Jagalchi Fish Market Busan South Korea
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Walk with Cham at Jagalchi Fish Market.
The moment we arrived in Busan, Jagalchi Fish Market was the first place we went to. We missed out all the fish markets in Seoul but this particular fish market should not be missed. It's the biggest in Korea!
Jagalchi Fish Market is Korea's biggest seafood market. And because we all love eating all sorts of seafood, going here was a unanimous decision.
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| Jagalchi Fish Market |
Opening
Open everyday except first and third Tuesday of every month
Time
8:00 am - 10:00 pm
How to go to Jagalchi Fish Market
Alight Jagalchi Station Line 1 (Exit 10) or
Alight Nampo Station Line 1 (Exit 1)
Fees
Admission is free
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| First floor |
The market was enormous and consists of many floors. Although we didn't get to explore much of it. We just visited the first and second floor of the establishment (which I believe are the most important and most visited)
First Floor
The first floor is where you buy your choice of fresh seafood. Upon entering we were greeted by all sorts of common and peculiar sea creatures. Everything looked so fresh and interesting, most of the seafoods were even alive.
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| Walk with Cham at the palengke |
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| Family deciding what to order |
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| So many weird sea creatures |
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| Lobster, sea shells, sea urchin, crabs |
The only difficulty here was communication. If only we could understand each other more we would have availed more unique seafood but because it was so difficult talking to them we settled for three types- 1 whole flounder fish, 2 crabs and 1 octopus. All four were alive.
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| Octopus |
It is also important to bargain. The octopus was originally priced at 15,000 won (P600) but I was able to get a discount and got it for 10,000 won (P400) the 2 crabs were priced at 10,000 won but we got it at 8,000 won (P320) while the fish was priced at 20,000 won (P800) but we bargained for 15,000 won. I bet I could bargain more if I was a local. Oh well. Part of the experience :)
Second Floor | Restaurant
A lady escorted us at the second floor where the dining and cooking areas take place.
A lady escorted us at the second floor where the dining and cooking areas take place.
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| Second floor |
Cooking of course had a different fee, as I can remember we paid for 15,000 won more or less for the cooking fee, rice, drinks and their serving of banchan (side dish). All in all, our meal costed around 53,000 won (P2,150). not bad. not bad at all.
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| Dining area |
Because communication was difficult, explaining how we wanted all the seafoods to be cooked was hard that we had to do all sorts of facial expressions and hand gestures. Eventually with a little perseverance and patience the meal turned out to be what we expected them to be.
Raw Octopus or Sannakji
I've been seeing a lot of photos of this on Instagram - the reason why I was so curious to try it. This particular dish was still squirming on the plate when they served it. Yikes! (look for my ig video post @walkwithcham 3 weeks ago). But it's worth a try! Me and my brother got to finish this just don't forget to dip it on soy sauce and wasabi.
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| Raw Octopus or Sannakji |
Fried Flounder
This fish was recommended to us (I assume that it's a popular fish here), it has a flat body and was still alive when we ordered them so this was definitely fresh & really tasty.
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| Fried Flounder |
Chili Crab | Hong Gea
Another superb dish! This was so yummy, the seasoning was just right, it's very spicy but not too overpowering. Just ask for gloves so you can use your hands when devouring this dish.
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| Chili Crab or Hong Gae |
Side Dish | Banchan
They also served complimentary banchan like kimchi, potato, salad and other veggies so it was a complete balanced meal. Papa also ordered his now favorite beer, Hite.
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| Seafood dinner! |
It was such a memorable dinner. Grabe! I was so full and satisfied. We were well taken cared off by our host for that evening, she made sure we enjoyed our first dinner in Busan.
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| with our dear host |
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| Happy tummies |
Aside from the restaurant there is also a dry fish market at the same floor.
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| Dried fish market |
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| Dried seafood |
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| Everything dry |
Dining in Jagalchi Fish Market is a MUST for everyone who travels to Busan. You should have a complete experience - from looking for your preferred seafood, bargaining, telling the cook what to cook down to the eating part. I suggest you order the Sannakji for a unique Busan dining experience. It will shock you but promise you won't regret it. hehehe.
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