15 Hours in Seoul – the Noryangjin Fish Market
What to do with 15 hour layover in Seoul starting at 1 AM? Basically sleep and eat, which is exactly what I did. And oh man did I eat. We spent the day wandering around Seoul and eating at almost every street food stall I saw. Out of all the kimchi and bi bim bap and japchae we ate, the highlight was food we ate at the Noryangjin fish market, a smorgasbord of amazingly fresh and, at times, mysterious seafood.
The directions to the Noryangjin fish market instructed us to get off at Noryangjin subway station and “follow the smell.” True to our directions, we stepped off the subway and were slammed with the salty, fishy smell of fresh seafood. The directions could have also easily instructed us to follow the men wearing galoshes and carrying buckets, or to follow the vendors of special seafood cutlery and we would have been just as well off.
The sights, sounds and smells were absolutely overwhelming and at first we could do nothing but walk around and stare. We knew we wanted to choose out some live seafood and have it cooked, but we needed to orient ourselves amongst the tanks upon tanks of live fish, the vendors yelling across the market in Korean and the crowds of eager buyers examining the seafood.
Finally, we befriended a tenacious Korean woman who insisted that she could cook our seafood the way we wanted. She guided us through the maze and helped us pick out a live fish, an octopus and some strange shellfish. Once our purchases were bagged (though still flopping around), we went upstairs to her little restaurant. There we enjoyed sashimi, fried octopus, something that was called a sea pineapple (?), fish stew, and other deliciousness. The self-congratulatory feeling of having successfully picked out the live seafood ourselves made the meal that much more enjoyable.
With only 15 hours in Seoul, there was no way I was going to experience everything I wanted to. I decided to save that for my next trip. Instead, I was content to eat my way through the city, with a final stop at the Noryangjin fish market, before rushing back to the airport to make my connecting flight. Till next time, Seoul!
Rows upon rows of seafood
The little octopus friend we purchased... and then ate
Unidentifiable shellfish
Our delicious, fresh seafood meal
