We were staying at Ananti Cove in Gijang for a little hotel getaway, and on the first evening we did what we always do: skipped the resort restaurants and went looking for somewhere the locals eat. That’s how we ended up at Asura, a small beef-wrap restaurant near Gijang Station — and it turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip.

• Restaurant: Asura (아수라) — beef & chive rolls grilled table-side by the staff
• Address: 1628 Bansong-ro, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan
• Hours: 10:00–21:00 (last order 20:30) · Closed Tuesdays + 2nd & 4th Mondays — confirm before visiting
• Budget: ₩25,000–30,000 per person (beef rolls ₩20,000/portion)
• Getting there: Donghae Line to Gijang Station, then a short walk
• Best for: A real local dinner near Ananti Cove or Yonggungsa — no Korean, no grilling skills needed

Finding It

Gijang is the quiet, coastal end of Busan — famous among Koreans for hairy crab and grilled eel, and among travelers mostly for Haedong Yonggungsa Temple and the Ananti Cove resort complex. Asura sits on a nondescript road near Gijang Station, and nothing about the outside tells you what’s coming. The sign is hand-brushed Korean calligraphy, there are six or seven parking spots out front, and that’s it.

Inside, it’s a proper old neighborhood restaurant — worn floors, simple wooden tables, a big dome-shaped griddle on each one. We came on a weekday evening as a family and had the place mostly to ourselves, which made for a relaxed, unhurried dinner. Every other table was locals. Not a tourist in sight, which in Busan these days is saying something.

A Menu With Exactly Two Things On It

I love restaurants like this. The menu board lists two mains: gogi-mari (고기말이, ₩20,000 a portion) — thin-sliced beef rolled around Korean chives — and yukjeon (육전, ₩19,000), beef pan-fried in egg batter. Everything else is supporting cast: doenjang stew for ₩2,500, rice for ₩1,000, soju and beer at ₩4,000.

When a Korean restaurant sells only two dishes, it’s usually because they’ve spent years getting those two dishes exactly right. We ordered two portions of the beef rolls, the stew, and rice — which, as we later noticed, is precisely what every local table around us had done.

Beef Rolls, and Someone Else Does All the Work

Here’s the thing that makes Asura perfect for visitors: you never touch the tongs. Korean BBQ normally hands you raw meat and scissors and wishes you luck. Here, a staff member arranges the rolls in a ring around the dome grill, piles mushrooms in the center to soak up the beef fat, turns everything at exactly the right moment, and tells you when each piece is ready. You just sit there and eat like royalty.

The rolls themselves are a smart piece of engineering. The beef is sliced almost paper-thin, so it crisps and caramelizes fast on the hot dome, while the chives inside steam in their own moisture — you get charred, beefy edges and a sweet, garlicky-fresh center in one bite. Because the meat is so thin, none of it turns chewy. The mushrooms in the middle might be the best part; they cook slowly in the beef drippings until they taste like meat themselves.

The Peanut Sauce Trick

The table comes set with banchan — the free side dishes every Korean meal includes. Here that means white kimchi (the mild, non-spicy kind), pickled perilla leaves, sweet corn, pickled radish, and a bowl of peanut dipping sauce, which is not something you usually see at a Korean grill house.

The staff walk you through the routine: take a roll off the grill, wrap it in a perilla leaf — if you haven’t had perilla before, it’s a Korean herb somewhere between mint and basil, and it’s wonderful with beef — then dip the whole thing in the peanut sauce. Nutty, savory, slightly sweet, against the smoky beef and that herbal leaf. My personal discovery of the night: wrapping a roll in white kimchi instead, for a cold-crunchy-hot contrast. Try both and pick your side.

The Finale: Stew Cooked in the Beef Drippings

This is the move you shouldn’t skip. When the meat is nearly done, the staff pour doenjang jjigae — Korea’s fermented soybean stew, the deeper, funkier cousin of miso soup — straight onto the same grill you’ve been eating from. All the beef fat and caramelized bits from the grill melt into the broth. The result is a stew that’s noticeably richer than any doenjang jjigae you’ll get as a standalone dish, loaded with tofu, zucchini and onion.

It costs ₩2,500 — about two dollars — and it comes with black rice rather than plain white. Ending a Korean BBQ meal with stew and rice is the traditional rhythm of a meal like this, and once you’ve tried it this way you’ll understand why locals treat it as non-negotiable.

Verdict

Gijang’s food fame is built on crab and eel, and every guidebook will point you there. But this little two-dish restaurant was the meal we kept talking about afterwards. It’s cheap for beef — we fed the family for roughly what one resort pasta costs at Ananti — the staff take care of everything, and the whole experience feels like being let in on something local.

If you’re staying at Ananti Cove or Hilton Busan, or you’re making the trip out to Yonggungsa Temple, build your dinner around this place. Point at 고기말이 on the board, order the stew at the end, and thank me later.

FAQ

Do I need to grill the meat myself?

No — staff grill everything for you from start to finish, and show you how to eat it.

What exactly is gogi-mari?

Thin-sliced beef rolled around Korean chives, grilled until the beef crisps and the chives steam inside. Eaten wrapped in a perilla leaf or white kimchi, dipped in peanut sauce.

How much does it cost per person?

Around ₩25,000–30,000 with a portion of beef rolls, shared stew, rice and a drink.

Is there an English menu?

No, but there are only two mains. Point at “고기말이” (beef rolls) or show this post.

How do I get there from Haeundae?

Donghae Line to Gijang Station (roughly 30 minutes from the Centum City area), then a short walk.

When is it closed?

Every Tuesday, plus the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. Hours 10:00–21:00, last order 20:30.

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Written by WY, a Seoul-based local sharing honest, first-hand guides to Korea. Nothing here is sponsored; I go and pay my own way. More about me →