Budnamu Brewery — Restaurant in Gangneung-si

Upon entering the brewery, you are met with a very cool industrial feeling of this converted space (we were told a special type of Korean wine had been made there in the past) with exposed bricks and beams. Just beyond the remnants of walls is a brand new brewing and fermentation area behind a wall of glass. Very typical of American brew pubs/small breweries (I'd guess it is a 7bbl brewhouse) in style and layout. Again, very cool and it urges you to stay a while and enjoy their offerings.

The highlights of the beer menu were a Belgian strong and their stout. Both of which highlighted pine, with it what the city is named for, in a way that was not a gimmick nor overpowering. The pine in the strong ale offered an added layer of complexity to the yeast's flavor profile that leaned more into a spicy note. In the stout, IMO, it created an American stout experience that one would get from a highly hopped offering in the states. If you enjoy the unique balance of roasty and dark coffee/bakers chocolate notes with the aggressive hopping regime from the States, then this beer is sure to please. No abv was listed (in English anyway), but they felt quite robust without being heavy.

While there, definitely bring your appetite! The menu all looked great (as did the various dishes being paraded to other tables), but we sampled the itialian pizza that had a multi cheese blend with prosciutto, tomato and rucola. The chewy crust and complimenting flavors were awesome.

This little gem is going to be packed next year (start preppong for that now guys!) when the Olympics come to town, so I highly recommend getting there as soon as you can! I also feel that the pricing was quite fair, as 5 340mL pours and the pizza came in just...

“There is some really good brew at Budnamu ...” We stopped by this place to give it a try and overall the food was good, but the beer, Sungeut Citra Sour, we had was one of the best I have had in a long time. I would go back just for the beer.

The Pros: We had the Kimchii pizza, the steak sandwich and the lasagna Mac and cheese. All items that we had were tasty. The steak sandwich was the best of the three items we selected and had some Asian flare as the sandwich had daikon radish as a topping. The fries that it was served with were very good.

I did not feel that the kimchi mixed well with the other flavors of the pizza, but I was in the minority at our table. However, the pizza tasted good the next morning when it was cold. The Mac and cheese lasagna was tasty.

The Cons: The seating arrangements were not optimal as the tables were small. The day we were there, there was a lot of flies in the restaurant as they had the doors open to the outdoor seating area.

Overall, the beer was great, the staff was helpful and attentive, the food was good.

Not a bad place to stop by and spend some time sipping...

Pretty cool American brewpub on Korea’s east coast. Came here to find it packed on Easter Monday evening. The place is decorated industrial style with fermentation tanks and southern style smoker outside with an outdoor patio covered in string lights. We ordered the mushroom pizza, which was good, and the sausage, which was not as good. Service was excellent as they kept our table cleared and brews coming. The server even brought us chilli flakes and olive oil for our pizza which I have not yet seen in Korea. They had 6 regular beers and 2 seasonals on tap. Go for the beer flight and work your way through the lineup from there. Would heartily recommend for people in the area for the...