45,000-won sashimi for two, Gwangalli seafood restaurant Maenggu Pocha

Doesn't everyone hunt for a cheap sashimi spot and a good-vibe bar whenever they travel to Busan?! Here's my review of 'Maenggu Pocha Gwang-an Main Branch,' a generous, budget-friendly live fish sashimi spot right in front of Gwangalli Beach!

Where is Maenggu Pocha Gwang-an, and what are its hours?

• Maenggu Pocha Gwang-an Main Branch / 72 Namcheonbada-ro 33beon-gil, Suyeong-gu, Busan
• Daily 18:00 - 04:00 (last order 03:00)
• Group reservations available, takeout available, pet-friendly

Retro interior that feels like an outdoor street-tent bar

Oops, I didn't take a photo of the outside ㅠㅠ Maenggu Pocha has its doors wide open, so it really gives off that open-air tent-bar feeling! The weather was cool, but the AC was nice and cold too. As soon as I walked in, K-pop from my era was playing — Girls' Generation, Big Bang, love those songs so much

The vibe is retro feels + like walking into a Maenggu museum. There's a ton of Jjanggu and Maenggu figures everywhere, so it's fun just to look around haha. The basic side snack is sugared hardtack biscuits! So good

The 45,000-won sashimi spread and the single-fish menu

Maenggu Pocha Gwang-an has both set menus and single-dish menus. We wanted to try a variety of sashimi, so we went with the ₩45,000 live fish sashimi set. It even comes with spicy fish stew — isn't that seriously cheap! If you want a specific fish, there's a single-dish menu too. When I visited in early September, they had flounder, spotted flounder, milchi, and raw shrimp sashimi.

Is there a wait at Maenggu Pocha? Come before 7pm

It's a famous sashimi spot in Gwangalli, so there were waits on and off. Lots of foreign visitors too! I'd recommend coming before 7pm :)

Old-school snacks you buy with coins, and soju chilled in a basin

When we first ordered, they gave us a coin. At the counter, there were all kinds of snacks from childhood that you could trade the coin for. We got saekomjjang (a sour candy) haha

They even served the soju chilled in a basin like this. Full marks for the touch!

Red croaker, flounder and milchi mullet: three fish, plenty for two

The ₩45,000 live fish sashimi set. All kinds of sashimi, spicy fish stew, sushi, wraps — it really comes out generous!

From the top: hongminuh (croaker), flounder, and milchi sashimi. They also gave us the fin parts! We ate this as two people and it was absolutely never not enough 👍🏻 It was my first time trying hongminuh — chewy, kind of like eating beef tartare? So good! The flounder had a nice firm texture and the milchi was soft with no fishy taste, which I loved. Being able to try three different kinds of sashimi meant I never got tired of it and enjoyed it right to the end haha

Udon noodles in the spicy fish stew and heaping bowls of rice

The spicy fish stew has tofu and hand-torn dough bits in it too, making it even more generous! It was so spicy and delicious that we added extra rice and udon noodles haha

• ✨ The udon noodles are totally recommended!!
• If the stew cools down, they give you a burner!

What is going on with the amount of rice. A total mountain of rice. The stew broth is so refreshing it's a total rice thief ✨

Garlic, chili peppers, and perilla leaves came out generously, so we kept wrapping and eating haha

Maenggu Pocha vs. the Gwangalli sashimi center: final verdict

The sashimi was fresh and tasty, the music was fun, and the vibe was good, so I ended up drinking plenty of soju before I left..😉 Because Maenggu Pocha has a lot of customers, I think that's why the sashimi stays fresher. Nearby sashimi centers had one type of sashimi going for ₩40,000-50,000, but at Maenggu Pocha, for ₩40,000-something we got three kinds of sashimi plus stew, wraps, and rice — genuinely generous.

If you're looking for an affordable, good-value, fresh, good-vibe sashimi spot in Gwangalli, I recommend Maenggu Pocha Gwang-an Main Branch! ✨