Small food tents dot Busan’s coastline, often clustered together in villages, though many are disappearing due to legal and public health restrictions. Deungdae Halmaejip offers the quintessential street food experience, but with a bit more privacy. The operation offers just one item, grilled sea eel, which diners order according to the number of people in their party. The bones make an excellent crispy snack as you grill the eels (with the help of the expert staff). Although the ocean view may be blocked, the sea breeze and the sound of the surf help to set a lovely scene.

Balance out a day of eating seafood by the beach with a meat-focused dinner. Just a few blocks from Jagalchi Market, Baekhwa Yanggopchang is a go-to spot for grilled cow intestines and tripe. The space is filled with independent stations manned by imos (aunties), who each put their unique spin on the dish with various combinations of minced garlic, red pepper, or other seasonings. Prices are about the same at each stall, so follow your nose to the vendor that entices you the most.

Since Busan is built around a port, seafood is the first step in understanding how the city eats. Be sure to fill up on at least one bowl of daegutang (cod soup). A five-minute taxi ride from Busan Station, Jungang Sikdang has been serving the specialty in an alleyway for more than 50 years. At first glance, the soup may not seem like anything special, just a very clear broth with a large chunk of cod and some thin slices of radish, alongside some banchan. But the broth picks up incredibly deep flavors of gamchilmat (umami) from the fish and radish, without much help from condiments. Daegutang is also widely known as a good hangover cure, which is helpful after partaking in Busan’s late-night drinking scene. If you’re not feeling brothy, try the popular hoebaekban, raw halibut slices.

This bar is eccentric in every way. Outside you’ll find a red door without any signage beyond a notice that reservations are required. Inside, the first floor is decorated with LPs, books, art, and eclectic pieces. Downstairs you’ll find the bar itself, which is known for carrying rare whiskeys, many distributed decades ago, along with a house cat who roams the place. Customers are limited to one glass per bottle in order to maximize the number of people who can taste each scarce whiskey. Despite the unique experience, prices are fairly reasonable, ranging between 20,000 and 50,000 won ($15 to 37) per glass.

Yeongdo, once a working-class neighborhood on an island in south Busan, is now dotted with trendy coffee shops, including Momos, which gained recognition after barista Jooyeon Jeon won the World Barista Championship in 2019 with her unique blends of coffee beans and her attentive service. She continues that work at the Yeongdo location of Momos, an industrial space that also operates as a roastery, where customers can pull up a chair with a harborfront view to enjoy their espresso, along with various pastries and flavored drinks.

During the Korean War, many North Koreans fled to Busan, where they attempted to recreate dishes from home, including naengmyeon (cold noodles). When they couldn’t get their hands on buckwheat or sweet potato starch, two common ingredients for naengmyeon, they turned to wheat flour, one of the abundant war supplies from the U.S. Army based in Busan. The resulting milmyeon, named for mil (wheat), became a summer staple in the city. Naeho, which opened in 1953, was one of the first to serve the noodles. Fourth-generation chef and owner Yoo Jae-woo runs the place alongside his mother, who can often be found making noodles in the kitchen.

Dessert fanatics always make a visit to this little French bakery, which smells wonderfully of butter. A variety of baked goods are on offer, like small gateaux and tarts artfully decorated with seasonal fruits, various ornate gelatin-based desserts, and a popular canelé. Cookies, financiers, and madeleines all make excellent train snacks or souvenirs.

Buwondong offers its kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) two ways: a soupy version with broth and a spicy, dry version. The soup is the classic way to go. Buwondong utilizes seasonal seafood — oysters during the colder months, and a variety of clams and other shellfish the rest of the year — for a particularly briny broth. The restaurant originally started in Busan, moved to nearby Gimhae, and finally made a comeback to Busan in 2024. It’s been popular since its return, so go early to secure your noodles; the restaurant closes when it sells out.

Busan locals tend toward dishes with stronger flavors and lots of spice, so it takes a lot to get them enthused about a mild dish like pyongnaeng, or Pyongyang-style naengmyeon (cold noodles). Baekil takes on that challenge in stride. After tasting many versions of the dish in Seoul, where it’s particularly popular, the staff created a version of pyongnaeng that represents the best of South Korea’s interpretation of this dish from the north.

Climat stocks rare bottles of wine that are hard to find even in Seoul, including bottlings from producers like Sylvain Pataille and Koji et Jae Hwa. The wine bar and shop offers a selection of wines to be consumed on the premises, which are best enjoyed on the terrace with the sea breeze.

Japan, located just across the Korea Strait, has had a significant influence on Busan. For a small taste of that relationship, stop by Bib Gourmand-designated Tokyo Babsang. Steps from Gwangalli Beach, a meal here makes for a great break from the sun and sand. The eternally busy restaurant serves unagi (grilled eel) over rice in two styles: one inspired by Tokyo and one influenced by Nagoya. In the former, the eel is grilled, then steamed, and then grilled again for a particularly melting texture, while the latter style skips the steaming.

Though Busan is associated with seafood, many locals go to 88 Ganbaji for high-quality beef. Known for ganbaji, a cut that hugs a cow’s liver, the menu includes other choice options like oyster blade, a flavorful cut from under the shoulder. Most of the menu is meant to be cooked on grill pans by customers or staff, though yukhoe (beef tartare) comes already prepared. On Mondays and Thursdays, the restaurant serves yuk sashimi (larger slices or chunks of raw beef) for diners who dig raw meat. Finish your meal with stir-fried rice (also known as “Korean dessert”), that combines any leftover meat with green onions and rice cooked on the pan.

Though many seafood spots in Busan offer great ocean views from high-rise locations, Saechong Hoetjip is an exception. The inland restaurant specializes in raw sole fish cut into long, thin slices. Customers order according to the number of people in their party, paying between 25,000 and 50,000 won ($18 to 37, at the time of writing) per person. Options vary daily depending on availability, with the splurgeworthy jul gajami (roughscale sole) demanding higher prices. The miyeokguk (seaweed soup), served as a side dish, and the spicy fish soup are also great. Reservations required.

It’s impossible to choose just one place specializing in dwaeji gukbap (pork soup with rice) to try, though decades-old Jamae Gukbap is a crowd favorite. The broth appears clear when the soup arrives, with only a drizzle of red pepper sauce on top that turns it orange and murky, and buchu (Korean chive) marinated in ganjang (soy sauce and red pepper) to lightly season it further. Order an extra plate of steamed, pressed, and chilled pork if you want to load up your bowl.

One of Busan’s lesser-known gems, Sorit Kalguksu is located in a residential area next to an apartment complex, and you may see hikers coming and going from a nearby mountain trailhead. Dig into buchujeon (chive pancakes) alongside four noodle preparations. There are two options: kalguksu (knife-cut wheat noodles) with dried pollack broth, and mulguksu (thinner noodles) with anchovy broth. The other two are offered cold: yeolmuguksu, noodles in cold broth with radish leaves, or kongguksu, noodles in soy milk soup. The seats by the windows give diners a perfect view of a stream and woods outside, an ideal perch for anyone who prefers to experience nature with a bowl of noodles rather than a pair of hiking boots.

There’s no better way to celebrate a special occasion than dinner with a view from one of the city’s tallest buildings. Dining Room has become a classic of the genre, wowing guests from the 32nd floor of the Park Hyatt. The lights of the city and the Gwangan Bridge provide a great backdrop for the restaurant’s set menus, which feature items like lobster bisque with XO sauce and charcoal-grilled hanwoo beef.

Given its proximity to Japan, Busan has become home to many different styles of Japanese food. For a taste of how the city does ramen, head to popular Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient Nagahama Mangetsu in Haeundae. The restaurant allows diners to specify how long they want their noodles to be cooked, from a six-second dunk that yields a crispy texture to a softer chewiness at 33 seconds. Be sure to go right when it opens or you’ll have to compete with the rest of Busan for a seat.

Every neighborhood of Busan has its own favorite tteokbokki place. A casual snack or a full meal depending on your preferences, the rice cakes usually come with soondae (blood sausage) and assorted fried foods. Though locals like to argue over which restaurant serves the best version, Sanggukine is one of the top contenders thanks to its location in Haeundae. The tteokbokki looks super spicy due to its deep scarlet color, but the heat is well balanced.

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If you’ve just landed in South Korea, are jet lagged, and hungry for a delicious meal, make your way over to Geumsubokguk. Located in the Haeundae-gu district of Busan, this 54-year-old restaurant is known for its wide selection of the Korean delicacy fugu (puffer fish) — and is conveniently open 24 hours a day. Opt for the set menu, which comes with banchan, and try the fish in every form: grilled, raw, poached, and fried.

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After cooking for seven years in Japan, Korean chef Kim Wan-gyu set up shop in Busan to prepare kaiseki-style Japanese food, utilizing seasonal ingredients from around the city. His Japanese wife, Mizuki Mori, manages the front of house. The restaurant’s bar seating (the only option) fits eight people at a time, with two seatings each night.

Sogonggan serves beef in various styles, covering Busan’s greatest, meaty hits. Well-designed dinner courses might start with small bites of seafood and vegetables. But then comes the meat: grilled tenderloin, sirloin, beef soup and rice, and optional additions of coveted beef parts, like rib-eye cap, depending on availability.

Located at the western edge of Haeundae Beach, this dessert shop combines gelato and tteok (sticky rice cakes) into a treat that draws long lines. Scoops of gelato encased in sweet rice cake come in boxes of six, and you can mix and match flavors like roasted pistachio, coffee cinnamon cookie, and Jeju Island matcha. The shop packs each box with ice packs that last up to 15 hours if you want to take your treats to go, but the rice cakes should be eaten within 30 minutes after opening the box.