Maratonjip: Busan's Old-School 'Marathon' Pancake Pub Near Seomyeon
A decades-old Busan drinking house built around one dish — the 'marathon,' a crisp seafood pancake — plus fish-cake soup and a room full of regulars. As featured on Heo Young-man's Baekban Gihaeng.
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- Neighborhoods
- 부산진구
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- ETC, 한식
Menu signals: 해물부침 마라톤, 어묵탕, 곱창,막창,양, 소고기구이, 국밥
Allergy fields present: eggs, fish, gluten, shellfish, soy
Seomyeon is Busan's busiest nightlife district, all neon and chain bars. A few minutes from the main drag, Maratonjip (마라톤집) is the opposite: a long-running drinking house where locals have been ordering the same dish for decades. It was featured on Heo Young-man's Baekban Gihaeng, Korea's best-known food-travel TV show, in an episode on Busan home cooking.
What "marathon" means
The house specialty is simply called the marathon (마라톤): a crisp, pan-fried seafood pancake loaded with seafood and vegetables. There are several stories about the name. The most common is that it was made and served fast enough to keep up with a room of hungry drinkers. What matters is the texture: thin, crunchy at the edges and served very hot.
What to order
- The marathon (해물부침) — order it first; everything else revolves around it.
- Eomuk-tang (어묵탕) — Busan fish-cake soup. Busan is Korea's fish-cake capital, and a hot pot of it with drinks is the local way.
- Makgeolli or soju to go with it. Pancakes and makgeolli is the classic Korean pairing, especially on rainy days.
How to eat it
- Tear or cut the pancake while it's hot. It loses its crunch as it cools.
- Dip lightly in the soy-vinegar sauce; don't soak it.
- Alternate with spoonfuls of the fish-cake broth.
- The seafood can be very hot inside, so take the first bite carefully.
The room
Expect worn tables, older regulars, handwritten menus and noise. This is a pub, not a restaurant you "visit." Come in the evening with a friend or two, order a pancake and a drink, and settle in. Hours aren't consistently published, so check the EatHub page or call ahead.
Around Seomyeon
- Seomyeon Meokja Golmok (food alley) is for gukbap, tteokbokki and street snacks.
- Jeonpo Café Street, a former tool-shop district, is now one of Busan's best café neighbourhoods.
- Busan Citizens Park, a former US army base turned into a huge park, is a short taxi ride north.
Nearby spots with videos
- Lotte Yanggopchang for grilled beef tripe and intestines, a Busan late-night favourite.
- Dukkeobi for grilled beef.
- Songjeong 3-dae Gukbap for pork gukbap, Busan's signature soup, run by the same family for three generations.
Practical tips
- Getting there: Seomyeon Station (Busan Metro Lines 1 and 2), then 5–10 minutes' walk.
- Allergies: the pancake contains wheat, egg and seafood (often shellfish and squid).
- Groups of two to four fit best. A single pancake is big enough to share.
Watch the video above to see the pancake come off the pan before you go.
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