RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Busan's Beer Shop offers so much more

A Reuben sandwich at Beer Shop in Busan / Courtesy of Beer Shop

BUSAN — Tucked away down an alleyway in Jeonpo-dong, Busan’s hippest neighborhood, is Beer Shop, a restaurant serving one of Korea’s best sandwiches.

Owned by Gorilla Brewing co-founder Andy Green and Park Ju-hee, Beer Shop originally opened in Gorilla’s (now defunct) Gwangalli taproom location on the first floor. It functioned as a bottle shop for many different breweries and had some food for guests, too. This eventually morphed into leaving the seaside district entirely and setting up shop in Jeonpo, with the intention of opening “a place similar to back home," according to Green, "a trendy, modern pub that catered to craft drinkers and regular drinkers, too.”

In 2021, Green watched Jeonpo becoming more trendy and, with its proximity to Seomyeon’s nightlife, he decided to pull the trigger and open a restaurant here in what used to be someone’s house. With the redesign work done, it’s completely impossible to tell that a family used to live here.

Enjoying a beer at Busan's Beer Shop / Courtesy of Kevin Grabb

Beer Shop’s signature dish is the pastrami sandwich. What makes good pastrami? “Good meat, good bread, good sauce," Green said. "Don’t overcomplicate it.”

For the readers of The Korea Times, I asked him to complicate it.

“We use a beef brisket and then soak it in a wet brine," he said. "It’s salt water with sugar, pickling spices and garlic. The brisket sits in the brine for 10 days. You can get away with seven, but I do 10. Rinse it and do a 50/50 dry rub of black pepper and coriander seeds. It’s smoked to the desired temperature and I steam it to order in the restaurant.”

It must be noted that this is what separates pastrami from corned beef. Corned beef is boiled and it isn’t the same in terms of flavor.

Beer Shop’s Reuben sandwich is a sight to behold. Warm, moist pastrami on local bread with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and homemade Russian dressing. I’ve had dozens of Reubens all over this Earth and Beer Shop’s is among the best due to Green’s care of the brisket throughout the process. No shortcuts and a slow brine.

I wish I could tell you what the Classic Pastrami sandwich is like, but I’ve only ever had the Reuben here in my five visits. That said, the Classic is similar but with yellow mustard and dill pickle. I’m sure it’s just as spectacular.

Beer Shop’s patio must be mentioned. It is larger than even the indoor area and feels like a cocoon, void of any outside interference or misery. With Busan’s temperate weather, one could enjoy a drink here well into November and as early as April.

The outdoor patio at Busan's Beer Shop / Courtesy of Kevin Grabb

I haven’t even begun to cover the eponymous delights of Beer Shop: A simple draft Jeonpo Lager and mixed highballs for the newcomers to get them comfortable and then nine more taps full of Korea’s finest round out their draft craft beer selection. There are also three large fridges full of everything from nonalcoholic beers to a wide selection of English ales and more Korean craft beer.

This is a must-go place in Busan. Great food and great beer on an amazing patio with good company.

Beer Shop is open Thursdays and Fridays from 6 p.m. to midnight, Saturdays from 1 p.m. to midnight and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. It is closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Follow @beershop.busan on Instagram for more information.

Kevin Grabb is a Canadian homebrewer and YouTuber. His channel Korea Brewing Adventure covers Korean alcohol from production to consumption.