Songdo doesn’t get enough credit. Everyone in Busan knows the beach has been cleaned up, and the cable car is there, but the restaurant scene is still catching people off guard, and The Forest is a good example of why.
It’s a three-floor restaurant and pub on Songdo Beach with a rooftop, yellow string lights everywhere, tropical plants, and the kind of laid-back vibe that makes you forget you’re in the middle of a city.
The interior looks like someone took a Hawaiian beach bar, moved it to Busan, and made it work. It shouldn’t, but it does.
The menu is Western, which in this part of town still feels like a bit of a find. Pizza, pasta, gambas, steak. Nothing that’s going to change your life, but everything is solid and the portions are generous.
The craft beer is the thing people keep mentioning, and they’re right to. Order something cold, sit by the window, and watch the sun go down over the water. That’s really the whole pitch.
If you can get a rooftop seat in summer, take it. The sea view from up there at night is genuinely one of the nicer spots in that part of the city, and it doesn’t come with the Haeundae price tag.
First and second floor work fine too, just a different mood.
It opens at 4 p.m., which means it’s an early dinner or a long evening kind of place rather than a lunch stop.
Paid public parking is right out front, which in Songdo is worth knowing.
Restaurant Information
그숲 부산점 (Geusup Busan)
Address: Busan Seo-gu, Songdo Haebyeon-ro 63, 1-3F
Hours: 4pm to 1am
Telephone: 051-256-5676
