혜자네 산곰장어 본점 — Restaurant in Busan

Drawn in by a soft-spoken lady with a charming Busan dialect, we decided to give this restaurant a try. From the outside, it looked relatively modest, but once inside, we were surprised by how spacious it actually was. The menu, featuring 꼼장어 (hagfish) and a variety of fresh seafood, immediately caught our attention.

At first, we waited for someone to take our order, only to realize that the restaurant operated on a self-ordering system using tablets. We opted for spicy stir-fried live hagfish (산 꼼장어 볶음) and steamed shellfish (조개찜). The side dishes were a delightful surprise, including silkworm pupae (번데기) and sea snails (소라)—flavors that instantly brought back nostalgic memories of old Korea.

A standout moment was when they served live marinated octopus, lightly seasoned with sesame oil (참기름) and sesame seeds (깨). The freshness and chewy texture were so irresistible that I could have easily finished an entire bottle of soju with it.

Beyond just the food, I thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant culture, the warm hospitality of the people, and the unique charm of Busan. This experience was a true taste of the city's rich culinary traditions and...

first night in busan and really wanted to have a nice time out for dinner. didn’t get that here. firstly, it’s busy and loud. nothing wrong with busy and loud but for some reason it’s not okay for my family to get excited over our food? it’s our first time getting served FRESH and ALIVE food, of course we’re excited. however, we were told by staff we had to be more quiet (?) it’s casual dining, people are getting rowdy while drinking beer but it’s not ok for us to be excited ? okay.

now, the food itself. seafood was great, pork was okay. unfortunately we didn’t even get to finish our meal, we lost our appetite after pretty much being told to shut up. we weren’t staying in that restaurant and having to wait 25minutes between each and every dish that we were sharing. and even after requesting to take out the rest of the food, they take just as long to pack up the RAW meat. what is up with that.

maybe we were unlucky and dined in with a bad bunch, but if the staff isn’t able to accommodate our type of people, they shouldn’t be blasting loud music and expect us to eat as if we’re in a fine dining...

Expensive but fair The soy sauce marinated crab is covered with sand. This is my very first time eating crab with this situation. And the shop said it is normal, they take no action to deal with it. Those sand makes my plate full of sand as well. Really bad experience.

Other seafood like shrimp is not fresh too. I will not expect this price range will come with these food. There are so many choice better than...