Jagalchi Market – A Seafood Lovers’ Dream Come True at this Popular Seafood Market in Busan

It was our first time in Busan. To be honest, I don’t really know what to expect. But a visit to Jagalchi Market came highly recommended by many friends.

Jagalchi Fish Market is the largest seafood market in South Korea, and it sells both live and dried seafood.

This is a large building housing the fish and seafood sellers on the first floor, and the restaurants on the second. It is, therefore, very convenient to procure your desired seafood, and have them cooked and served to you all in “one place”.

The wet market on the first floor sells almost everything the ocean has to offer. The types of sea creatures are endless — crabs, octopus, fish, abalone, and lots of shellfish.

You can purchase the live seafood on the ground floor of Jagalchi Market and bring it to one of the many restaurants on the 2nd floor for preparation and cooking at an additional charge. It was difficult to pick a stall to get our seafood from, but I guess a good tip will be to check the prices at each stall before you make your purchase. A little bargain is allowed.

We selected a live octopus, fish and some scallops for our meal. It cost us about 23,000 won. Once you have made the payment, the fishmongers will prepare the seafood. Then, they will call a waitress from their “buddy” restaurant and someone will bring you upstairs to your table.

Sannakji, sliced raw octopus, is definitely a dish you must order especially if you haven’t tried them before. Looking at a plate of wriggling tentacles, I squealed. I am probably not the most adventurous traveller but I was very determined to try it.

The octopus came to us cut up but still moving. The restaurant has tossed the octopus in sesame oil before serving. I took a deep breath before putting one small piece in my mouth. The octopus carried a mild taste of the ocean and it was chewy, slightly slimy, and crunchy. Make sure to chew thoroughly before swallowing. Eating this dish was definitely a very memorable moment for me!

Half of our fish was prepared as sashimi, which was wonderful, and the other half was grilled. The grilled fish was the real highlight — the fish was so soft and oily. You don’t need any sauce to go along with it!

They used the fish head to make a fish hotpot, which was similar to Doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew). It’s mildly spicy, tasty, hearty and comforting. Our cooked food added up to about 20,000 won.

If you are too lazy to select the seafood on the ground floor, just turn up at any restaurant and pick the dishes you prefer. If you are a huge seafood fan, go to the seafood buffet restaurant on level 5 where you can try huge varieties of seafood dishes.

There is also an outdoor market beside Jagalchi Market where you can get dried fish and some seafood in the morning. Walk to the back of Jagalchi Market and you will be able to enjoy a beautiful sea view, and outdoor street performances.

This is probably the most memorable experience we had in Busan. It’s a seafood lover’s dream come true here. I will be posting more Busan articles, so if you are heading there soon, keep a lookout!

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