60,000-won sashimi combo and grilled shrimp: Yeongjae Susan, Songpa

Hi, this is Jeoddo. With the chilly breeze making fall feel fully here, I had to eat the seasonal fish everyone talks about — here's my review of eating gizzard shad at Garak Market ❣️

Where is Yeongjae Susan, and where do you park?

Yeongjae Susan is on the 1st floor of the Garak Mall Sales Building, unit C-10, near Garak Market Station (932 Yangjaedae-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea), and offers 3 hours of free parking inside Garak Mall. It's open daily from 07:00 to 22:00.

Not only do they do a lot of assorted sashimi delivery, but plenty of customers dine in too, so live fish gets restocked more than 3 times a day. That's why they're known for keeping top quality thanks to good seafood turnover. I always stop by here whenever I'm getting sashimi sliced at Garak Market.

True to gizzard shad season, Yeongjae Susan's tanks were packed with fresh gizzard shad. The eyes were bright and clear and they were swimming with plenty of energy — a good sign ✨️ There was no question, it had to be eaten as sashimi.. haha

September gizzard shad season and the upstairs table-setting fee

Fall gizzard shad spawns from May to July, then grows bigger from August as its nutrients build up, and apparently tastes richest and most savory in September. At Yeongjae Susan you can have your sashimi sliced downstairs and then eat upstairs in the food court, paying only a table-setting fee. That's exactly how I ate — nice and convenient, haha.

Eating at the restaurant means you get makjang (seasoned soybean paste dip) served, which is great since making it at home means throwing in all sorts of ingredients. They also give a simple macaroni salad to snack on.

What comes in the 60,000-won jeongwangyeon sashimi combo (small)?

The jeongwangyeon sashimi combo (small), 500g, costs 60,000 won and is made up of gizzard shad, flounder, and salmon. It uses flounder over 3kg and salmon over 7kg. It's enough sashimi to stuff two people, and the slices are cut thick, which looks great at a glance too.

Salmon and flounder are fish whose taste and quality are pretty much guaranteed. On top of that, Yeongjae Susan at Garak Market only handles large-sized fish, so the fatty, savory flavor really stood out. Both the flounder and salmon clearly had the texture of live-fish sashimi, but with a surprisingly rich umami — it honestly tasted like it had been aged. The salmon had that gorgeous vivid color and a rich, fatty flavor that would please just about anyone. The flounder had its usual clean, chewy texture, but unlike the soft, fatty feel of the salmon, it had a springy bite with a subtle sweetness that came out the more you chewed.

Were the bones in the gizzard shad sekkoshi tough?

The gizzard shad sekkoshi (bone-in sliced sashimi) at Yeongjae Susan had bones about as soft as eel with the fine bones snipped out. I remember eating gizzard shad at another sashimi restaurant this fall and the bones being way too tough. So I asked the owner if they could fillet it boneless instead, and he confidently said it wouldn't bother me at all. I was half-skeptical, but wow — I could hardly believe this was actually sekkoshi.

The flavor had all the oily, nutty richness typical of blue-backed fish plus a tender texture. There's clearly a reason to eat it in season. I bet it would be amazing grilled too 👍

Live shrimp, 500g for 15,000 won: the grilled heads are the best part

Live shrimp is 500g for 15,000 won. I made sure to also try the shrimp, another seafood in season this fall haha. Buying shrimp at Garak Market specifically is great because it's way cheaper than at an izakaya or bar — you save almost half ❗️

We had it grilled, and of course fried the heads too. The meat was plump and springy with a subtle sweetness, so it was perfect even without dipping in vinegared gochujang, though dipping it lightly in soy sauce or vinegared gochujang worked well too.

But in my opinion, the true essence of shrimp flavor is in the head. That concentrated, deep crustacean flavor..❗️ Once you get hooked on the head, you might like it even more than the body. Grab it by the horn and rip it apart — you have to try it.

Finishing with spicy fish stew (maeuntang)

I filled in the missing carbs with spicy fish stew (maeuntang) haha. There were so many fish bones in it that it was rich and savory, almost like drinking bone broth. You know that lip-sticking feeling? 🤣

Yeongjae Susan is a Garak Market sashimi restaurant where you can enjoy high-quality seafood at a reasonable price. They also have all kinds of assorted sashimi platters and run frequent promotions, so give it a visit 😉