokgan's menu has kid-friendly options like pasta, risotto, and pizza, so it was easy to order as a family. This time we ordered sweet potato fries, carbonara, and rocket prosciutto pizza.

Sweet potato fries

The dishes started coming out one by one, and once they were set on the table, it all looked more filling than I expected. The first thing that caught my eye was the sweet potato fries. Just from the name I figured it was simply fried sweet potato, but in person it turned out to be a big pile of sweet potato cut into long strips and fried until crispy. The outside was fried a nice golden brown, so it looked crunchy just from looking at it.

There was also a cheese powder-like topping sprinkled on top, which brought out a bit more flavor than just plain fried sweet potato. Taking a bite, the outside was crispy and the inside had that soft, sweet flavor unique to sweet potato. It had a mild natural sweetness that made it a dish my kid could eat well too.

Carbonara

And carbonara is really a dish that's hard to go wrong with when eating out as a family. The cream sauce coated the noodles well, and mushrooms were mixed in too, giving it a pretty good depth of flavor. As you can see in the photos, there was plenty of sauce, so when you twirled the noodles the cream sauce came up generously with them.

For my kid, I just scooped out a little pasta and cut it into bite-sized pieces, so I didn't have to think separately about a kids' menu, and the adults could eat the same dish too — one order took care of everyone. My kid showed interest the moment she saw the noodles. When you go to a restaurant with a kid, you often end up ordering several dishes only for the kid not to eat them, leaving the parents to finish everything, but this time having a dish she could actually eat with us was great in that regard too.

Rocket prosciutto pizza

The dish that felt like the main event of the meal was the rocket prosciutto pizza. The moment it arrived, the visuals grabbed my attention right away. There was a generous pile of rocket (arugula) on the dough, topped with prosciutto. On top of that there was cheese too, giving it a clearly different vibe from a regular tomato sauce pizza.

The edge of the dough was baked to a nice golden brown, and the center was soft enough to eat comfortably along with the toppings. In particular, the slightly bitter taste unique to rocket paired with the salty prosciutto turned out to be a better combination than I expected. At first I wondered if my kid could handle it since there was so much rocket piled on, but with the prosciutto and cheese together, the pizza itself had a pretty rich flavor overall. Especially with the rocket-topped pizza, the green vegetables together with the prosciutto made it look quite appetizing in photos too.

Why Bueokgan is easy with a child

Personally, I find a place where you can spend time eating and looking around with your kid much more comfortable than a restaurant where you just eat and leave right away. In that sense, Bueokgan clearly had an advantage in its location. For families eating out with kids like us, this kind of relaxed atmosphere was actually a plus. And having kids' tableware ready was an added bonus too.

Overall, what I felt eating at Bueokgan that day was that it's 'a restaurant that's comfortable for a family to come and have a meal together.'

Bueokgan opening hours in Gijang, Busan

• Address: 1st floor, Unit 180, Shinsegae Simon Busan Premium Outlets, 1133 Jeonggwan-ro, Jangan-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, South Korea
• Hours: 10:30–21:00 (no regular closing day)