The Best Busan Cooking Class for Foodies
I love to take cooking classes when I travel, and my Busan cooking class was one of the best yet! It was so special to make Korean food in a local’s home, get her personal recommendations for Busan, and then sit at a small traditional Korean table (bapsang) to eat with people from around the world.
If you’re also considering taking a cooking class in Busan, then I’ve written this review for you. I did tons of research before our trip, and narrowed the best cooking classes down to one in Seoul and one in Busan. I ended up taking both — they were very different from each other — and hopefully my reviews can help you make a choice for your own South Korea trip! Let’s get to it.
Why Take a Cooking Class in Busan?
There are so many good reasons to take a cooking class in Busan! Here are a few:
✓ Delicious Korean food
✓ Connect with a local from Busan, in her own home
✓ Immersive, cultural travel activity
✓ Learn how to cook Korean food at home
✓ Have a safe gluten free / vegetarian / halal meal (if you have dietary restrictions, like me)
✓ Less things to do in Busan than Seoul, so this is a good spot for a cooking class
The Best Busan Cooking Class: Bapsang
After lots of research, I decided to book this Busan cooking class. I chose this class for a few reasons:
- Amazing reviews. It’s rated 5 stars and has more reviews than other cooking classes in Busan.
- Local touch. This cooking class is held in the teacher’s home, in her own kitchen. You then eat at a small traditional Korean table called a bapsang. This local, authentic atmosphere was a big draw for me (and differentiated it from the more formal class we took in Seoul).
- Actually learn to cook. Lots of cooking classes in Korea involve the teacher cooking, while you just observe. I loved that in this class we got to actually cook everything from scratch ourselves.
- Able to accommodate dietary restrictions. This is the #1 reason for me, personally! I have to eat gluten free due to celiac disease, and this class did an excellent job accommodating me. She can also accommodate vegetarian and halal. More info on this below.
After taking the class, I will also add that our teacher, Minkyung (Min), is another huge reason to book this cooking class! She was so friendly and personable, and this is what made the class feel extra special.
Not only did Min go to great lengths to help me create gluten free versions of Korean dishes, but she also gave us so many secret tips for things to do during our time in Busan. Her English is outstanding and she was such a fun and interesting person to learn from.
The Menu
These are all the foods we made and tasted during our cooking class:
- Korean plum tea
- Seaweed soup
- Bibimbap (traditional rice bowl with seasoned beef and veggie accompaniments)
- Buchujeon (chive pancake)
- Traditional Korean desserts
Our Experience at This Cooking Class in Busan
Here’s a quick overview of our experience booking and taking part in this cooking class!
Booking the Class
We booked our cooking class on this page of Get Your Guide. I considered booking it directly, but we had to either pay in cash or deal with a difficult Korean money transfer, so ultimately I found it easier to book through my tried and trusted Get Your Guide platform.
The other thing about Get Your Guide that I’ve grown to appreciate is they have a very good cancellation policy (100% refund up to 24 hours in advance), which is nice insurance for changes in travel plans.
I also recommend booking in advance, perhaps a month or more, because in my experience some days and times will sell out.
I’ll share more about dietary restrictions below, but I’ll add here that there’s a spot to mention dietary restrictions during checkout, and after you book the class you can message with Min directly!
Arrival & Prepping the Food
The cooking class starts at 10am, and is held at Min’s apartment in Haedundae, a coastal neighborhood of Busan. We started our day by grabbing a coffee nearby at Small Good Coffee Marine City. They serve a really good flat white, and Dan was able to get a delicious salt bread, as well.
Then, we headed over to Min’s apartment for our class! She gave very detailed instructions on how to find it.
I won’t bore you with too much detail about what the class was like (it’s good to leave some surprises!) but it was so fun. We each got a separate cooking station, and Min did a little history lesson and Korean sauce tasting to start with.
Then, we spent about two hours cooking our buchujeon and bibimbap, with Min’s help.
Eating Together
Once our food preparation was complete, we all sat down to eat a tasty Korean lunch together. Min set out tatami mats, and low traditional Korean tables.
It was a really unique experience to eat in this kind of setting, in a local’s home.
After we ate lunch, Min gave us another short history lesson and some tips about traveling in Busan, and we finished with plum tea and Korean desserts.
Gluten Free? Vegetarian? A Note on Dietary Restrictions
As I’ve mentioned a few times, I have celiac disease and finding safe gluten free food can be quite tricky in South Korea! I imagine it’s also difficult if you are vegetarian or have another allergy.
A big reason I booked this specific cooking class was because they could accommodate dietary restrictions. These include:
- Gluten free
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Halal
It’s important to let Min know about any dietary restrictions in advance, so she can prepare. There is a spot during the booking process to write your dietary restriction. Personally, I wrote: “Gluten free (celiac disease, so avoiding cross contamination is important, so using separate cooking utensils, frying pan etc).”
I was really impressed (and totally set at ease) by all the steps Min took to create a gluten free environment for me. These included:
- Homemade gluten free soy sauce
- Gluten free gojuchang
- Separate cooking station
- Dedicated gluten free cutting board, pans, and utensils
- Adding gluten free soy sauce to the seaweed stew for everyone, so I could be included
- Separate gluten free dessert
I can definitely recommend this class if you’re gluten free, like me, or if you have another dietary restriction (our class also had two vegans!).
More Busan Cooking Classes
I loved our cooking class at Bapsang and our lovely teacher Min, and I definitely recommend it. However, maybe you’re looking for a cooking class in a different neighborhood of Busan. Or maybe you want to try cooking a different dish than bibimbap!
Here are some other Busan cooking classes to consider booking:
- Fish Market Tour and Cooking Class: A special cooking class that first takes you on a guided tour through the famous Jagalchi FIsh Market.
- Cooking Class With Market Tour: A small-group cooking class that includes a tour of Choryang Traditional Market. Cook dishes like Korean egg rolls, chive pancakes, soybean paste stew, and more.
- Rice Cake Making Class: Learn to make Korean baram-tteok, a traditional rice cake dessert.
Just a quick reminder that I cannot vouch for the above cooking classes, or their ability to accommodate dietary restrictions, since I didn’t take them personally. If you have a dietary restriction, then my only recommended cooking class is the one we did.
Final Thoughts on Taking a Cooking Class in Busan
I absolutely recommend taking a cooking class during your trip to Busan, especially if you have three days or longer in the city. You can check out my 3 day Busan itinerary for more tips on what to do in Busan!
As always, let me know in the comments or send me a message on Instagram if you have any questions or updates for me.
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