Food tripping in Busan, Gyeongju, and Seoul: Surf and turf—and more!

Our recent vacation itinerary looked more like a food tour than a family trip. From Busan to historic Gyeongju, to Seoul where history was being made by a returning super group, we had a taste of the familiar, and wandered into some unknown culinary territory.

Busan welcomed us like celebrities attending the famed Busan International Film Festival. We began, fittingly, at BIFF Square (not beef, tempting as that interpretation may be), home of the popular ssiat hotteok. Although it’s described as a seed-filled sweet pancake, this Busan-style hotteok reminded me more of our equally sweet and chewy piaya. It was love at first bite for me when I sank my teeth into this wonderful concoction stuffed with enough sunflower and pumpkin seeds to start a small garden. Sold at KRW 2,500 each, it was the very first thing I ate on this Korean trip and—spoiler alert—also the last.

Even if it was late, I couldn’t resist trying the neighboring cart’s tteokbokki (chewier and hotter than the versions in Manila) and eomuk (fish cakes). Busan eomuk is so iconic you can buy them in vacuum-sealed, “flight-ready” packs. We breezed through airport security with our eomuk stash, and (guiltily) had some of it as a hotpot meal during the Holy Week.

Being in a port city like Busan, we had to have seafood. At Haemul Saenggak, across the Songdo Cloud Trail, we feasted on a platter of fresh scallops topped with cheese or peppers, clams, abalone, and a side of white onions for balance. With some of the creatures valiantly attempting to escape during the cooking, I almost felt sorry when I eventually devoured them. Almost.

A day at another beach, this time at Haeundae, allowed us to try a few local specialties: dwaeji gukbap (pork rice soup which we found underwhelming), must-try gelato-stuffed rice cakes at Horangi Jellatteok, and fiery octopus noodle soup with cheese-laced potato pancakes (both winners) at Gonag-on.

Korean cuisine may be super healthy but the people do love their sweets. Even at Haedong Yonggunsa Temple, where Buddha blesses tourists and merchants alike, we found marshmallow ice cream—torched on the outside and frozen on the inside. It was essentially s’mores, but more.

For this trip, I thought we’d mostly have meat and seafood—surf and turf—with the assorted vegetables on the side that Korean cuisine is known for. However, a side trip to the ancient capital of Gyeongju offered a striking contrast. Temple cuisine is an entirely new level of healthy.

The gujeolcho set at Ssukbujaengi (near Bulguksa Temple) was a symphony of lotus roots and mushrooms, acorn jelly, chive rice cakes, and pumpkin porridge. I swear I have never eaten so much vegetables in my entire life.

We can’t always be healthy, so we grabbed some “10-Won bread” along Hwangnidan-gil, beside the Daereungwon Royal Tomb Complex. It is ironic that these delicacies shaped like the 1966 coin and stuffed with cheese, actually cost around KRW 3,000 each.

Dinner was seafood again—because, why not?—at Hyeongje Mulsan’s Clam Story. We feasted on a steaming fishcake hotpot alongside sauteed shrimp topped with enough garlic to send every vampire in Park Chan-wook’s 2009 film Thirst scurrying for cover. It was a late dinner, intense, and we totally loved it!

In Seoul, the tempo shifted toward the Bangtan Boys and black chicken. At Tosokchon Samgyetang—a place in the Seochon Hanok Village so popular that long queues form before 11 a.m.—we had the black chicken ginseng soup. We discovered that black chicken is not only tastier but quite literally black to the bone.

Since we were in the city for BTS-related activities, our daughter took us to Otsu Seiromushi in Yeouido, a Japanese fusion restaurant co-owned by BTS’s Jin and his brother. We had the signature dish of thinly sliced Hanwoo beef and fresh vegetables in traditional cypress boxes. The presentation alone was well worth the price.

But Korea’s soul lies in its corners. Near our hanok Airbnb in Jongno-gu, we stumbled upon a small eatery offering gopchang (grilled small intestines). Anyone who loves isaw would be pleased with this place. My wife and son were just happy to have their samgyeopsal with heaps of king trumpet mushrooms.

We ended the day at another neighborhood spot, which specialized in gamjatang (pork bone stew). Admittedly, the versions served in BGC, Poblacion and Manila Korea Town could give the authentic one a run for its money. What made our experience unique, however, was the finale: rice and vegetables were added to the leftover sauce and transformed into a rice dish so flavorful it didn’t even need a side dish.

Our final days were a classic surf-and-turf finale. We started at Love and Peace for a sumptuous spread of four different steak cuts—honestly, you can’t go wrong with a name like that. We then headed to Sinsa for some ganjang gejang (soy sauce-marinated crab). While the raw crab is certainly an acquired taste, the crab stew was to die for, especially once we added ramyeon to the mix.

The true happy ending for me was back at the airport, clutching a final bag of BIFF Square seed hotteok, like Frodo refusing to let go of the One Ring. As long as we’re on Tolkien, I’d like to borrow some wise words uttered by Thorin Oakenshield: “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”