Busan Food Guide and Unique Eats: Centumcity Recommendations, Goresa Fishcake Making Workshop and Crab Town Dinner in Gijang!

I left you with Shinsegae's Centumcity in my last post. Today, I'm going to tell you some of the recommended restaurants so that you know exactly where to find them in this huge mall (and the other two below somewhere in Busan as well). Hehe. We spent the rest of the afternoon making fishcakes (and eating them too!) in a store that's been around since 1963! And later on, I had the honor of dining with folks over at the Busan Tourism Organization in a lesser known crab town in this port city of Korea! It was such a wonderful experience just slowing things down and not eating regular tour food. I would gladly advise you to include this to your itinerary and specifically ask your travel agency to arrange this for you on your next trip ;)

It's easy to spend all of your free time getting lost in this place.

You can just head over to their information counter for an English guide book or ask about their latest promotions and coupons.

Go to B1 for the Food Market. Sinbalwon (since 1951) is there and they serve the Choryang Chinatown dumplings.

They have kimchi dumplings!

I believe this is Kokoro Bento. I was just drawn to those strips of meat being torched perfectly.

There are other flavors aside from the already numerous Korean choices - Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Turkish and Western food. Why not try Hamgyeong Myeonok (naengmyeon) cold noodle place and Lee Heung Yong Bakery for dessert.

 

Just go around and pick from the variety of baked goodies, candy and chocolates.

4th floor houses the Food Park (more on fast-food). They have the more gourmet restaurants on the 9th floor (open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.) like Geumsubokguk - serves puffer fish.

 

Our guide recommended Chilbo Myeonok for some cold noodles. They also serve bossam sets! =) 

This next one Goresa Eomuk 고래사어묵 (해운대전 Branch) is near the Haeundae beach. We made the 2nd stick from the left for the workshop!

They have a Fishcake cafe upstairs.

This is where we had our class. We were going to make fishcakes - those that you eat with tteokpokki!

We were each given our own starter kits.

 

We were given hair nets and disposable aprons.

 

Our instructor was nice. She can only speak Korean though so it's a very good idea to have a guide there with you who can explain things. Basically, you have to let all the air out of the dough and slap it many times. 

 

It's not that easy but pretty manageable. It made me appreciate this old-time favorite. It's no longer "just" eomuk (fishcakes) for me, esp. if you taste a handmade one right at this shop (instead of the mass-produced).

 

I really liked the steamed one better than the roasted. I wish I could have made more..

This place also experiments with different sorts of things to pair with fishcakes. The BLT sauce actually tastes great with a steamed one.

 

The dough becomes a bit bigger when cooked. It doesn't look cooked but it has the right amount of crunch and flavor. Yummy!

 

They make all sorts of fishcakes - some have stuffing in them. I like the octopus ball.

 

It's best to go in here by groups (they do this regularly) but if you're a group of 2, they said it's possible if you maybe just call ahead and reserve. The price is around 10000 to 12000 won for a 50-60 minute class.

I'm most excited to tell you about one of the best dinners I've had in Busan! I've never heard of this place and I'm so glad that our tour bus just took us to Gukmi Daegae 국미대게 ( Inside 기장시장). There were rows and rows of seafood, mostly big snow crabs and scallops - different from that Jagalchi misadventure I had years ago haha. My first taste of these snow crabs were in Hokkaido, Japan at a crab buffet. I ate like more than 10 bento boxes on my own that time! 

Now, I don't have to go all the way there to eat them!!! I heard that Japanese tourists discovered that it wasn't as expensive here then this crab village neighborhood just kinda grew with more shops. It's in an area called Gijang 기장.

To make the experience more Korean, there's the traditional unlimited banchan.

I asked the BTO Manager in front of me what's the best way to eat this. Hehe.

They have this crab thing-a-majig that just scrapes the crab meat out clean. I actually looked for one and bought a small crab fork with scraper for 2000 won in Nampodong hehe.

The best way to eat snow crab for me - dip it in this house's special yangnyeom sauce with onions!!!

Ever had crab ramen? They serve it right about after you eat the plain crab.

You have got to save some of that crab for this! When I ate a spoonful, I just died hahaha. The roe on top just works perfectly and blends everything together.

Wait, there's more haha. Duenjangjigae (miso soup)!

This was my bucket! Wahaha.

Of course, Korean grapes are in season (click here on how to eat grapes the Korean way) so I munched on those too. Other fruits in season during summer are small yellow melons, watermelons and peaches. 

Oh, what a nice time it was. Hope you find all these recommendations to your liking ;)

I'd like to thank Asiana Airlines, Korea Tourism Organization Manila, USTravel and the Busan Tourism Organization for taking me to places I haven't been to before! Great food paired with great conversations and a very hands-on experience make it more memorable for me :) Korea is now MERS-free according to KTO and I just went there this August 2015. 

Asiana Airlines flies once daily from Manila to Busan (3:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.) on an aircraft Airbus A321. You can book through your favorite travel agencies or at their site.

Details:

Shinsegae Mall Centumcity Busan Korea

Website

Goresa Eomuk 고래사어묵 (해운대전 Branch) 
1577-9820
Contact Card Picture above
Website

국미대게 (Snow Crab Restaurant Busan)
275-13 Dongbu-ri, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, South Korea
010-3566-7777
+82-51-721-7777

Korea Tourism Organization Manila Office

26th Floor, Tower 2, The Enterprise Center, Ayala Ave.

cor. Paseo de Roxas, Makati City

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Asiana Airlines Manila Office

6th Floor The Salcedo Towers

169 H.V. dela Costa St. Makati City

662-8088 / 662-8000 (Reservations) 

Website

Facebook

Busan Tourism Organization

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Busan Food Guide and Unique Eats: Centumcity Recommendations for Lunch, Eat What You Make Fishcake Workshop for Snacks and Unique Crab Town Dinner in Gijang!

Tell me below: If you've been to Busan, where else did you eat that had great food? If you have a soft spot for seafood, what do you crave for or look for even if you're on a trip? If you haven't been, what Busan restaurants and specific food-related activities would you try?