10 Best Local Restaurants in Ulsan

Daehan Sanghoe Samsan Branch is where you can taste 1++ or 1+ grade high-quality Korean beef after work with a glass of alcohol. The thickly cut Korean beef cooked over a grill holds such a rich amount of meat juice inside that it melts in your mouth. Over a two-week aging process, the size of meat shrinks by 10% but the flavours amplify. A glass of quality wine chosen from a carefully selected list also enhances the taste of the meat.

Order the menu item that combines sirloin and tenderloin and grill the meat in a slightly rare state to enjoy the true taste of the beef. After you are finished with meat, try hot stone pot soybean paste jjigae (dolpan doenjang jjigae), which boils chili peppers and zucchini with the remaining oil. With a pot of doenjang jjigae, you will be able to finish a bowl of rice before you even realise and it is more than enough for latecomers to have a late dinner. It opens during lunch time on weekends, so if you want some quality meat, don't wait until dinner and stop by earlier.

Bon Yeowoo & Bon Jung is a restaurant that serves casual Japanese cuisine with authentic local tastes. The neat exterior and interior of the restaurant makes it look like a newly opened franchise restaurant but it is actually a traditional local spot with a reputation that has continued for over three generations. It is said that the current owner's grandfather who had learned how to make udon in Hiroshima started the udon restaurant about 60 years ago.

The bestseller, Yeowoo Udon, is impressive with its noodles, whose thickness lies between typical udon and kalguksu noodles, and the soup with a deep taste. Cold Soba, which has become a signature summer dish in recent years, is a fantastic collaboration of chewy buckwheat noodles, icy soup and seaweed flakes. Bon Jung Tonkatsu is a sweet potato tonkatsu and Yeowoo Tonkatsu is a cheese tonkatsu, so there is no typical tonkatsu here, which is unique. Bon Yeowoo Jeongsik features a variety of dishes in a single meal and is perfect for those who seek great taste and quantity.

Bongchu Jjimdak Taehwa Grand Park Branch is where you can taste the sweet Andong-style jjimdak, which is braised spicy chicken with vegetables, while enjoying a magnificent view out the window. It is indeed the icing on the cake if a restaurant with delicious dishes also has great views. Once you walk up to the third floor and enter the restaurant, an awesome panoramic view of the Taehwagang River unfolds before your eyes. You will soon realise the combination of great food and view when you start to eat the sweet and spicy braised chicken while enjoying the wide open scenery.

Bongchu Jjimdak is special for adding spicy Cheongyang peppers and cold dongchimi broth. After you finish the rice cakes and noodles deeply soaked in the sauce as well as a bowl of rice mixed in the remaining soup, your belly becomes so full that you simply have to take an after-meal walk along the Taehwagang. The combination of a tasty meal and light exercise is always a great choice.

Eonyang Bulgogi is famous for the rich charcoal scent penetrated deep into the meat. Bulgogi is cut into thin slices, grilled once over charcoal and then grilled again on a gridiron. Garlic is grilled on the gridiron together, which produces a completely different taste. Garlic subtly smears into the meat to perfectly eliminate various odours and, once it is dipped in ssamjang, the garlic itself becomes an essential part of the meal.

Something that is different from other restaurants is the fact that foil is placed on the gridiron when grilling meat to prevent the meat from becoming completely dried up. Lift the edges of the foil to gather the meat juice in the middle and dip the meat in it to enjoy a richer taste. It has seen an increasing number of visitors ever since it appeared on the TV show, 2 Days & 1 Night, but it may be difficult to search for it since the name of the restaurant is also the name of a dish. So make sure to check the exact address when you visit.

My My Chicken Ulsan University Branch is a chimac restaurant that serves chicken made with good ingredients and the overflowing energy of youth. When you order chicken from a table in the noisy hall, popcorn, salad and pickled radish are served first. As you enjoy a glass of cold draft beer, chicken finally arrives at your table. The chicken, which is fried in 100% pure rice bran oil extracted from rice embryo buds, is savoury but not oily, so it is a perfect match with beer.

Chicken with an ample amount of cheese on top is the restaurant's signature dish. Gold Cheese Chicken with sliced fresh cheddar cheese on top and Cheese Pongdang Chicken with an ample amount of soft cream cheese coupled with cheddar cheese are widely loved for the combination of crispy fried cheese and a mild sauce. In the beginning of a semester or just after the end of an exam week, it is crowded with students, so it's better to order for delivery. Chicken is just as tasty even if it is delivered.

Soban & By Soo is a restaurant where special and casual homemade meals are served by a tranquil riverside away from the city. Hijiki boiled rice (tot jorim bap), which mixes Jeju hijiki and Korean pork in a soy sauce-based seasoning, is the signature dish with an excellent clean taste. The yellow egg garnish and wooden bowl form such pretty harmony that makes you pick up your smartphone first before a spoon.

A variety of hot pot rice dishes (dolsotbap) are what the restaurant is also famous for and, together with sincerely cooked side dishes, the meal is as delicious and satisfying as that enjoyed at a luxury restaurant. A cute cafe is also in operation, and the quality of the menu is so great that you will feel satisfied just with sweet desserts and special beverages even without trying the food. Pictures that turn out to be beautiful taken on any object anywhere make Soban & By Soo that much more special.

Saengseongui Saengsaeng, a popular restaurant for those in their 20s and 30s who know a thing or two about delicious foods, is crowded even late at night thanks to its variety of dishes that go well with alcohol. Although the name sounds like a grilled fish restaurant, it is difficult to find fish on the menu that fills up an entire wall. Many people actually pick grilled chicken and kimchi jjigae as the signature dish. Grilled chicken is quite spicy but, if it is dipped in mayonnaise, a somewhat neutralized, mild taste makes it easier for your stomach.

Kimchi jjigae, which is seemingly served twice as much as what you actually order for, is the perennial partner of soju. Drinking a glass of soju after a spoonful of the soup spiced up with Cheongyang peppers, you will exclaim in pure joy. You will also feel the restaurant's hearty generosity at the rolled eggs, which are served for free regardless of the fluctuations in egg prices (dalgyal mari), as well as many other cheap but plentiful dishes. Have a great time until the wee hours here at Saengseongui Saengsaeng that offers a nice combination of food and alcohol.

The Ulsan Wholesale Agricultural and Fish Market, opened in March 1990, handles over 100,000 tons of agricultural and marine products every year. As a public wholesale market, it has introduced an electronic auction system to establish a fair-trading system for everyone to check prices in a transparent manner. Next to the large-scale, 18,861-square-metre wholesale market, there are 2 retail market buildings over a total floor space of 2,768 square metres, so many locals visit the market to shop for fresh seafood in Ulsan.

Also, the retail markets sell products that they have just brought from the wholesale market next door, which ensures an excellent degree of freshness and low prices thanks to minimisation of intermediate distribution stages. Buy fresh foods and ingredients at a marketplace that has the advantages of both a traditional market and a large-sized indoor market. Its outstanding accessibility presents zero inconvenience whether you use public transportation or your own car.

Hamyangjip has maintained its place as a prominent Korean restaurant since 1924. Its signature dish, bibimbap (mixed rice) has ample amounts of beef tartare (yukhoe) and yellow egg garnish on top. Those who are unable to eat raw beef can inform a server in advance, as it can be replaced with cooked meat.

The cold raw Korean beef soup (hanu mulhoe), which is lighter than cold raw fish soup (saengseon mulhoe), is another menu item that is difficult to find anywhere else. Enjoying an ample amount of beef tartare placed on top of a cold soup with ice and sliced cucumbers will make you momentarily forget about the summer heat. After finishing the beef tartare, add some thin noodles (somyeon) that go well with the soup. Smoky grilled bulgogi (seoksoe bulgogi) is another dish that proves why this restaurant has been so loved for such a long time.

Ulsan Beongae Market, first opened in 1970, has continued to change in line with the trends over generations. As a result of societal changes, most of the customers today are foreigners or from multicultural homes so the market naturally offers foods and snacks tailored to them. There are also many stores opened by naturalized foreigners or marriage immigrants, which is a testament to the new world in which we live in together.

As you may guess from its huge scale, the market seems to have everything you can ask for. The excitement of stopping by small restaurants and snack carts after grocery shopping cannot be ignored. In addition to Korean foods including Gamasot Wangjokbal, Meogeobon Jeukseok Tangsuyuk, Myeongga Wangjokbal, Ilmi Minmul Maeuntang and Pujimman Sunhanu Dolgopchang, tasting various Asian cuisine such as traditional Mongolian fries, Ilpumhyang Mala Tang and Bánh Mì Thịt Hanoi will make the shopping experience much more fun.