Michelin Korea Managing Director Jerome Vincon, 17th from left, poses with chefs of restaurants in Seoul and Busan recognized by the Michelin Guide during an annual ceremony held in Busan, Feb. 22. Yonhap

Busan, Korea's second-largest city, joined the Michelin Guide last week, taking the first step toward becoming a global gastronomic destination.

The inaugural edition, which recognized 25 selected restaurants, 15 Bib Gourmand establishments and three one-starred restaurants, had heightened expectations among local food industry insiders and epicureans of bringing the spotlight to Busan's iconic culinary heritage and spurring development of the food scene outside of Seoul.

However, many question whether the long-awaited inaugural selection can serve as a "true gourmet guide" to those who wish to explore the southeastern port city's rich and iconic food culture.

Park Sang-hyun, a food columnist / Courtesy of Park Sang-hyun

According to food columnist Park Sang-hyun, the selection "fails to reflect Busan's regional identity and promote the city as a gastronomic destination."

"Michelin Guide tends to recognize restaurants that reflect the regional identity and unique stories in its list of Bib Gourmand and selected restaurants, but the Busan edition shows they didn't have enough understanding of Busan as a city," Park said, underscoring the lack of regional cuisines in the selection.

Although Busan has a relatively less developed fine dining scene compared to Seoul, the port city's geographic characteristics — accessibility to fresh maritime ingredients and proximity to neighboring Japan and Russia — as well as unique historical background as Korea's cultural melting pot that housed millions of war refugees during the 1950-53 Korean War, stand out as assets in the restaurant industry.

A fishmonger poses with a live fish in Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan's Jung District, March 31, 2023. Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Thus, its historic restaurants serving local delicacies, especially the famous "milmyeon" (wheat noodle) that blends North Korean culinary legacy brought by refugees with the influence of the U.S. occupation in the region, were expected to make it to the prestigious selection.

However, no milmyeon places were selected, while it did include a restaurant serving "naengmyeon," or Pyongyang-style cold noodles, which is relatively less preferred in Busan, and three pork rice soup eateries.

"The talk of the town here is, why didn't milmyeon make it to the list? And how come Pyongyang-style naengmyeon did? And why didn't this or that pork rice soup place make it?" an industry insider said on condition of anonymity.

"It's questionable whether Michelin's list of Bib Gourmand and selected restaurants will help foreign travelers to truly experience and understand Busan's history and culture," he said.

The two experts agreed that Michelin's Busan list will most likely look "unconvincing" to Busan natives and Koreans who have a deep understanding of and love for the region's food heritage. This is in contrast to the case of Seoul's Bib Gourmand list, which has garnered widespread consensus among local tastebuds.

A restaurant employee prepares a bowl of milmyeon at Naeho Naengmyeon, a restaurant in Uam-dong, Busan, Dec. 19, 2023. The restaurant is the birthplace of milmyeon, a Busan specialty originating from North Korea. Korea Times photo by Lee Hae-rin

Instead, the selection focused on Busan's aspect as a global city and highlighted diversity.

Korean cuisine's presence on the selection was limited to only four out of 15 Bib Gourmand establishments and five out of 25 restaurants in this year's selection. Most of the recognized establishments serve Japanese, French and Italian cuisines, while some vegan and Thai restaurants also made it to the list.

Park pointed out the city's traditional restaurants could have "failed to meet the global standards," in terms of hygiene for example, and urged the local industry to step up its efforts for improvements.

Some believe it was "too early" for Busan to join the Michelin Guide.

"The fact that Busan had no two-star restaurants shows how the city still falls behind in terms of culinary infrastructure," another industry insider said on condition of anonymity. Park added that the city was impelled to pursue international recognition beyond its current capacity while going all out to win its bid to host the World Expo 2030, which ultimately failed.

Meanwhile, experts and industry insiders unanimously agree that Busan's joining the Michelin Guide will spur its future growth as a gourmet city and balance out the development of the country's restaurant industry that has been centralized in the capital.

"Busan has been long known as the ‘grave of fine dining' within the industry," Park said, explaining the city has seen low demand for upscale restaurants due to a relative lack of business activity and locals' preference for traditional, regional cuisines.

Busan's local specialty pork rice soup / Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan City

However, the Michelin Guide started a new dynamic in the local food scene.

For example, Palate, a fusion French restaurant that opened in 2019 in the city's southern Nam District and struggled through the pandemic, is seeing reservations pouring in after winning a one-star recognition.

"The selection of the Michelin Guide today will motivate local restaurants for further growth and serve as a catalyst driving Busan's future growth as a world-class tourism hub," Lee Jun-seung, the vice mayor of administrative affairs of Busan Metropolitan City, said during the ceremony.

"Getting a Michelin Star recognition was like a distant dream for most Korean chefs here, but now, they see a starred restaurant and a selected establishment right around the corner," the food analyst said. "It will definitely motivate the industry for improvement and provide a higher quality of service to visitors."