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Food and Drinks
LifestyleFood & Drink
Charmaine Mok
Charmaine Mok

On the Menu | Why Busan, now with its own Michelin Guide, should be on every foodie’s radar on a trip to Korea, and 4 must-eat places

  • The Michelin Guide Busan has put South Korea’s second city on the fine-dining map, but there are also humble food options that reflect the city’s history
  • We look at some of the best places to eat there, from a free-spirited French restaurant to a wheat noodle institution to a factory turned food and drink hub

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Slices of Hanwoo at Yulling, a Korean beef specialist named in the Bib Gourmand selection in the inaugural Michelin Guide Busan. We look at this and other top dining venues in the South Korean port city, and delve into how history shaped the food there. Photo: Charmaine Mok
Charmaine Mok

When I travel to a new destination, I always have to grapple with the reality that it is impossible to eat and experience everything.

Not that it prevents me from trying, but I often find myself thwarted by any number of things: inclement weather, fussy travel companions – but mostly time and limited stomach space.

A recent first trip to Busan, on the back of the city’s inauguration into the Michelin Guide (which, in South Korea, has only covered Seoul for the last seven years), was a veritable amuse-bouche for what the port city has to offer.

The three days spent traversing the city, from the south’s colourful Gamcheon Culture Village to the Haeundae Blueline Park, where charming candy-coloured “sky capsules” take visitors on a leisurely ride along the coastline, was peppered with teasers of Busan’s cultural and culinary identity.

A chef prepares to cook Korean Hanwoo beef at Yulling, a Busan restaurant recently recommended in the city’s inaugural Michelin Guide. Photo: Charmaine Mok
A chef prepares to cook Korean Hanwoo beef at Yulling, a Busan restaurant recently recommended in the city’s inaugural Michelin Guide. Photo: Charmaine Mok

“The people of Busan really care about our traditions and legacy,” says Lee Do-yeon (who goes by the nickname Dony), our Busan-born tour guide.

He jokes about the perceived differences between Seoulites and Busanians. “Busan people are not ‘nice’, but they are kind. Seoul people are ‘nice’, but not kind,” he laughs, addressing the stereotype of Busan dwellers being prickly and brusque on the outside but soft on the inside.

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