In a smoky barbecue restaurant, fatty pork ribs are being grilled, sending up a fragrant smell. After finishing their manual labor at the wharf, stevedores gather around a round tin table and raise glasses of soju. Exhausted from a day's work, the workers forget their fatigue with a glass of soju that feels like it burns in their chests. In the 60s, a day in Choryang Kalbi Alley in Choryang-dong, a port city of Busan, begins with the workers.
Daeji gogi (pork) is popular among workers in harsh conditions because it is inexpensive and known to have the effect of detoxifying heavy metals such as mercury and lead. Choryang Daeji Kalbi Alley, adjacent to the always-packed Busan Station and pier, still exudes the joys and sorrows of the common people of the port city of Busan, with its whistles still ringing out from the past.
The delicious meat piled high on the hot plate is brimming with the kind hospitality that is unique to Korea, and just looking at it is enough to fill you up.
If you go through Choryang Market, you will find a row of 20 pork rib restaurants in the direction of Busan High School. In the past, they used to grill meat over charcoal briquettes, but now they use charcoal instead.
Unha Kalbi and Namhae Jip are the two old culinary establishments that have been here for the past 30 years. The menu at Unha Kalbi (467-4303) includes beef, pork belly, raw kalbi, and pork eye, but the main dish is undoubtedly pork kalbi.
Fresh meat is delivered directly from the source every day, and the owner himself cuts the pork and uses it in his dishes, so you can always enjoy tender meat. If you order pork ribs at Unhwa Kalbi, you'll be served large ribs, bajoyi, garlic, soy sauce, red pepper paste (gochujang), and lettuce. The pork ribs, one of the restaurant's signature dishes, are seasoned with 10 different condiments, including garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce, and then left to sit, so they are rich yet have a refreshing aftertaste.
The owner, Jongzek (64), reminisced, "In the 80s, this was the only place to eat pork ribs, so it was always so lively that customers would line up and wait."
He also said that the style of customers who visit the bar has changed over the years. In the 60s, most customers came to drink alcohol, but in the 70s, most of the seats were taken up by couples, and since the late 80s, the number of customers has increased to include families. As a result, there are fewer customers who drink late into the night, so the bar closes at midnight.
Grandma Lim Yun-shim (468) of Namhae Zip (3075-74) has been selling only pork ribs here for the past 33 years.
According to the old lady, before she opened her daegi (pork) kalbi restaurant here, another old lady who ran a daegi (pork) soup restaurant was already selling daegi (pork) kalbi. According to Grandma Lim, the old lady who ran the daegi (pork) soup restaurant back then would go on to become the originator of Choryang daegi (pork) kalbi.
Choryang Kalbi Alley is open from 9:30am to 11pm (12pm).
Byeonsang-Ok, located a short distance from Kalbi Alley, is also highly acclaimed for its pork suyuk (boiled pork), guksu (buckwheat noodles), and the unique soy sauce flavor that is unique to this restaurant. If you walk about five minutes from Unha Kalbi toward the Land Management Office, you will come across Byeonsang-Ok, which boasts nearly 100 years of history and flavors that have been perfected over four generations.
The restaurant is only about 10 to XNUMX square meters, but in the evenings it is so crowded with office workers that it is hard to find room to move. The noodle dish, which is served with soba noodles in soup oozing out from pork, is highly nutritious and can be used as a substitute for rice.
| Menu | |
|---|---|
| Samgyeopsal (pork belly) | 11,000woon |
| Raw ribs | 11,000woon |
| Pork neck | 11,000woon |
| Daeji Kalbi | 11,000woon |
| Business hours and meal prices may vary depending on the restaurant. | |
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| spot name | Choryang Daeji Kalbi Alley The best way to spend time |
| Address | 2-197, Choryang 1-dong, Dong-gu, Busan 2-197 1-XNUMX Business hours are from 11:10 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. |
directions: If you leave Busan Station Exit 9 and go straight, you will see Kookmin Bank. Go past the bank and go a little further and you will see a sign with "Choryang Deji Kalbi Alley" written in Korean. Go straight along the road in the direction of the sign and you will see Choryang Deji Kalbi Alley.
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