Despite my often futile attempts to research restaurants in advance before visiting a new city in South Korea, it seems like the best places that I find I stumble into by accident once there. Before a recent trip to Busan I trolled the web looking for places to scout out for dinner. However, as often happens in Korea, most of my pre-selected establishments turned out to be out of business or nonexistent. One evening, after failing to track down a few places I found online, I took a cab from Haeundae to Gwangan to check out Galmegi Brewing Co. and afterwards, wandered along the beach hoping to grab a late night bite. With my expectations relatively low, my curiosity piqued when I spotted Bombay Brau, a very tiny beachfront joint boasting the odd but surprisingly exciting combination of craft beer and Indian food. Upon closer inspection and 20 minutes of cross-examining the sole employee, I learned that Bombay Brau is in fact a micro brewery with multiple locations around Korea that serves exceptionally delicious Indian food. Although this concept excited me in itself, the truly impressive aspect of this tiny restaurant on the beach was the chef, Mr. H.B. Poudel, himself. Mr. Poudel redefined the term one-man-band operating simultaneously as the establishment’s solo waiter, bus boy, dishwasher, and cook. He took my order, served my beer, whipped up made-to-order naan bread and tandoori in his tandoori oven and disbelievingly delicious tikka masala AND carried on an informative conversation with such ease I could only gawk with incredulity. My only frustration was knowing that this man could not possibly be paid enough for the pride and dedication he showed to his craft and to the company he worked for. If you make it to Gwangali Beach, it would be in your best interest to stop at Bombay Brau, order some garlic naan, tikka masala and a Punjab Wheat Beer, and most importantly, shake Mr. Poudel’s hand.
Bombay Brau
www.bombaybrau.com
Executive Chef: H.B. Poudel
Contact: 070-8621-7818 | hbpoudel@outlook.com
Hours: 6:00PM – 2:00AM
Address: 197-11, Gwangan 2-dong, Suyeong-gu, Busan, Korea
