Busan Pork Soup Festival 2026: All 20 Citizen-Recommended Gukbap Restaurants

Researched by Kwak.kamoly · Updated 14 September 2026. This is an independently researched planning guide, not a report of a personal restaurant visit. Schedules and listed prices can change.

Want to try Busan’s pork and rice soup during your October trip? Start with the city’s newly announced citizen-recommended selection, then choose a restaurant that fits your sightseeing day. You do not need to cross the city to collect famous bowls.

Dwaeji gukbap with rice, sliced pork, chives and radish kimchi; an example of the dish, not Jamae Gukbap. — **What pork and rice soup looks like.** Dish reference, not a photograph from Jamae Gukbap. Photo: 사이팔사, 2016 · Wikimedia Commons / original blog credit · CC BY 2.0 KR. Uncropped; resized for display.

October at a glance

Festival showcase: 16–18 October 2026. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 17 October. Public voting is scheduled for 28 September–14 October. Restaurant visits and the festival showcase are separate experiences; a place on the list does not mean every restaurant will operate a stall.

Check the official festival programme before travelling.

What does “citizen-recommended 20” mean?

Busan announced these 20 businesses on 14 September. This is a citizen recommendation selection, not a numbered ranking, a Michelin award, or a survey of English-speaking visitors. The city’s process continues with later voting and judging. Our English spellings below are search aids; use the Korean name and branch when navigating. Read the published announcement and full list.

All 20 restaurants, grouped into practical search cards

Open a map search for the named branch, then check the latest hours and menu. The map links are searches, not verified festival entrances. Numbers are deliberately omitted because the selection is not a first-to-twentieth ranking.

Choose your area before choosing your soup

Gwangalli and Suyeong: concentrate on the five Suyeong-gu entries. A beach walk and one bowl make a better afternoon than five consecutive meals. Haeundae Halmaejip fits a separate Haeundae beach day.

Nampo and the old city: the Jung-gu and Seo-gu entries work best for a market-focused day. Dong-gu restaurants can fit an arrival or departure day around Busan Station, but verify the final route; Dong-gu is larger than the station neighbourhood.

Other districts: Nam-gu can form a separate cultural/coastal outing; Saha-gu is a different part of town again. Jeonggwan in Gijang-gun is not the same place as the coastal Gijang attractions. Treat distant branches as deliberate trips, not quick detours.

How to order dwaeji gukbap in Busan

Dwaeji-gukbap (돼지국밥) is pork soup served with rice, either together or separately depending on the order. For an approachable first choice, look for 돼지국밥 or 순살국밥 (a lean-meat option where offered). 내장 means offal; 순대 is Korean blood sausage. Ask what a mixed bowl contains before ordering.

Pork soup, sliced pork and Korean side dishes on a table — Dwaeji-gukbap with sliced pork and side dishes. An illustrative archive photograph, not a photograph of a specific restaurant in this list.
Photo: SummerTree Co., Ltd. and Ieum Media Co., Ltd. / Busan Metropolitan City and Busan Tourism Organization · Busan Tourism Archive · KOGL Type 1 (attribution).

Taste the broth before adding salted shrimp, spicy seasoning or kimchi. Pork broth is not vegetarian or halal. Salted shrimp and fermented seafood in condiments can matter for allergies; removing a topping does not establish that the broth or kitchen is allergen-free.

Useful phrase: “돼지국밥 하나 주세요” — One pork and rice soup, please.
For one diner: “한 명 식사 가능해요?” — Can one person eat here?
Before seasoning: “다대기는 따로 주세요” — Please serve the spicy seasoning separately.

Festival planning: what is still unconfirmed?

The official programme lists a talk on 19 September, a related video release on 27 September, voting from 28 September, and the October showcase. Earlier announcements named BIFC2 as the showcase venue (25 August report). Recheck the current event notice for the exact entrance before setting your route; do not confuse BIFC with BEXCO.

A confirmed visitor timetable, stall-by-stall menu, admission arrangement and bowl prices were not available in the official event page checked for this guide. We have not labelled the showcase free or promised a particular restaurant’s participation. Voting may involve platform or phone requirements; visiting a restaurant does not require taking part.

Build your meal into a wider plan with our Busan food and ordering guide and three-day Busan itinerary.

Plan the rest of your October visit

Gwangalli and Haeundae soup routes
Nampo and Busan Station soup routes
BIFF films, actors and tickets
Rock festival line-up and transport
Starry Night Busan Night Market

Busan Pork Soup Festival 2026: All 20 Citizen-Recommended Gukbap Restaurants

October at a glance

What does “citizen-recommended 20” mean?

All 20 restaurants, grouped into practical search cards

1953 Hyeongje · Nam-gu

70-year Jeontong Halmae · Dong-gu

Du Beonjjae Neulhaerang · Busanjin-gu

Mokchon, Yeonsan City Hall · Yeonje-gu

Seo Jin-seop · Jung-gu

Somunnan, Bupyeong · Jung-gu

Subyeon Choego, Millak main · Suyeong-gu

Suyeong · Suyeong-gu

Sikbok · Suyeong-gu

Sinchang main · Seo-gu

Ssangdungi main · Nam-gu

Yeongjin main · Saha-gu

Onammae, Jeonggwan · Gijang-gun

Uri · Dong-gu

Ibagu · Sasang-gu

Jamae · Suyeong-gu

Cheonghwabaek, Gwangalli main · Suyeong-gu

Haeundae Halmaejip · Haeundae-gu

Hapcheon Gukbapjip, Yongho · Nam-gu

Hwanamjeong, Choeup main · Busanjin-gu

Choose your area before choosing your soup

How to order dwaeji gukbap in Busan

Festival planning: what is still unconfirmed?

Plan the rest of your October visit