Food Souvenirs from Busan: A Lotte Mart Haul

Hi, it's Yoko, a food blogger who eats her way around the world.

At the Lotte Mart in Busan, where I went the other day, I managed to buy lots of delicious souvenirs :)

"I'm going to Busan soon, so what souvenirs should I buy?"

If you're wondering that, here are the Busan souvenirs and shopping spots I'd recommend.

Recommended Shopping Spots in Busan

Shopping quietly eats up time. Busan isn't that big, but if you want to get around efficiently, I recommend Nampo-dong in the western part of Busan!

In particular, the shopping street Gwangbok-ro (Gwangbok Street) in Nampo-dong is great for shopping.

The shops are packed close together, so I think you can find most souvenirs there.

For food, the Nonghyup Hanaro Mart supermarket is a few minutes from Nampo-dong Station, and Lotte Mart is about 10 minutes away.

For cosmetics, Innisfree, ETUDE HOUSE, MISSHA and Olive Young are all within a few minutes' walk, which was very convenient.

I put my recommended Busan shops on a map, so feel free to use it.

If you zoom in, a menu appears on the left where you can browse by shop category!

The area in the western part of Busan where the shops are packed together is Nampo-dong.

Shop on a weekday! Avoid the 2nd and 4th Sundays

By the way, since 2012, under government policy, large supermarkets in Korea have been required to close two days a month, and they are closed on the 2nd and 4th Sundays.

So in Busan, too, many shops are closed on the 2nd and 4th Sundays.

Some supermarkets do seem to be open, but Busan can be done in just two nights,
so I think many people plan their trip to include a Sunday.

Be careful so you don't end up with everything closed and no souvenirs to buy!

Now, let me review the products I bought in Busan one by one!

Fruity, Delicious bibigo Kimchi

It was 7,900 won (about ¥790) with a one-month shelf life.

When you think of Korean souvenirs, kimchi is probably the first thing that comes to mind.

Buying at a Busan market (Bujeon Market) felt like too high a hurdle, so I bought mine at Lotte Mart!

bibigo, the brand I bought this time, is a major Korean food maker aiming to go global, and the name comes from "bibim," meaning "mix," plus the English "go."

They apparently have a 110,000 square meter research institute, the first and largest food and bio fusion lab in Korea, built for 480 billion won.

I remembered the cute logo of a spoon and chopsticks on a stone pot, so I picked it (simple, I know).

This is what it looks like when you cut the bag open.

It's not very red, is it? It uses little chili powder, so it isn't very spicy. Its distinctive feature is a firm sourness rather than heat.

It tastes well fermented, with a slight fizzy, tingly feel, and it's refreshing to eat, so I recommend it!

By the way, you can buy bibigo's kimchi dumplings in Japan too.

Bujeon Market is also recommended! (A market where Busan locals gather)

Things in Busan are said to be even cheaper than in Seoul, and within Busan, buying at a market is cheaper and better than a supermarket.

Blogs about Busan trips say you can buy kimchi for about 5,000 won (around ¥500) per kilo,

but there were no price tags, so I couldn't even tell what kind of kimchi it was, and I gave up. (I can't read Hangul anyway.)

You can try samples, though, and I think you can buy if you show a calculator and use these words!

"Igo, olmaeyo?" How much is this?
"Sagehe juseyo" Please lower the price.

I couldn't negotiate the price, but I bought jujubes! 320 grams for 5,000 won (about ¥500).

Shopping at Bujeon Market makes you feel a bit like you live in Busan (lol).

They're good to eat as is, but I plan to enjoy them in jujube tea or hot pot too :)

Myeongi Namul

It's no exaggeration to say I went to Busan to buy this. I wanted this namul (seasoned vegetable) that badly (lol).

Myeongi namul is wild garlic (ramps) pickled in soy sauce, and in Korea wild garlic apparently only grows on Ulleungdo,

so it's surprisingly hard to find even in Busan. At Nonghyup Hanaro Mart, where I went first, they told me "We don't have it!"

When I found it at Lotte Mart I was moved!! It was about 7,980 won (about ¥798) for two.

It's a little hard to get out of the container, but it tastes like a lump of umami.

Eat it with pork like this when you have samgyeopsal and you'll be hooked.

If you've never had it, you might be missing out on something in life...

bibigo SEAWEED CHIP (Potato / Brown Rice): The Brown Rice Flavor Is My Pick

bibigo again. Having English labels makes it easier to choose, too.

SEAWEED means chips made with Korean seaweed (gim).

I love chips and crunchy things, so I bought both the brown rice flavor and the potato flavor.

There isn't that much in a bag.

Korean seaweed is delicious on its own, and the added crunch makes it twice as hard to stop eating!

The Brown Rice flavor, being rice, balances well with the Korean seaweed.

The Potato flavor is like Korean seaweed with Potelong (a Japanese potato snack) stuck on the back. It feels like eating potato jeon (Korean pancake).

It's slightly thicker than the Brown Rice one, so I recommend Potato if you want something more substantial.

Watch Out for Korean Seaweed Selling Out!

If you want to buy Korean seaweed, buy it right away.

Maybe because Korea is so strongly associated with Korean seaweed, it was in short supply at every shop in Busan! Especially Yangban (a major Korean seaweed maker)!

Korean seaweed also comes in olive oil and other flavors, but I recommend Yangban's sesame oil flavor.

Japanese shoppers in particular seem to trust the big makers, and as I walked around the supermarket, everyone was gathered in front of the Yangban seaweed section.

Mine was sold out, so I didn't bring Korean seaweed home as a souvenir this time. Too bad!

Still, it's bulky and you can buy it in Japan, so I think it's totally fine to skip it. I didn't buy instant noodles for the same reason, since I don't eat them much.

Lotte Malang Cow (Strawberry Flavor)

In Korean, malang means soft and fluffy, and cow is a cow, apparently.

They're like slightly firm marshmallow candies. A blog I came across while browsing recommended the Yakult flavor, but
I couldn't find it, so I went with strawberry!

They're small, and the picture of a cow sleeping on a cloud is cute, so I recommend them as handout souvenirs.

Market O Real Brownie, Orange

Market O Real Brownie is popular in Japan too! I'd never tried the orange flavor, so I got it.

You get a pleasant bitterness from the orange, and it's substantial, so I highly recommend it!

They're individually wrapped, so these can be handed out too.

Tom's Honey Butter Almonds

These are so delicious, and my number one recommended Busan souvenir!!

Before coming to Busan, I looked into what souvenirs to buy, and these honey butter almonds were the first thing I found.

Honey butter flavor is apparently a big trend in Korea right now, and it even shows up as a sauce at Goobne Chicken.

These honey butter almonds also seem to have been a popular souvenir for the last few years.

I had made a note of them, but
I thought "Honey butter almonds... I don't usually eat nuts much" and at first I didn't plan to buy them.

But when I found them at Lotte Mart... I looked at them and ended up buying them... (I'm easily swept along by the mood.)

I'd seen an article saying honey butter cashews are tastier and better than honey butter almonds,

so I bought cashews and mixed nuts too, but personally the honey butter almonds are my favorite.

The sweet-salty flavor is addictive, and I could eat them endlessly.

Honey butter almonds are so popular that they come in various sizes. This one is 250 g, which is quite a lot, but there was a bigger one too.

If you want to hand them out, there were individually portioned honey butter almonds, so I recommend buying those!

You Can Actually Bring It Home! Nakji Bokkeum

Finally, here's a bit of a trick: a highly recommended Busan souvenir.

This is nakji bokkeum (spicy stir-fried octopus, a Busan specialty) from a restaurant in Busan called Gaemijip,

and you can actually take it home! (Eating in is also recommended. The staff are kind.)

It isn't well known, but you can bring seafood home!! (Only if it's dead.)

I guess it's okay because the seas are all connected around the world...?

So things like ganjang gejang (soy sauce marinated crab) are fine too.

You can buy it at the restaurant, but ordering extra at a restaurant on your last day is also a good idea.

You need to check your carry-on bag, but it's only a few hours from Busan to Japan, so I don't think it will spoil much.

Just turn it into a side dish at home (lol).

Busan has lots of other delicious things too, so please enjoy your shopping!