Jagalchi Market

Came across this stall on level 2 and the owner could speak chinese so it was a very seamless and pleasant experience having our dinner here 🙂 Knowing that we are a little scared about ordering sashimi, she accommodated to us by allowing us to order an even smaller portion to try out 😊 The food came out to be very fresh, even for the ingredients in the stew 😌 Would highly recommend this store!! 🙂 We really enjoyed the whole experience as it could get very overwhelming for some with the amount of options available here 🥶

There are some local seafood stores outaide the Jagalchi Marjet building, these are more for people to buy seafood for home cooking. The onsode of the Jagalchi market has many seafood stores and you are able to select seafood of your choice and be sent upstairs for cooking (it requires additional cooking fee). The cooking fee is standardised across all kitchen and generally the seafood shop have their recommended one (so you can't really choose which stall to kitchen to cook for you). There is a seating fee of 5000 WON per person; seafood steaming is 10000 WON, other cooking style is 20000 WON. Most seafood store owners can speak soke broken engly, communication isn't too difficult. It was a fun experience to shop around, seeing fresh seafood in a wet market. There are a great selection of local seafood that are often unheard of overseas.

I am from a coastal town so the market wasn't anything new for me, dishes that were unique to the South Korea was something to see. We were a large group and took a walk around teg market with our guide. Noticed that not all stall owners were friendly, I agree that if we are not buying why stand in front of their stall and waste time. But a few of them were darlings and explained all the dishes that can be made with them. I met a a few extremely friendly people at the market.

Jagalchi Market is one of those Busan Things to Do. The seafood market on the ground floor is fun for tourists to explore and take photos of the live wiggly seafood. The upstairs contains all the food stalls and dry seafood vendors. There are about 50 food stalls and seating for thousands. It is built to cater to tourists. We were there for a late lunch/early dinner at about 4pm on a dreary October Thursday, so it was pretty empty. We were hungry and decided to to try a Jagalchi food stall. FWIW, we chose Food Stall No. 9 "Yong Gong" because the old lady seemed nice. We ordered fresh grilled eel and seafood onion pancake, plus drinks. Well, the seafood was fresh (but I always select places where the seafood is supposed to be fresh (unless it is something like a McDonald's filet-o-fish sandwich) and I am rarely disappointed. Any place that sells marginal seafood does not last long. The total price of KRW76,000 was one of our three highest priced meals during our trip. Not outrageous, but we ate at a small seafood restaurant in a back alley near Gwangalli for about the same price and that meal and dining experience was a superb 5*. If comparing the two places, I would only give Jagalchi 3*. But I got a touristy photo proving that I was there, so that counts for something.

Very touristy destination but we found that prices weren't too unreasonable. The ground floor has many seafood vendors, and once you pick one you can ask for it to be cooked and served upstairs. All the vendors have pretty much the same variety of seafood, so you just need to pick your favourite in terms of prices and communication. Overall very enjoyable, just need to be aware of tourist pricing.

During our 4-day, 3-night stay in Busan, we ended up having brunch and lunch twice at this spot. Yes, it was that good! We went all out with the seafood (i.e: king crab, snow crab, live octopus, spicy raw crab, and of course, Korea’s signature delicacy; abalone - both grilled and in porridge form). We highly recommend the steamed king crab. It’s a must-try! And if you’re ordering the abalone porridge, pair it with the spicy raw crab. The flavors truly complement each other. Since we shared everything among the four of us, the cost was surprisingly affordable, and we ate like royalty.

This is the second largest seafood market in Asia and it is an absolute must visit. There are countless vendors selling all kinds of fresh seafood, and just walking around and exploring is so much fun. Surprisingly, the market is quite clean and does not have that strong fish smell. They do a great job keeping it pleasant. The best part of the experience is choosing your own seafood and having it cooked upstairs in the restaurant area. Prices are regulated across the market, so you do not need to worry about getting ripped off. Just pick the vendor with the freshest fish that catches your eye. We went with a Russian king crab, octopus, rockfish, and a few clams. All were live and incredibly fresh. The process is seamless. The vendor takes your seafood upstairs, you get seated, and they prepare it just how you like. The upstairs eating area is massive with great views. We of course added some soju and beer to make somaek. They charge a small cooking fee of around 15000 to 25000 won, or about 10 to 20 dollars, which is well worth it. Honestly, it was one of the best meals we have had in Korea. Fresh, delicious, and such a fun experience. Highly recommend.

Downstairs is the fresh market, upstairs is the restaurant. You can buy stuff downstairs and they can cook it upstairs or you can just go upstairs and order from the menu and they'll cook it all for you, which is what my mom and I did. It's easier. All the restaurants upstairs almost sells all the same things, but we opted to go to stall 41 named Chung Cheong do. Owned by an older couple very nice. They didn't pressure you to buy! Because it can get overwhelming. They just explained what the menu was and what they can do for you. We really like this place because if you order the sashimi, you get a soup with it. They'll boil the fish and the bone into the spicy soup shown in the picture. Everything was very fresh very delicious and my mom is a picky eater so she knows quality. We came back to the same place for late lunch and ordered the clams and steamed king crab!