부산 횟집

On our way to Vietnam in January, I spent a few days in Seoul + a quick overnight trip to Busan. For those who haven't checked out Busan yet, it's the 2nd largest city & the largest port in South Korea located in the Southeastern tip. Even with limited time, we were able to make room for one proper meal. We were all business when it came down to deciding on where we would dine for our only evening in Busan. So we went to the expert. Busan Hwejip-부산 횟집, was recommended by Busan resident and amazing blogger Sally Shim (who hails from Portland). This just had to be one of the best, if not the most memorable dining experience for me in Busan. I've been to this city a handful of times, and was never thoroughly impressed with their seafood in the past. As they are really known for that. This time around, I think I underestimated what this city has to offer. Although the selection of food options in general are less than Seoul, I have to give it to them when it comes to shellfish.

Walking along the beach front in Haeundae, Busan. Unfortunately there was construction going on when we were there. Otherwise it's beautiful~

Fresh oysters!

Just to give you a little background about my 'not so favorite things to eat'-shellfish is on the list. Weird huh? Food blogger not a huge fan of sea creatures? I used to be a fan years ago. You know how your taste buds change every 7 years? Actually, I heard that from a teacher…sometimes you could be absolutely crazy about one type of food, then sick of it a year later. I guess this is what happened with my relationship with shellfish. When I was living in Seoul, I rarely ate it. However, after moving to New York, we were re-introduced, and now I’m slowly craving in. Definitely on board with snow crab, getting to know oysters again, and mussels are a hit or miss for me. So I'll just start from there.

We picked out our own crabs! They were cute walking around.

This guy was trying to get out~

The one and only restaurant we went to in Haeuendae was 'Busan Hwejip-부산 횟집' which was right along the beach front. It. Was. Freakin. Amazing. When you can select your crab, the size, and the way the course is prepared-that got my attention. Really. Crabs were steamed, crab appetizers were served, fried rice with crab was tasty, then finished the meal with crab stew. The ramen noodles added to the stew was a plus! Good thing we arrived to the restaurant hungry. Well, I think our eyes were bigger than our stomach. We ALMOST finished everything, but after a while we just had to pick and choose what space we had in our stomachs haha. Definitely planning on a trip back to this very spot next time I'm in town!