Noryangjin Fish Market
If you love fish or aquarium, one of the best places to visit in Seoul is Noryangjin Fish Market where it’s like an aquarium except you can eat the exhibits. Unlike a lot of fish markets around the world, many of the fish are still alive in tanks. What may be expensive in other cities might be affordable in Noryangjin Fish Market as they all compete on the same product. However, you have to understand that because it’s like a wholesale fish market, they do not have any fancy interiors.
How to get there
You can get there by subway and it’s located in Noryangjin station. This station is also a major intersection between line 1 and line 9. Anyways, you can exit through number 7 and walk straight ahead and turn right onto the underpass or exit from number 1 to walk across the overhead bridge. There will be signs along the way.
What to wear
Noryangjin is not a nicely organized market. It’s a lively, chaotic and very wet fish market. It’s a wholesale like market with the wholesale price. So leave your fancy clothes and luxury bags at home. Rather, opt to wear closed-toe shoes or boots that can stand up to puddles.
What you can expect there
There is wide variety of live seafood (e.g. king crabs, bamboo clams, octopus, shells, sea urchins, prawns, fishes) at the market. For a unique dining experience, you can buy any live seafood of your choice on the ground floor and bring it to any restaurant on the second floor for preparation/cooking. In most cases, the live seafood stores will have their 'designated' restaurants upstairs and may bring you directly to their restaurants as well. Remember that there is a charge for preparation at the restaurant per person.
Alternatively, you can bring your purchased seafood upstairs and choose a restaurant to your liking. At the restaurant, they will recommend ways to prepare the seafood (fried, steamed, grilled, soup, raw) at an additional charge per dish.
You can finish off your last course of the meal with Maeuntang (MAY-oon-tahng). It’s a spicy boiling soup made with the bones of your fish, along with healthy greens. I like taking some of the leftover sashimi and dipping them in the soup like shabu-shabu. This is the traditional way to end a proper Korean sashimi meal. By the way, don’t forget to get a bottle of soju if you are into drinking.
Final thought
Koreans love eating fish whether cooked or raw. Fish is packed with protein and healthier than other animal protein. This is one of the reasons why Koreans live longer. So if do decide to come to Seoul, I highly recommend you visit the biggest fish market in Seoul and try some of the exquisite dishes of your choice. You can try different sauces such as wasabi, hot pepper paste, soy sauce and etc… It would be a one of a kind experience you’ll have in Seoul with plenty pictures to take.
You can book a private tour with KoComfort.com if you would like to visit Noryangjin Fish Market.
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