Yeonsu seafood restaurant for salmon sashimi with kids: Veteran

I was wondering where to take my child, who loves salmon sashimi, and this is the place we found. A day when we properly ate everything from salmon sashimi and mulhoe to maeuntang and ramen! We couldn’t help saying, “Let’s come back here next time” :)

Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch information

• Address: 202-1, 3F, Yeonsu Plaza, 106 Beotkkot-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea (인천 연수구 벚꽃로 106 연수광장프라자 3층 202-1호)
• Hours: 11:00–23:00
• Break time and regular closing days: None
• Parking: Building basement parking

There was a parking garage in the basement, so we parked comfortably and came upstairs. Honestly, no matter how delicious a popular restaurant in a busy area is, if parking is inconvenient, you hesitate to return, right? Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch (베테랑 종합어시장 인천연수점) has parking in the building, which made it much easier to visit with a child. If parking matters to you as much as taste and price, I think this is a real plus too :)

The atmosphere and seating

The first thing I noticed when we entered was that it was much more spacious and tidy than I expected! The overall atmosphere was pleasant, and there were lots of tables. Even though we visited very early on a weekend evening, around ten tables were already occupied. By the time we got up after eating, it was hard to find an empty seat. I guess it really is a popular place :)

Kimchi pancakes made at the self-service bar

One thing I liked at Veteran General Fish Market was the self-service bar. It was kept very clean, and it was convenient to help ourselves to what we needed. There was a great selection to eat with sashimi: lettuce, perilla leaves, salad, garlic, chili peppers, kimchi, ssamjang (savory dipping paste), and more. If we ran short while eating, we could simply get more without having to call a staff member.

And then something immediately caught my eye... ramen noodles! Free ramen noodles? Isn’t that basically telling us to have maeuntang too? Haha. In the end, we put them to very good use at the end of the meal.

And that wasn’t all. You can make your own kimchi pancakes too. We took some batter and cooked it to our liking, so it was fun while we waited and even better to eat a freshly made hot pancake. My husband cooked one up beautifully golden brown; it was crisp outside, moist inside, and perfectly seasoned, so I kept reaching for it. We almost filled up before the main dishes even arrived!

The banchan (side dishes) started arriving one by one too: a salad with raw fish, quail eggs, white kimchi, and salted pollock roe! Since the sashimi was not overly expensive, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of side dishes, but there was more variety than I expected, which was nice.

A generous salmon sashimi platter my child fell for

We ordered salmon sashimi because we came with a child who really loves salmon. But the moment the platter landed on the table—wow, it was far more generous than I expected! Even in the photo, it looks like quite a lot, right? My child’s eyes got wide the moment they saw it.

Come to think of it, this was our first time bringing our child to a proper sashimi restaurant. Whenever they said they wanted salmon before, we would go all out at Kuu Kuu, but now it looks like they’re about to conquer sashimi restaurants too!

The moment the salmon arrived, my child charged in with chopsticks—entirely faithful to instinct.

They placed each piece of salmon neatly on top of rice and ate so well! Oddly enough, they do not care much for the rice in sushi, but they love salmon over plain warm rice. No sauce needed. They enjoy the salmon’s own flavor without dipping it in anything—a true salmon expert :)

I love salmon too, but that day I let my son have most of it. I still tried a few pieces, and the soft texture was wonderful. It melted softly over the tongue as soon as it entered the mouth, spreading salmon’s rich nuttiness, while a subtle fatty flavor emerged the more I chewed. It was moist and tender without any dryness or chewiness, and seemed to disappear before I had even chewed a few times! It was there, and then it wasn’t. This salmon showed exactly what that expression means!! If you love salmon sashimi, it is absolutely worth trying!

Mulhoe that was practically half raw fish

We also ordered the mulhoe (chilled spicy raw-fish soup) that my husband wanted. After salmon sashimi, I wondered whether mulhoe might be too much, but in the end I was glad we ordered it. The bowl itself was huge, and it was packed with ingredients.

What I especially liked was that they did not skimp on the raw fish! Every time I lifted my chopsticks, pieces of fish came up with them. We let our child have the salmon sashimi and my husband and I properly tackled the mulhoe; it was great for the two of us :) They also served somyeon (thin wheat noodles) separately. Is it normally supposed to be this much? The mulhoe was one serving, but the noodles felt like two servings!

I mixed the somyeon into the mulhoe and lifted a big chopstickful, but it was almost harder to pick up noodles without fish! Lift the noodles, and sashimi comes along. Half noodles, half fish mulhoe, that’s what it was :) The broth is the heart of mulhoe, of course. Its cool, tangy flavor really woke up the appetite, followed by a savory depth; eating the fish and vegetables together, then taking a spoonful of broth, felt like it cleared the whole palate.

With the somyeon mixed in, the tangy broth soaked into every strand, making it delicious to slurp up too. The salmon sashimi’s nutty, soft flavor and the mulhoe’s tangy, refreshing flavor were completely different, so I was glad we ordered both. If you want sashimi as well as a cool bowl of mulhoe, this combination seems like a good choice.

They also served Pacific saury. After eating salmon, my child carefully finished the saury too and said they were full. It is not a fish we often eat at home, so it had been a while for me too; the outside was nicely browned and a little crisp, while the flesh was moist and tender. Its nutty, savory-salty grilled-fish flavor naturally made me want a spoonful of rice!

By this point, the table was completely full of food. What a generous weekend dinner.

₩8,000 maeuntang with free ramen noodles

After sashimi, maeuntang (spicy fish stew) is a must. It was ₩8,000, and I was surprised by the portion once again. For that price, I expected something light to finish with, but the pot was much more generous than I thought.

There was a fair amount of flesh on the fish too, which made it fun to pick apart, and we were so full that we could not finish it. After salmon sashimi, mulhoe, Pacific saury, and then maeuntang, it felt like we were going home 3 kg heavier. Oh, right. Sashimi does not make you gain weight, does it...?

Then I remembered the free ramen noodles I had seen at the self-service bar and brought one over. It would have felt wrong to leave without adding them, right? Once we put the ramen noodles into the bubbling maeuntang and cooked them just enough, the broth soaked right into the noodles. Even though I was full, I kept reaching for the springy ramen as I slurped it up with that spicy maeuntang broth. I guess ramen really is how you finish a meal.

Finishing with ice cream and coffee

At Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch, you can even enjoy dessert after your meal. Coffee and ice cream were ready for us.

My husband brought one each for my child and me, and we enjoyed them right through to the end. What personally impressed me was that there were quite a few tables near the front for guests having coffee or dessert. At most restaurants, dessert means getting a cup of coffee and leaving right away, but here they had seating where you could sit for a moment and finish at a relaxed pace. It felt thoughtful.

A generous weekend dinner with my child

We came because of our salmon-loving child, but my husband and I left Veteran General Fish Market Incheon Yeonsu Branch properly full too! From the soft, nutty salmon sashimi to tangy mulhoe loaded with raw fish, plus ₩8,000 maeuntang and free ramen noodles, every dish was satisfyingly generous. With the self-service bar, make-your-own kimchi pancakes, and coffee and ice-cream dessert too, it felt like we got a very complete meal. The restaurant was spacious and parking was easy, so it also seemed like a good option for anyone looking for a family dining spot.