Garak Market: The Costco Of Seoul
Garak Market (๊ฐ๋ฝ์์ฅ) was opened in 1985 and was the first public bulk market of it’s kind. It was the Costco of Korea, before Costco came to Korea. It’s huge and there are warehouses divided into different sections including fruits, vegetables, fish, dried foods, meat and more. Located in Songpa-gu, this market is where restaurants get their produce and fresh ingredients, but you can go too and eat it up!
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How To Get There
Address: 600 Garak-dong Songpa-gu, Seoul (์์ธํน๋ณ์ ์กํ๊ตฌ ๊ฐ๋ฝ๋ 600)
Directions: Garak Market Station, exit 8.
Basic Info
Hours: 24 hours, but late in the day the place is busy with restaurant owners and trucks taking goods to big retail shops so you may get lost in the hustle and bustle. It’s better to go in the afternoon or evening. The very lively auction runs from 6PM-9PM and is fun to watch, but after that the trucks pour in.
Auctions: If you’re interested in seeing the live action auctions, plan to get up early. They take place between 2:00am and 5:00am in the agricultural market. The livestock market auctions are from 4:00am to 10:00pm.
Days: Closed on Sundays, New Year’s Day, Lunar New Year, and Chuseok
What To Know
Garak Market is huge and covers 540,000 square meters so be prepared to walk. There are more than 17 different buildings. There is an Agricultural Market, Fish Market, and Livestock Market all in one place. Agricultural good sales account for 90% of all transactions. There are over 1300 transactions daily.
The prices are cheaper than in the supermarkets and get cheaper the more you buy, but the rule of thumb is that you have to buy big or go home. Have you been craving avocados? Well, if you’re interested in a whole sack, they’ve got ’em. Have you been looking for some meat to cook up for the holiday party? They’ve got enough to fill all of the bellies in the house.
If you just want to browse, make an afternoon of it with your friends and end your trip in the fish market where you can purchase some fish and have it sliced and diced right in front of you. They’ll even take it to one of the nearby restaurants on the premises so that you can eat it up right then and there for dinner. They’ve got every fishy food you could possibly desire from the fish with fins to the shelled goodies and even the fermented skate, or honga, that takes some time getting used to.
What To Eat
Vendors yell back and forth trying to get attention to sell as much as they possibly can, but don’t let that deter you. Step confidently toward the seafood that you’re interested in and ask the price acting as if you know what you’re doing. They’ll adeptly and swiftly scoop the live fish, eel, or other delicacy out of the tanks and into a waiting basket before you know it. Don’t be pressured into buying once they’ve done this though. Buy what you want, as much as you want, and enjoy.
The vendors already have the restaurants nearby on call, so before they’ve finished slicing, if you’ve made it known that you want to eat there, a waiter or waitress will be there to pick up your fish before you even have a chance to touch the bag and he or she will lead you to a waiting table. The fish is fresh and delicious and a perfect way to end a day.
Plan a trip to this market that’s not often a touristy destination, but if you want to visit a fun market and want something a little different from Noryangjin Fish Market, definitely stop here for some good eats.
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