Restaurant in Busan, South Korea
Michelin-recognised yakitori at mid-range prices.
Yakitori Haegong holds a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025, making it the most credentialled yakitori specialist in Busan at a mid-range ₩₩ price point. Booking is easy and walk-ins appear viable on weekdays. Worth prioritising if you know the yakitori format and want Michelin-recognised technique without committing to a high-end tasting menu budget.
Yes — and booking is direct enough that you have little excuse not to try it. Yakitori Haegong holds a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, which in Busan's dining context is meaningful recognition for a format — yakitori , that rarely gets this level of institutional attention on the Korean peninsula. At a ₩₩ price point, it sits in the accessible middle of Busan's restaurant range, well below the ₩₩₩ and ₩₩₩₩ territory of peers like Mori and Born and Bred. A 4.7 rating from Google reviewers adds confidence, though the sample size of 14 reviews means you should weight the Michelin recognition more heavily than the crowd signal here.
Yakitori Haegong is located in Suyoeng-gu, one of Busan's residential and waterfront-adjacent districts, at 30-5 Millakbondong-ro 19 beon-gil. The neighbourhood is not a primary dining destination for visitors, which likely explains why this restaurant remains less trafficked than its Michelin credentials might otherwise suggest. If you are already exploring Busan's coastline or Millak district, this is a natural stop. If you are coming from central Busan, it warrants a dedicated trip.
The format here is yakitori , Japanese-style skewered and charcoal-grilled chicken, prepared in a tradition that prizes technique above all else. Good yakitori is not about sauces or garnish complexity; it is about sourcing, butchering skill, seasoning discipline, and the cook's control over heat and timing. A grill cook at this level is managing multiple skewers across different heat zones simultaneously, reading doneness by sight and time, and deciding when tare glaze or salt finishes a cut. The Michelin Plate , awarded in consecutive years , indicates the kitchen is doing this reliably and at a standard that trained evaluators found worth noting. In Busan, where yakitori is far less culturally embedded than in Japanese cities, that consistency is harder to build and maintain than it might sound.
Visually, yakitori at its leading is a spare presentation: skewers lined across a counter grill, the surface lacquered by heat and seasoning, with visible char at the edges and a glaze that catches the light. The format is inherently counter-friendly, which makes it well-suited to solo diners or pairs who want to eat progressively rather than order everything at once. If you have eaten at Yakitori Onjung elsewhere in Busan, Haegong is worth a direct comparison , the two represent the strongest concentration of serious yakitori in the city.
For reference points outside Korea, Torisaki in Kyoto and Torisho Ishii in Osaka sit at the higher end of the yakitori tradition in Japan. Haegong is not competing at that altitude, but in the context of Korean cities, a Michelin-recognised yakitori specialist at a mid-range price is a genuinely useful find, particularly for diners who know the format and want to eat well without crossing into tasting-menu territory.
If you have visited once and ordered a standard selection, the next visit is the moment to go deeper on the less obvious cuts: cartilage, skin, liver, and tail skewers test a kitchen's range far more than breast or thigh. If the kitchen offers a set course or omakase-style progression, that is worth choosing over à la carte on a return visit , it shows you the cook's sequence and seasonal thinking rather than your own defaults.
One practical note: with no website or phone number currently listed in public directories, the most reliable approach is to visit in person to check hours and reservation availability, or to use a local booking platform. Given the small scale implied by the low review count, walk-in capacity on quieter weekday evenings is a reasonable assumption, but confirming ahead of time is sensible for any weekend or evening visit.
For broader dining context in Busan, see our full Busan restaurants guide. If you are building a longer itinerary, our Busan hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the city more fully. For Michelin-recognised dining elsewhere in Korea, Mingles in Seoul represents the country's higher end, while Double T Dining in Gangneung and Doosoogobang in Suwon are useful regional comparisons for quality at accessible price points.
No dress code is specified, but smart casual is a reasonable baseline for a Michelin Plate restaurant in this price tier. Yakitori is an informal format by nature, so you do not need to dress formally. What you would wear to a well-regarded neighbourhood restaurant in any major city is fine here.
Yakitori Onjung is the most direct alternative for the same format in Busan. If you want to stay in the Japanese tradition but move to a broader menu, Mori steps up to ₩₩₩ territory. For a completely different protein focus at a higher spend, Born and Bred is the steakhouse option at ₩₩₩₩. At the other end of the price scale, 100.1.Pyeongnaeng is a ₩ naengmyeon option for a completely different style of meal. See our full Busan restaurants guide for a wider view.
Booking difficulty is assessed as easy. With only 14 Google reviews on record, this is not a high-traffic venue, and walk-ins on weekday evenings are likely viable. That said, Michelin recognition can create periodic demand spikes. Calling or visiting a day or two ahead for weekend evenings is a sensible precaution, though there is no evidence you need to plan weeks out the way you would for a high-demand omakase counter in Seoul or Tokyo.
No dietary information is listed, and there is currently no website or phone number available to check in advance. Yakitori is a chicken-focused format, so vegetarian or non-chicken dietary requirements will be difficult to accommodate , this is not the right venue if a guest in your party does not eat chicken or poultry. For dietary queries, arriving early and speaking directly with staff is the most reliable approach given the lack of online contact details.
It works well for a low-key special occasion , a birthday dinner or a celebratory weeknight meal where the focus is on food quality rather than ceremony. At ₩₩, it is affordable enough that it does not carry the weight of a splurge dinner, which can be an advantage if you want the meal to feel enjoyable rather than pressure-laden. For a more formal special-occasion setting with a higher price point and correspondingly grander atmosphere, Mori at ₩₩₩ or Born and Bred at ₩₩₩₩ are better fits.
Yes, at ₩₩ with two consecutive Michelin Plates, the value case is strong. You are getting Michelin-recognised technique at a mid-range price in a city where that combination is uncommon for this cuisine format. The comparison point is useful: Palate is in the same ₩₩ tier for contemporary Korean, so if your budget is fixed and you are deciding between formats, Haegong offers the more specialised, technically focused experience.
Specific menu structure is not confirmed in available data, so we cannot verify whether a tasting menu or omakase course is offered. If a set course is available, it is almost always worth choosing at a yakitori specialist on a second or return visit , it lets the kitchen show you the full range of cuts and the cook's preferred sequence, which is more instructive than selecting à la carte. Ask on arrival what the kitchen recommends.
Yes , this is one of the better formats for solo dining in Busan's mid-range tier. Yakitori's counter or small-table format is inherently well-suited to eating alone: skewers arrive progressively, pacing is naturally built in, and there is no pressure to share dishes. At ₩₩, a solo meal stays affordable. If you are travelling alone and want a higher-quality, lower-effort dinner, this is a more satisfying choice than most casual options in the city.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yakitori Haegong | Yakitori | Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Palate | Contemporary | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Mori | Japanese | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Born and Bred | Steakhouse | World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| 100.1.Pyeongnaeng | Naengmyeon | Unknown | — | |
| Anmok | Dwaeji-gukbap | Unknown | — |
How Yakitori Haegong stacks up against the competition.
Dress casually. Yakitori Haegong is priced at ₩₩ and sits in a residential Busan neighbourhood, so there is no expectation of formal attire. Clean, everyday clothes are appropriate. Think casual dinner out, not special-occasion dressing.
Palate and Mori are strong Busan alternatives depending on format. Born and Bred suits those after a different protein-focused experience, while Anmok is worth considering if you want something closer to the coast. 100.1.Pyeongnaeng covers cold noodle territory entirely — a different occasion entirely.
Booking specifics are not publicly confirmed, but Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 means demand is real. Aim to book at least a week ahead, more during Korean public holidays and peak tourist periods. Suyoeng-gu is not a tourist-dense district, which may ease availability slightly compared to Haeundae-area restaurants.
Yakitori is a skewer-format, largely meat-centred cuisine, which makes strict vegetarian or vegan requirements difficult to accommodate. Specific allergy or dietary policies are not confirmed in available data. check the venue's official channels before booking if dietary needs are a factor.
It works for a low-key special occasion rather than a formal celebration. Two consecutive Michelin Plates give the meal credibility, and the ₩₩ price range means you get recognised quality without the spend of a full fine-dining evening. Pair it with drinks in Suyoeng-gu afterwards rather than expecting the venue itself to carry the whole event.
Yes, at ₩₩ pricing with back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025), the value-to-credential ratio is strong. You are getting inspector-acknowledged yakitori at mid-range Korean restaurant prices, which is a meaningful combination in a city where Michelin-listed spots often price accordingly.
Menu structure and specific format details are not confirmed in available data, so a direct verdict on a tasting menu is not possible here. Given the yakitori format generally, expect skewer-led progression rather than a Western tasting menu structure. Verify with the venue directly.
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