Jagalchi Market In Busan: How To Get There & What To Eat!
Jagalchi Fish Market (부산자갈치시장) is a must see for anyone headed to Busan on the southern coast of Korea. The fish market is the largest fish market in South Korea and fun to check out even if you won’t be dining but just want to see some amazing seafood delights.
Each booth of the market is run by an older woman, who may not seem so kind on the outside, but that’s just the strong southern demeanor. They seem used to foreigners ogling their fishy goods and snapping pictures without purchasing and just look the other way.
Fishy water and maybe some fishy guts cover the small umbrella covered alley that winds through the market. Nearby, fresh fish restaurants sit for those wanting to enjoy a good lunch or dinner after eyeing all of the goods. Planning a trip to Busan? You definitely need to have Jagalchi Market on your itinerary.
Get ready to go to Jagalchi Market:
- How To Get To Jagalchi Market
- Basic Information To Know
- What To See
- Get A Guide!
- You Might Have To Haggle
- Other Must See Spots In Busan
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How To Get To Jagalchi Market
- Address: 52 Jagalchihaean-ro, Jung-gu, Busan (부산광역시 중구 자갈치해안로 52)
- By Bus: All of these buses will pass by the market just hop off when you hear Jagalchi! 5-1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9-1, 11, 17, 26, 27, 30, 41, 61, 70, 71, 87, 103, 113, 134
- By Subway: Jagalchi Station Exit 10, turn right onto Jagalchi 3-gil Street
Basic Information To Know
- Days: Closed the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month.
- Hours: 5:00am – 10:00pm
- Admission: Free
- Highlights: October is the Jagalchi Fish Festival
- Website: http://www.jagalchimarket.org/
- Join a tour:
Living in a country that is surrounded on three sides by water, means that I’ve had to get used to eating a lot more fish than I grew up on. Raw fish, cooked fish, dried fish, baked fish, fried fish… it’s all eaten here and you can find fish markets in every coastal city. Even small areas like Seocheon-gun have their own fish market. Maybe it’s because I came from the American Midwest where fresh fish wasn’t so prevalent that one of my favorite things to do is walk around the fish market.
Live octopus in buckets of water slowly pulling themselves over the edges trying to escape back to the ocean only to be caught by the old woman selling them, or octopus with tentacles as long as I am tall still get me gawking in wonder. Fish that I’ve never seen before and don’t have names in English other than the scientific biology class kind of names because Westerners don’t eat them and fish that I have seen but wouldn’t have imagined were edible hang drying in the booths that line the fish market.
Buckets of shell fish, tanks of live fish squirming around, fish hanging to dry and more make for some great pictures and a good introduction into understanding Korean cuisine, especially the southern cuisine.
What To See
Huge fish, shellfish, squid, octopus, shrimp and prawn the size of my forearm all under one roof.
If you’ve never visited a market like this before, it will definitely be overwhelming. Vendors can be pushy as they volley for attention and hope in the end, you’ll choose them and their seafood options. You’ll see things you recognize and plenty of things you don’t.
Get A Guide!
If you want to head to Jagalchi and you’re like my friends and may need some help picking eats out or just knowing what is what, definitely get a guide. It took me years to know what was what and what to buy when I visited fish markets or just restaurants here. Here are some of the options to look into:
If You Enjoy Eating: Walk through the market and barter for the goods, and then eat it up. You’ll be able to try the crab, abalone, scallops, shrimp, sashimi and you can even get spoon worms, small octopus, and sea squirts if you want to try more. You wouldn’t be able to buy and try this all on your own so if you’re interested in seafood, definitely check out this awesome tour option here.
You Might Have To Haggle
As the only one in the group that could understand the sales pitches, I was thrust into the role of haggler and translator. Usually my husband handles fish negotiations and has a better understanding of which goods go together well. I sit and watch as he takes the reigns and before I know it, delicious dishes are in front of me to enjoy.
Koreans definitely know how to get the right things for a table. Things that will go well together and all of it will go well with the soju that will definitely grace the table. As my friends had never seen anything quite like this market before, they immediately went for the things they recognized: shrimp, crab and lobster. Of course, these are also the more costly things and while my husband and his friends tend to go with some white fish and shellfish, my friends decided to go big.. and then go home.
Crab and lobster are expensive, but massive and it was decided that a lobster and two gigantic prawn would do. I added some munggae (멍게), or sea squirts, and gaebul (개불), or the commonly called “penis fish”, to the mix so there was something different on the table for them to try. You can’t come to Korea and NOT try “penis fish”. Right??
As soon as the goods were selected, they were cleaned, sliced and diced as needed and whisked upstairs to be prepared. Those at the tables near us ogled our huge lobster. Clearly not many people take a huge lobster upstairs to be prepared.
The women upstairs immediately asked how we wanted things cooked and weren’t quite sure how lobster, prawn, sea squirts and gaebul were supposed to go together. This is one thing I love about Koreans. They have very specific foods that they think go together for a meal and then subsequently “know” which alcohol should go with it. Our mix and match of fishy foods wasn’t really what they were expecting.
Sea squirts and gaebul are eaten raw and usually accompany hue, or Korean style sashimi, on the table. We had no other raw fish and they couldn’t understand why. I explained it was just to try and the real meal would be the steamed lobster and prawn. They headed into the kitchen to see what they could come up with.
All was prepared magnificently and though the visitors didn’t like the munggae or gaebul as much as the more common lobster and prawn, they still tried it and could go home to tell their friends of the strange fishy treats they had while in Korea.
“You ate something called “penis fish”?”
When in Korea…
After the meal was over, we headed out to walk along the umbrella covered fish gut strewn alley to end our time in the Jagalchi Fish Market. A successful trip and delicious meal accomplished.
Other Must See Spots In Busan
For a complete guide on what to do, where to go, and what to see in Busan, check out this post with everything you need to know about Busan.
For more information about some specific spots you shouldn’t miss: be sure to check out the Taejongdae cliffs for some scenic ocean views and dinosaur tracks in the rocks and don’t miss Haedong Yonggung Temple, or the seaside Buddhist temple. Let’s Eat Alley in Nampo-dong is also a great street food eating delight. If you’re staying in Songdo Beach or anywhere more centrally located, you’ll have no problem getting into the Jagalchi Fish Market action. Enjoy!
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