Window-seat Korean restaurant with East Busan view: Dongam Tteokgalbi

If you're heading out to Gijang in Busan, you can't skip Haedong Yonggungsa temple. Since it faces the sea, it's nice to just stroll around, and with the Lotte Outlet and Osiria tourist complex nearby, it makes for a great day-trip route.

After looking around the temple, the first thing on my mind was a solid lunch. So this time I went searching for a Korean restaurant near Haedong Yonggungsa and ended up at Dongam Tteokgalbi, a place specializing in tteokgalbi — and it was so good I have to share it!

Location and parking at Dongam Tteokgalbi

• 🏠 160 Gijang Haean-ro, 3rd floor, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, South Korea
• ⏰ Daily 11:00–21:00
• ✔ Group seating, reservations, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms, waiting area, parking

Dongam Tteokgalbi sits on Gijang Haean-ro in Gijang-gun, Busan, so it's easy to pair with a Haedong Yonggungsa visit. The restaurant is on the 3rd floor of the building. If you're planning to also hit the Lotte Premium Outlet or Osiria area, it's a convenient spot to slot into your route for a meal.

There's a parking lot on the 1st floor of the building, so it was convenient to visit by car too. Parking can be a bit of a hassle around Gijang when you're hopping between tourist spots and restaurants, so being able to park while dining here was a nice bonus. That said, it's not very spacious, so keep that in mind!

Interior atmosphere and the window-seat East Busan view

Stepping inside, the restaurant was bigger and cleaner than I expected. The tables were spaced fairly generously, so it seemed good for family meals too, and in fact there were a lot of families dining there. I went right at opening and there were already plenty of customers!

I sat by the window and got a full view of East Busan! The view was so refreshing! There's also a well set-up waiting area!

A self-serve bar on par with a Korean buffet

This Korean restaurant near Haedong Yonggungsa isn't just about the tteokgalbi — the self-serve bar is prepared at almost Korean-buffet level. Seriously, so many kinds, and all of it hearty and delicious!

The side dishes really come in so many varieties, and there's even barley rice and seaweed soup.

There are main-dish items too, like dubu kimchi (tofu with stir-fried kimchi), tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and sausage-and-vegetable skewers, plus fried rice, stir-fried squid (genuinely delicious), and even jjajang (black bean sauce noodles) and steamed egg that kids would love. Each dish was surprisingly high quality, better than the basics you'd expect. It's truly abundance itself.

When traveling around Gijang, it's easy to default to a quick bite near the tourist spots, but that day I really wanted a proper full Korean spread, so I had high hopes.

Menu and the review event

The menu offers a variety of tteokgalbi types. Since there's a buffet-level self-serve bar, all you really need to do is pick your tteokgalbi — done!

If you take part in the review event, you even get grilled fish. We were too full to join in ourselves, but seeing it come out at other tables, it looked so good. Definitely give it a try!

The tteokgalbi and hot pot rice spread we ordered

When you order tteokgalbi, they set the basic side dishes first. The self-serve bar was so elaborate that I figured the basic sides would be minimal — but nope, aren't these already so varied?? Neat, varied side dishes — this alone could polish off a bowl of rice.

This part I brought over from the self-serve bar. Just take as much as you'll eat!! It was great that even one round of each dish was enough to fill you up.

And the rice comes as hot pot rice, plus a blue crab doenjang stew (soybean paste stew). Is this really possible at this price?? I wondered.

And here's the main dish, the tteokgalbi. Pretty, right?? Photos don't quite capture the size, but these are hefty patties about the size of an adult woman's fist. We ordered the Dongam tteokgalbi and the cream cheongyang tteokgalbi.

Look how thick it is~~~ right??

The first thing I noticed biting into the tteokgalbi was the soft texture. It was slightly sweet with the distinct savory flavor of meat, pairing well with rice, and eating it alongside rice and side dishes brought out that classic Korean combination even better than eating the tteokgalbi alone.

It's delicious plain, and just as good dipped in soy sauce.

With so many side dishes, you'll need more rice, right? They refill rice as-is too, but we also had barley rice and fried rice from the self-serve bar. Being able to mix it up like that was so nice.

We finished with sungnyung (scorched rice tea). A perfect Korean meal. Dongam Tteokgalbi made for a great stop after touring Haedong Yonggungsa and before heading toward the Lotte Outlet or Osiria area. Above all, being able to enjoy tteokgalbi alongside so many side dishes makes it a great spot for a family meal with kids, or an outing with parents around Gijang!

Worth adding to your Haedong Yonggungsa route?

After this visit, I'd definitely recommend Dongam Tteokgalbi to anyone looking for a Korean restaurant near Haedong Yonggungsa in Busan. Being able to enjoy warm rice and a variety of side dishes centered around tteokgalbi, plus adding extra sides from the self-serve bar, made for an especially hearty and satisfying meal.

If you want to look around Haedong Yonggungsa and then fill up on delicious Korean food, I'd say it's worth adding Dongam Tteokgalbi to your Gijang itinerary.

Honestly, my husband and I felt like it'd be worth going to Gijang just for this place, not just as a stop along the way while out and about in Gijang! Highly recommend!