16.243 Gomjangeo Samgyeopsal

Cycle 16 – Item 243

POST 5,722

5 (Fri) September 2025

Gomjangeo Samgyeopsal

3.5

at Dogajip

-Songjeong, Haeundae, Busan, Republic of Korea-

with staff

Setting Up Shop (Pik-a-Book): Day 2 of 4

In Busan.  Here to oversee set-up of our new store – Pik-a-Book – located in the Village de Ananti, as teased in a post on our recon mission a couple months back (see generally 16.190 Suyuk (Assorted Boiled Meat Slices).  If all goes according to schedule, we should be up and running by Saturday.  Returning Sunday.

Additional staff arrived this afternoon to assist with arrangement.  Completing about 90%, I called it a day.  They went to their hotel, I to mine, reconvening later for dinner.

SNACK

Songjeong Yeokjeon Odeng is a Korean snack shop.  Offers a limited range of snack items, including odeng, as well as beverages, including draft beer.

Located 190 m from the hotel (on the way to Samwon Myeonok).

Having scouted this place on the way to pre-dinner yesterday, I dropped by today for a preprandial snack – more importantly, the beer.

2 odeng + 1 beer = 7,000.

DINNER, PART 1

Jogae Holic is a Korean restaurant.  Specializes in clams (jogae), grilled table-top.

Located 293 m from the hotel.
Al fresco dining, overlooking the beach.

For our first dinner in town, I was looking forward to doing something with a bang, something worthy of the occasion and the locale – like seafood on the seashore.

I liked the minimal menu, focusing primarily on grilled shellfish.

As an experienced traveler, I believe that it’s acceptable, perhaps even advisable, to do the tourist thing upon visiting a place for the first time.  The experience may be cliché, may be overpriced, maybe not, but either way doesn’t necessarily diminish its value or authenticity.  It establishes a baseline, shared by other tourists, and helps transition towards more hardcore experiences down the road.

Basic grilled clams at 55,000 for the small portion.

Alas, the food was disappointing.  The set came with only 4 varieties of shellfish + a pathetic spread of sides + half of a ramyeon.  And none of it tasted particularly good.

Scallops, for starters.

After the initial order, we decided to go elsewhere.

DINNER, PART 2

Dogajip is a Korean restaurant.  Offers various seafoods, grilled table-top.

Located 166 m from the hotel – on a back road parallel to the man drag.
Our table, inside this little structure, surrounded by planted and potted greenery.

Running across this place, intrigued by the landscaping, we gave it a shot.

A bit cheaper than the other place.

Gomjangeo is saltwater eel.  In contrast to freshwater eel, which are tender and flaky when cooked, gomjangeo are distinctly chewy.  In Korea, they are either grilled whole with salt or marinated in a gochujang-based sauce and stir-fried.

The eel are the circular bits that look like cogs.

The food was quite good.  Eel and pork belly (samgyeopsal) wouldn’t seem like an obvious pair, but the contrast in tastes and textures was nice, tied together with the sauce.  Even if one step (one street) removed from the beach – actually, the restaurant doesn’t show up on either Google or Naver (except as a guesthouse), so only those who know, know – the experience still felt touristy, in a good way.

(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See HANSIK)

(See BOOZE)

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