Late-night hagfish pocha in Yuseong, Daejeon: Set 1 for two, Jinppaei

How I woke up to the taste of hagfish. I heard there's a place that hand-preps live hagfish, conger eel (anago), and shellfish to recreate the flavors I loved in Busan, so I went to check it out. Let me introduce Jinppaei, a shellfish grill spot near Yuseong Oncheon Station.

The menu lineup was just too good for a night of drinks 👍 100000% would come back.

Where the soju flows and the food never disappoints

Where is Jinppaei? Hours and parking in Bongmyeong-dong

Jinppaei is located at 21 Oncheonbuk-ro 13beon-gil, 1F 102-ho, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon. Closed every Sunday, open Monday to Saturday from 18:00 to 02:00 the next day.

• Parking: free on-site parking available
• Alternate lot nearby – Skyview City, 20m from this location (21 Oncheonbuk-ro 13beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon)
• Parking support available for guests dining in

It sits in the main strip of the Bongmyeong-dong food alley in Yuseong, 630m from Exit 7 of Yuseong Oncheon Station.

The only spot in Bongmyeong-dong serving live hagfish

Jinppaei is the only place in Bongmyeong-dong where you can eat live hagfish (san-kkomjangeo). Honestly, I never used to enjoy hagfish, but I fell completely for the flavor of it grilled fresh over charcoal here.

Live hagfish swimming in a clean tank. They catch and cook it the moment you order, so with ingredients this fresh, the taste is basically guaranteed, haha^^

Old-school pocha atmosphere at Jinppaei

The old-fashioned pocha (street tent bar) feel here is off the charts. The nostalgic vibe, retro interior, and a soundtrack of 90s–2000s hits all came together into something cozy and familiar — totally our type of place ^^

That old-pocha feeling makes it perfect for a first, second, or third stop of the night! Great for date nights, gatherings, or work dinners 😀

Jinppaei's menu and what Set 1 costs

Jinppaei's menu ranges from set combos you can enjoy all sorts of ways, to à la carte live hagfish, conger eel, shellfish grill, and even a spicy cod soup that's cool and refreshing — more than enough to win over any drinker haha. We ordered Set 1, hagfish (choice of salt or seasoned, or half-and-half) plus a shellfish tasting platter, for ₩51,000.

The basic side dishes (sukki) were varied too — washed aged kimchi, anchovies with gochujang, and a hwangtae (dried pollack) bean sprout soup so refreshingly spicy it was a soju-worthy side dish all on its own 👍

Even the lettuce salad, served in a cute little bowl, was excellent paired with the hagfish thanks to its seasoning!

Salt-grilled hagfish: the first bite that changed my mind

This was my first time with live hagfish, so I flinched a bit haha. Seeing it wriggling on the grill was a pretty intense visual, I couldn't look away, haha 👀

The staff cut it into bite-size pieces, pre-cooked it in a little dish, then let us choose salt, seasoned, or half-half!

My first-ever taste of hagfish elsewhere hadn't been great, so I grilled this one with half worry, half hope about whether it'd suit my taste.

Golden-brown from the charcoal, the first bite hit with a pop of salt. Wait, what????? The meat was so soft and moist — nothing like the chewy, tough texture I remembered. Pre-cooking it in that little dish before grilling must be the secret move 👍

A subtle smoky char blended with a clean, nutty flavor, and the more I chewed, the chewier and more tender it got — so good 👍

What does the seasoned hagfish taste like?

Time to try the seasoned one too~ Hagfish grilled in a spicy sauce, with the flavor soaked right in, umami through the roof~ Grilled over charcoal so the smoky char layers on top, the pairing of tender hagfish and spicy sauce is unbeatable 👍 My chopsticks wouldn't stop ~~haha This is exactly why people rave about hagfish ~~~ ^^

What's in the shellfish tasting platter: abalone, scallop and pen shell

The thing that won over this hoochoo-mom, the shellfish tasting platter 👍 No tiny random shellfish here. It's exactly my favorite lineup — abalone, scallop, and razor clam.

Sizzling away ~~ my favorite menu item, straight dopamine ~~🤤

The cheese scallop was genuinely delicious. Melted cheese over tender scallop meat — absolutely top tier.

The chewy, springy abalone left me speechless. The ingredient did all the work!! Not a hint of fishiness.

The razor clam was amazing too 👍 chewy and springy ~~ grilling razor clam and abalone together like this is a flavor I won't forget 😋

Round two without moving: hagfish stone-pan stir-fry and fried rice

With a lineup this fresh and tasty, the soju just kept flowing ~~ Honestly, I'd been wondering where to go for round two after the hagfish, but nope — change of plans! haha Round two was also Jinppaei, with the hagfish stone-pan stir-fry 🤣

Wow, live hagfish cooked to order right on a stone pan, the spicy, delicious smell was mouthwatering ~~ Loaded with onions and vegetables, sizzling away deliciously ~ It was so fresh there wasn't a hint of fishy smell, which honestly surprised me 👍

One bite of hagfish soaked moist in that spicy sauce ~ I'd recommend this as a top-tier hagfish spot.

The rich sauce, spicy-sweet, clings right to your mouth. Salt-grilled, seasoned, and stone-pan stir-fried — all three have their own charm ~

Fried rice cooked right on the stone pan. There are definitely people who order the stir-fry just for this fried rice haha

They tossed in the leftover cherry tomatoes into the fried rice and wow 👀 it added an exotic touch — a total hidden gem of a flavor!

What to order at Jinppaei for the best combination

A nice touch — the service even looks out for your hangover 👍 From clean, simple salt-grilled to seasoned, then spicy stone-pan stir-fry and fried rice, to charcoal-grilled shellfish, there's enough variety to pick and choose by mood, and it was especially satisfying to start clean with the salt-grilled version, then switch over to the spicy seasoned one ^^