Jeongja-dong bar for after-work somaek and makhoe: Pohang Makhoe

At 8pm on September 17, my boyfriend and I headed to Pohang Makhoe (포항막회) in Jeongja-dong after work for sashimi and somaek — it had been a while.

We ordered a medium wild makhoe (막회, roughly-cut raw fish) for ₩39,000, a Kelly beer for ₩6,000, and three bottles of Jinro soju at ₩5,000 each. The makhoe plate came with gizzard shad and flounder, both fresh with no fishy taste, and we ended up clearing every last piece!! The evening weather lately is perfect for outdoor tent seating, and the red tables out front kept catching my eye. If you're looking for a Jeongja bar for raw fish and a drink after work, this is exactly the kind of place haha.

Pohang Makhoe in three lines

• The best combo: gizzard shad dipped straight in ssamjang, and flounder tossed with vegetables and chojang, wrapped in perilla leaf and gim.
• There's fun in eating whatever wild fish came in that day, and the variety of accompaniments meant we never got tired of the plate, right to the last piece.
• Next time we're ordering the wild makhoe again and heading straight for the outdoor tent seats!!

What comes out first: seaweed soup and the banchan set

The first thing that arrived after ordering at Pohang Makhoe was a warm seaweed soup (miyeokguk). Since we were drinking straight after work, starting with soju on an empty stomach felt a bit much, but a spoonful of the soup set things right.

The broth was hot and savory, so what started as a stomach-settling spoonful or two turned into just eating it steadily haha. Once the drinking started, it doubled as a soup side, good for a spoonful between bites of sashimi.

The banchan set included perilla leaf, gim (dried seaweed), seaweed salad, aged kimchi, garlic, chili, ssamjang, chojang, soybean powder, and flying fish roe — a wide range of things to eat alongside the makhoe. A spread that's a lot more fun than just dipping sashimi in chojang on its own.

Medium wild makhoe plate, 39,000 won: gizzard shad and red flounder that day

Our medium wild makhoe order came to ₩39,000.

Signs on the wall read "Direct from Pohang Jukdo Market that day" and "Wild Makhoe." What landed on our plate that day was gizzard shad and flounder. The lineup changes depending on what wild fish comes in, so there's fun in seeing what you get.

Makhoe, unlike neatly sliced sashimi, is cut roughly as the name suggests. Because of that, you might occasionally feel a small bone while eating, and yes, I did notice it now and then, but not much, and never enough to bother me.

Above all, both fish were fresh and delicious. Neither the gizzard shad nor the flounder had any fishy taste, and without ordering any other side dish, the two of us completely cleared the plate.

Gizzard shad with ssamjang and a glass of somaek

I ate the gizzard shad dipped straight in ssamjang before piling on anything else. Nutty gizzard shad plus salty ssamjang — so good... this was straight-up soju food haha. One piece of gizzard shad, one glass of somaek, another piece, another glass.

We ordered Kelly and Jinro together and started with somaek, and since the sashimi was clean and light, the drinks went down smoothly. We ended up going through three bottles of Jinro,,,

Red flounder tossed with vegetables and chojang, wrapped in perilla leaf and gim

We scooped out just enough flounder onto our own plates and tossed it with cucumber, seaweed, sprouts and chojang.

Piling this tossed makhoe onto a perilla leaf is the Pohang-style way to eat it. For me, laying down a sheet of gim first and heaping the flounder on top was the best combo!!

The flounder itself was soft and light, and the chojang was tangy and spicy. Add in the crunchy texture of the seaweed salad along with the perilla aroma and the nuttiness of the gim, and one bite is completely packed.

Adding a little flying fish roe brought a popping texture too, which was also great. Some people add garlic or chili, some pile on more seaweed salad — after a while you find your own favorite combo and keep wrapping haha.

Normally when sashimi arrives I just dip it in soy sauce or chojang most of the time, but that night I was busy wrapping.

Thursday 8pm at Pohang Makhoe: the mood and the outdoor red tables

We visited around 8pm on a Thursday. The indoor seats were already packed with customers, and middle-aged male customers in particular stood out.

Isn't it kind of a good sign when a sashimi place is full of older gentlemen tipping back glasses in front of their plates? Walking in, I got even more curious about the makhoe. The interior has blue-and-white striped walls with bulb lighting, giving it more of a relaxed drinking-house feel than a quiet Japanese-style restaurant. The table spacing is closer to a bustling bar than a spacious upscale sashimi restaurant.

And what I wanted most that night were the outdoor tent seats.

There are red tables and chairs set up in front of the shop, and with the cool evening breeze these days, sitting out there with makhoe and soju would be amazing. We sat indoors this time, but before it gets too cold I want to try the outdoor tent seats next.

Pohang Makhoe menu and prices

Wild makhoe is ₩39,000 for medium, ₩56,000 for large, and an extra makhoe order is ₩20,000.

Besides makhoe, there's a wide range of seafood dishes: steamed stone octopus ₩41,000, boiled conch and steamed whelk each ₩37,000, butter-grilled abalone ₩42,000, grilled flounder and tonguefish each ₩23,000, sea cucumber ₩22,000, sea squirt ₩18,000.

There are soup dishes too. Whole rockfish spicy stew is ₩31,000 for medium, ₩36,000 for large; clam soup and mussel fish-cake soup are each ₩22,000; seafood ramyeon is ₩14,000! (I wanted to try the seafood ramyeon too, but we were too full that day,,)

Drinks: soju ₩5,000, beer ₩6,000. Our total came to ₩60,000 — medium wild makhoe ₩39,000, Kelly ₩6,000, and three bottles of Jinro at ₩5,000 each.

The two of us went straight through with just the one makhoe plate and no other side dishes, and it was still plenty for a good round of drinks. Next time, following up the makhoe with rockfish stew or seafood ramyeon sounds great too!

What stuck with me most

What stuck with me most that night was, of course, the wild makhoe. Gizzard shad dipped in ssamjang with a shot of soju, flounder tossed with vegetables and chojang and wrapped big in perilla leaf and gim. Same plate, but the way of eating kept changing, so I kept reaching for more right to the end.

If you like eating whatever wild, seasonal fish came in that day rather than a familiar flounder-and-salmon assorted platter, you'll have even more fun here. I'd order the medium wild makhoe again if I went back. But next time, it's the outdoor tent seats for sure!! I want to sit outside in the cool evening air, wrap up a big bite of makhoe, and have a shot of soju.

Who Pohang Makhoe suits

• Anyone who wants sashimi with soju or somaek in Jeongja-dong after work.
• Anyone who likes wild sashimi and enjoys wrapping it different ways with perilla leaf, gim, seaweed salad and chojang.
• Anyone who loves outdoor tent-table drinking on a nice evening.

What might disappoint

• If you dislike feeling even small bones while eating sashimi, the texture particular to makhoe may be a matter of taste.
• If you're after a quiet, calm Japanese-restaurant atmosphere, the busy evening crowd here may not match that.

What I'd order next time

• Order the medium wild makhoe again.
• Gizzard shad in ssamjang, flounder tossed with vegetables and chojang, wrapped in perilla leaf, gim, and flying fish roe.
• And next time, the outdoor tent seats!!

Visit date: Thursday, September 17, 2026, 8pm / Party size: 2 / Order: Wild makhoe medium ₩39,000, Kelly ₩6,000, Jinro ₩5,000 × 3 bottles / Total ₩60,000 / Fish that day: gizzard shad, flounder / Hours: daily 16:00–23:30, closed Sundays