Cycle 16 – Item 190
POST 5,669
14 (Mon) July 2025
Suyuk (Assorted Boiled Meat Slices)
4.0
-Choryang, Dong, Busan, Republic of Korea-
with W, staff
In Busan – my second time (see most recently 13.094 Just Regular Eomuk). Here to inspect the site for our new brick-and-mortar store – see below.
LUNCH
Milhaedam is a Korean restaurant. Specializes in milmyeon.
Upon arriving at the KTX station, we walked across the street for lunch. Even if the weather hadn’t been scorching hot, we still would’ve opted for milmyeon, one of Busan’s signature dishes. Among the countless milmyeon restaurants in the neighborhood, Milhaedam came highly rated. And everything about the place looked clean and elegant, though it did lack a certain gritty weathered charm that more established places exuded.
The milmyeon was good. The icy broth was surprisingly strong in flavor, with a distinct garlicky kick. The wheat noodles (mil = wheat) were chewy and delicately sweet. A perfect meal for a muggy July day in Busan.
WORK
Ananti is a brand of luxury resorts and hotels.
At Village de Ananti, located in the coastal town of Gijang, we will soon be opening a bookstore within the property’s LP Crystal shopping center. Currently, the space is occupied by Hazel, a purveyor of imported art books, closing up shop at the end of August. We will curate a selection targeted more for kids, rather than art books for adults. Aiming for a launch date in early September.
I’ll be back in September to oversee the set-up.
DINNER
Sinchang Gukbap is a Korean restaurant. Specializes in dweji gukbap. Founded 1969 (at another location) – now a landmark institution.
Of course, I had done research to determine where we would eat dinner (a seafood joint for a leisurely multi-course meal before getting on the train to Seoul). But discussions with the Ananti people had taken longer than expected, leaving us with less than an hour to eat by the time we got back to the station. En route, we had agreed to downshift for something quick and casual: dweji gukbap, another Busan staple.
When asked for a recommendation, the taxi driver simply dropped us off in an alley lined with gukbap restaurants, directly adjacent to the station, and said vaguely that they’re all popular. With nothing but vibe to go on, the team decided on Sinchang Gukbap, partly on the basis of Jay Lee’s photo on the window – logic: the most powerful man in Korea would have dispatched an advance team to vet every restaurant for every meal during the trip; if they’d chosen this one, it must be good.
The food was amazing. Started out with a small platter of suyuk – each of us, immediately upon taking a single bite of meat, agreed that we would need a second order. The pork belly slices were supremely tender, sublimely sweet. The handmade sundae (“Korean Black Pooding,” as per the menu spelling) was stuffed with roughly chopped pieces of meat + rice + noodles, delightfully chunky mouthfeel, perfectly seasoned with a touch of blood. Didn’t touch the tripe, but the others appeared to enjoy it. The order came with free bowls of broth to accentuate every bite with a warm kick, sorta like a deconstructed gukbap. I can’t imagine that we would’ve been more satisfied had we gone to that seafood place. Thanks for the tip, Jay!
On the prior trip, dweji gukbap had seemed too porky/funky for my palate (see for example 13.093 Milmyeon), but my experience here has changed my outlook entirely. Can’t wait to explore the dish further on my next trip.
Recalling a classic moment in GMTD history: “Typical W move: she orders the dogani tang, doesn’t eat any of the dogani, then explains that she wasn’t in the mood for dogani” (see 7.346 Dogani Tang).”
(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)
(See HANSIK)
(See MNM)