Michelin is pleased to announce the arrival of the MICHELIN Guide in Busan, South Korea’s second largest city located in the southern coast of the country. The MICHELIN Guide Busan selection will be unveiled together with the Seoul one in February 2024. The coveted MICHELIN Guide will recognize the best culinary talents and restaurants this destination has shown, based on the famously anonymous inspector team’s evaluation.
Known for its diverse culinary scene, highlighting among many local products, fresh seafood, Busan’s food culture provides a positively extraordinary edge that immediately captivates the taste buds of the most conscientious epicurean, both locally and abroad.
“We are thrilled to welcome Busan to the MICHELIN Guide family” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide.” Busan has a charm of its own, with a natural marine environment and smooth supply of food ingredients through its famous port. It is definitely a city with high expectations for growth as a gourmet city. We are grateful to put the spotlight on Busan's gourmet culture and we hope it will be a great opportunity to promote the culinary landscape of Korea to the world together with Seoul.”
With the aim to search for exceptional gastronomical experiences around the world, the MICHELIN Guide inspectors have found Busan to be a city that presents a vibrant culinary complexity which truly reflects the uniqueness of South Korea's food culture.
The MICHELIN Guide has long been dedicated to fostering a culture of outstanding travels and recommending unforgettable experiences accessible to all diners on all budgets; it is thanks to this promise along with its independent and anonymous inspectors as well as its unique and universal methodology that the MICHELIN Guide is still at the forefront of all restaurant guides.
The MICHELIN Guide Seoul, first published in 2016, has been demonstrating full of flavors and passion from year to year with a total of 176 restaurants, including 35 MICHELIN Starred restaurants (including 2 three Stars establishments) and 57 Bib Gourmand ones in 2023. Since its debut, the MICHELIN Guide Seoul has highlighted a variety of seasonal and specialty dishes, from traditional restaurants to various genres, showcasing the diverse culinary culture of Seoul and contributing to the destination’ shine, with the observed increase of visitors for K-food tourism.
Heong-joon Park, Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City and Jung-sil Lee, President of Busan Tourism Organization is proud to support the expansion of the MICHELIN Guide to Busan, and the graced their presence at the Debut Announcement event.
Heong-joon Park, the mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, "Busan is evaluated as the core of Korea's national tourism strategy, with abundant tourist content such as the ocean close to the city, diverse festivals throughout the seasons, and cultural assets with history and stories. The publication of the MICHELIN Guide in Busan, which is internationally recognized as a restaurant guide, will be an important milestone in propelling us towards becoming a global tourism city by integrating food, culture, and tourism".
Joeng-sil Lee, the President of Busan Tourism Organization, expressed expectations that the publication of the MICHELIN Guide in Busan, which is a rigorous global restaurant rating system, will naturally induce a market economy in the city's culinary industry and contribute to job creation and quality improvement. He also stated, "Busan Tourism Organization will drive the Global Gourmet Tourism City Busan project until 2028 to widely promote Busan as a global gourmet city and make efforts to establish a self-sustaining structure for the activation of gourmet tourism industry".
As it’s the case in all the destinations it covers, the MICHELIN Guide Busan will highlight the diverse gastronomy of the city and recommend the best restaurant around. The team of anonymous and independent inspectors, former professionals of the industry, will assess the local restaurants, applying its historical and universal methodology, based on 5 criteria:
- the quality of the ingredients;
- the mastery of cooking;
- the harmony of flavours;
- the personality of the chef through the cuisine; and
- the consistency both over time and across the entire menu.
The full selection of the MICHELIN Guide Seoul and Busan 2024 will be unveiled in February 2024 during the MICHELIN Guide Ceremony and the selection will be available on the MICHELIN Guide website as well as on the free mobile App for iOS and Android.
