food trip in korea

Feeling peckish at Huinnyeoul Road? Drop by Huinnyeoul Jeomppang for a light meal. Located at the center of Huinnyeoul Culture Village, Huinnyeoul Jeomppang is beloved for its cutesy interior and ocean view. It also offers an ocean view not only in the terrace seats by the entrance but also on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

There are only two menus for mealtime in Huinnyeoul Jeomppang: ramyeon and toast. Ramyeon is Korea’s most beloved instant food, made by boiling noodles and seasoning. Ramyeon in Korea tends to be hot and spicy, and Huinnyeoul Jeomppang’s version adds fish cake, green onions, and other ingredients that enrich the soup.

Ramyeon in a nickel silver pot

Huinnyeoul Jeomppang serves its ramyeon in nickel silver pots, which are associated with the old days among Koreans. Nickel silver tends to have very high heat conductivity, so it can be brought to a boil quickly. Pots made with nickel silver have been used in Korea en masse since the 1970s. While nickel silver utensils have all but disappeared from most households in Korea today, Huinnyeoul Jeomppang keeps the tradition alive with its nostalgic pots.

Huinnyeoul Jeomppang’s signature menus, Ramyeon and Toast

Another menu, toast, refers to a sandwich filled with cabbage, ham, and cheese toasted on a griddle. Each sandwich is cut in half and placed into two paper cups, so one serving can be comfortably shared by two. If you’re having trouble with ramyeon’s spiciness, bite into the toast to mitigate the spiciness with its richness.

Follow the stairs, such as Manmeori Stairs and Rainbow Stairs, located throughout Huinnyeoul Road, to reach the Jeoryeong Coastal Trail below the cliffs. This 3-km-long coastal trail connects the area below the Huinnyeoul Culture Village with Taejongdae Park along the Jeoryeonghaean Coast. It is designed in harmony with the surrounding sea, from the floor patterns that resemble the waves to murals and the scenery unfolding beyond, so take in the beauty of Busan’s seas as you walk leisurely along the trail.

Yeongdo’s foremost walking trail, Jeoryeong Coastal Trail

Walking toward Taejongdae Park from Jeoryeong Coastal Trail, one can find a tunnel next to the Rainbow Stairs. Huinnyeoul Coastal Tunnel, which resembles a coastal cave, connects this side of Busan with a completely different one, characterized by unique coastal formations like a pebble beach, sheer cliffside, and other mysteries of nature.

Coastal Tunnel photo spot

The scenery of the beach on the other side

The seaside villages of Korea, surrounded by water on three sides, have developed a culture of diving, exemplified by its "haenyeo" culture. "Haenyeo," or women divers, dive 10 m below sea level without oxygen masks or other equipment to harvest seafood. Today’s haenyeo use diving suits and swim fins, but they dove into the sea wearing only their shirts in the past. The "culture of Jeju Haenyeo (women divers)" was inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016 to protect and preserve this unique culture. Yeongdo’s haenyeo culture began to develop when Jeju’s haenyeo began to stay in Yeongdo in the 1920s before moving on to other areas in Korea.

The Yeongdo Haenyeo Culture Exhibition Hall is made of four chapters: Chapter 1 is Sound of Sumbi, Chapter 2 is Tools of Haenyeo, Chapter 3 is Seafood in Yeongdo Seas, and Chapter 4 is Work and Life of Haenyeo. The "Sound of Sumbi" here refers to the unique sound made by haenyeo as they expel their breath after they resurface from their dive. Push the button in the exhibition hall to fill the space with the sounds of sumbi, made by actual haenyeo, and take a momentary trip into the sea with women divers.

Yeongdo Haenyeo Culture Exhibition Hall interior