Born and Bred Busan

One of the best meals we’ve ever had. The bone in filet was perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection. The mashed potatoes were delicious and an experience to taste. Every aspect of our meal was wonderful. The attention to detail by the staff is impeccable.

Put simply, this place feels like a scam. This is the most disappointed I have ever been with what’s meant to be a premium restaurant. We went here because this is meant to be the best meat in Korea (2 friends recommended the one in Seoul), so our expectations were sky high (as high as the prices). Unfortunately, the Seoul Born and Bred was booked out for the week so we were happy it was easy to get a booking in Busan…..turns out there’s probably a reason it was easy and available. When we got there we were sitting by ourselves at a 7pm booking… completely alone, there was not one other person in the restaurant… which was strange and may say something. Problem 1 - the omakase menu When you read reviews of Born and Bred the omakase is their signature. Even though we booked days in advance, when we got to the restaurant they told us you need to call/walk in 24hrs in advance to tell them you want the omakase menu…..why wouldn’t you let your customers know this? There was no way we could have know through the booking process! As a result, we had to pick from their regular steak menu, which wasn’t what we were there for….but we were happy to stay and try their top recommendations because we heard such good thing… then we got the steak 🤮 Problem 2 - The steak quality… As we couldn’t get their omakase, we ordered their signature porterhouse (t bone) for 330k KRW. Honestly, there was something wrong with it! The fat wasn’t rendered, it tasted off and the texture was so strange….my friend thinks it may have been frozen, it had that grainy texture you get when meat is frozen and unfrozen. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. When compared to nice steaks which were cheaper in Japan, Australia and even some of the steaks at the BBQ’s in Korea, this was quite shocking. We tried our hardest to understand it but it was impossible when you consider how good other premium stakes are. To summarise - this was one of the worst restaurants I’ve been to. It had no redeeming qualities, except maybe our waiter, she was nice. It was super expensive, they didn’t tell us in advance that we had to pre-order the omakase and the steak quality was poor. I sincerely hope the Born and Bred in Seoul is different/better. I can imagine it is because it’s impossible to get a table within the week and this Busan restaurant has no customers at all, again we were sitting in the restaurant by ourselves. Take this as a warning and avoid this restaurant - try the Seoul one instead.

I’ve heard about Born & Bred Seoul for years and never made a visit. Well we visited the Busan location last night and it became the most degrading experience we’ve had at a fine dining/steakhouse establishment. The night started off well with steak sandos. We ordered the salmon for my mom and pot rice and garlic scapes for sides. Our lovely server recommended the porterhouse which was the most expensive menu item, explaining how we get to experience both New York strip & tenderloin in one. We requested medium rare. When the porterhouse came out, we had four pieces from the New York strip side. It was seasoned perfectly and the doneness was also spot on. A secondary server asked us how it was and we said “amazing”! Then we moved onto the tenderloin side and it turned out to be well-done. They applied uneven heat and it was overdone. My husband couldn’t eat it. We gave our server that feedback and all the manager wanted to offer was free tea or coffee. The offer didn’t add up to the mess up at all. She came back and said the manager emphasized that our original feedback was “amazing!” so they can’t remake the steak or discount it now, and insists that the most they can do was provide dessert. The response had an undertone of distrust that we were trying to benefit more than we are paying. Well the porterhouse is priced at 300,000 won and one side of it is messed up. All the manager needed to do was come over and look at the steak with his own eyes to see how clear the mess up was. Acknowledge the mess up genuinely and make things right. The treatment felt like a slap to the face. The chef eventually came out with a sincere apology and we accepted the offer for tea and dessert. However throughout that time, the manager was staring daggers at us and when my husband and I left, my mom, who was straggling in the back, said that the manager was staring daggers at our backs as we exited. That’s gone way past unprofessional. It’s antagonistic. You are a SPECIALTY beef restaurant, and you simply didn’t do well. Focus on that. Certainly there was some kind of discrimination. Sadly we never saw our server again for the rest of the night. I truly feel bad that she was just the messenger and may have been sent home. I do believe that she advocated for us. Hospitable no, hostile, VERY.

I booked this restaurant a few weeks in advance, hoping that this Michelin restaurant will be an amazing first time experience of Hanwoo beef. We (party of 3) ordered the Katsu sando, garlic shoots, potted rice, salmon and the porterhouse (which is 330,000 won). Everything came out well and amazing except for the porterhouse. The strip of the porterhouse came out perfect medium rare but the filet side came out overcooked and hard to chew. I mentioned it to the waitress who talked to the manager. He was being difficult despite me not asking for anything, just an apology and context on what went wrong. He never spoke to me directly and refused to communicate with the kitchen. He instead told the waitress to give me dessert and tea without a formal acknowledgement or apology. He also refused to offer any replacement or discount with me prompting. Finally after talking to the waitress, the head chef came and apologized and insisted to make us dessert and even offer to remake that cut. We accepted the apology and the dessert but the lack of direct interaction left a sour taste and ruined the dinner. He would glare at us from across the room which made us even more uncomfortable. Imagine having to pay full price for the most expensive dish on the menu and only being able to eat half of it. The waitress and head chef were super apologetic and understanding but the manager was dismissive and rude. For a Michelin restaurant, you would expect better service, especially if mistakes were made. For the money spent and the bad service from the manager, I would highly recommend not going here especially if you're not a local.

Best beef ever, cooked to perfection. Good wine and professional, friendly service. Quite loud live music which thankfully stopped.

We wanted to try this highly raved restaurant. The food was great. Steak was great. Restaurant was not full and pretty empty. The service provided by the waitress serving us Ms Shi Yeon was great. She was nice. Polite and attentive throughout the dining. But unfortunately, the service manager Mr WOO, was an eye sore. He was rude, no smile and kept wispering to the waitress throughout the dining in Korean language and clearly looks that was discriminating to younger kids. We had wanted to celebrate a birthday only to be shut up by him for singing a soft birthday song ! How rude can this be interrupting right in middle of a birthday song that didn’t even last for 1 min. It was all captured on the video ! It’s so disappointing ! This is definitely NOT a child friendly restaurant with a manager like this. Michelin rating is both food and service. Our meal was simply spoilt by Mr Woo and he doesn’t set good example. Ms Shi Yeon deserves to be praised.

First dinner in Busan - the amazing Hanwoo beef omakase at Born & Bred. Didn’t get to book the last time when I was in Seoul so this is a must try in Busan. Top notch food and service. There’s so many courses it’s impossible to post pictures of every dish. Personally I think Hanwoo is better than Wagyu as it’s slightly less fatty but has a richer taste. Wine pairing was on point too. Super value for the price. Highly recommended when you visit Korea! 🐄 🥩 #busan #busanfood #busanfood #busantrip #busantravel #busan🇰🇷

Delicious steakhouse serving aged Hanwoo steaks! The Korean style omakase requires 2-3 days advanced booking, otherwise will only be able to have western style (super amazing) steaks. It's at B1 of the Paradise hotel.