Bubbas: Dalmaji

Having Friday free, we decided to head up Dalmaji to see the newly bloomed Cherry Blossoms. It was a beautiful day, and brunch was sounding a fantastic idea. We had a recommendation from a friend to try Bubbas, a fantastically situated brunch café perched right atop the hill. According to their menu they have four locations around Busan, including one in Marine City. Valet parking was free for two hours when we went, which was a nice touch.

The first thing that impressed me about Bubbas was the scale of the dining area. Food is ordered at the bar, a compact corner, which leaves the majority of the restaurant free for seating. There’s a wide range of seating options, from stools at breakfast bars to comfortable lounge chairs and sofas. We chose some relaxing seats at the wide open windows, overlooking Dalmaji. As you can see from the photos, the views are impressive. So far, so good.

We ordered at the bar, and were pleased enough with the prices. 13,000 for a brunch set, which includes an Americano (1,000 extra for iced). I opted for the eggs benedict, something I miss from my native land, and my fiancé plumped for the American brunch. 28,000 for two meals seemed ok to me, so we happily sat down to wait.

Here’s where the problems began. The coffees came within 5 minutes, no problems. However, after another 30 minutes our brunches still had not arrived. Considering the place wasn’t all that busy this seemed a little strange to me. We asked, and got a rather curt reply that our food would be out shortly.

Ten minutes later, a full 45 minutes after we ordered, brunch finally dained to make an appearance. The food was beautifully presented. Two plump looking eggs perched atop my muffin, smothered in rich looking hollandaise. I dived in, and….. was HUGELY disappointed. It was sickly, cloyingly, un-explainably sweet. There was fried onions under the bacon, which must have been fried in syrup, from what I could tell. The hollandaise had a strange, artificial sweetness to it that I couldn’t explain. It was honestly more like a cake than brunch. I was very let down. Eggs benedict should be all about salty bacon, rich hollandaise, and perfect soft egg. The eggs were cooked well, still runny in the centre, but this couldn’t save the rest of the dish. The sweetness was just overpowering.

In fairness, my fiancées American breakfast fared better. The pancake was fluffy, with ample maple syrup, the scrambled eggs were well cooked and the sausage was crisp and tasty. The fried egg was well undercooked, but otherwise it was a much more accomplished dish. Lo and behold, it tasted savoury as well!

The menu also includes a selection of pizzas, fried chicken and ides such as corn cobs. However, after our disappointing brunch, we decided not to prolong our stay.

If you wanted to go to Bubbas for a coffee, a nice view, and possibly a snack which is supposed to be sweet, I can’t think of too many places with such a beautiful view and interior. However, if you’re looking for a brunch to remind you of home, I’d steer well clear.

Directions:

Bubbas is at the top of Dalmaji hill. To get there walking, head from the east end of Haeundae beach until Dalmaji-gil can be seen leading steeply up on your right. Walk for around 500m to reach the café. The nearest subway station is Jung-dong, although Jangsan is also relatively close.

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Filed under: Food Tagged: american, brunch, busan, eggs, restaurant
 
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